Pregnancy‑loss, Bereavement, and Placement Leave

Summary#

This is a proposed set of regulatory changes to support new leave rules added to the Canada Labour Code by the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023. The rules would add a leave for pregnancy loss, expand bereavement leave for the death of a child, create a leave for placement of a child (adoption or surrogacy), and add related record‑keeping and enforcement measures. The notice was published on June 28, 2025 and interested parties were invited to comment within 30 days.

What it does#

• Adds a new “leave related to pregnancy loss” that:
  • Covers stillbirths (as defined in the Code) with up to 8 weeks of job‑protected leave.
  • Covers other pregnancy losses with up to 3 days of leave.
  • Requires paid pay for the first 3 days if the employee has at least 3 months of continuous employment with the same employer.
• Expands bereavement leave so employees can take up to 8 weeks when their child (or their spouse’s/common‑law partner’s child) dies. It also gives long‑leave protections that are typical for longer leaves (job reinstatement, benefit continuation, notice of job opportunities, and protection from being penalized for taking the leave).
• Creates “leave for placement of child” (for adoption or surrogacy) of up to 16 weeks, aligned with related changes to the Employment Insurance Act.
• Extends some protections and time‑off rules to people doing work‑integrated learning placements (called “student interns”), generally without pay for pregnancy‑loss leave but with certain job protections for bereavement leave.
• Clarifies how wages are calculated while on these leaves, and updates language in the Canada Labour Standards Regulations (for example, changing “medical certificate” to “certificate from a health care practitioner”).
• Treats people in multi‑employer employment (mainly casual longshoring workers) as continuously employed for the purpose of qualifying for paid pregnancy‑loss leave.
• Adds record‑keeping requirements for employers (pay during pregnancy‑loss leave, changes in bereavement leave length, and posting updated labour‑standards notices).
• Amends the Administrative Monetary Penalties (Canada Labour Code) Regulations so enforcement penalties (AMPS) can be applied for many of these new or changed obligations.

Who's affected#

• Employees in federally regulated workplaces covered by Part III of the Canada Labour Code — about 1,020,000 workers in sectors such as railways, shipping, trucking, airports and airlines, telecommunications, banks, and some federal industries.
• Employers in those federally regulated sectors — estimated at about 19,150 employers.
• Casual multi‑employer workers in the longshoring sector (the analysis highlights roughly 4,882 such employees, with an estimate that 1,296 would receive paid pregnancy‑loss leave over 10 years).
• Student interns doing placements under programs covered by the Standards for Work‑Integrated Learning Activities Regulations.
• The federal Labour Program (which will enforce the rules and provide information and training).

If any of this is unclear in the notice, the source text states so; for example, exact frequency of changes to bereavement‑leave lengths is uncertain.

Why it matters#

• Real‑life protection: Workers who suffer a pregnancy loss or the death of a child would have clearer, job‑protected time off to recover or care for family. That can reduce pressure to return to work too quickly.
• Pay for short losses: Many employees would get pay for the first 3 days of pregnancy‑loss leave (if they meet the 3‑month rule). The proposed regulations ensure casual multi‑employer workers can also qualify for this pay.
• Broader coverage for new family situations: People who become parents through adoption or surrogacy would have up to 16 weeks of protected leave to handle placement responsibilities.
• Enforcement and clarity: New record‑keeping rules and changes to penalty regulations make it easier for inspectors to check compliance and for workers to enforce their rights.
• Costs and scale: The government’s analysis estimates quantified impacts over 10 years as $1,099,669 in benefits and $6,090,548 in costs (present value), giving a net cost of $4,990,880 (present value) and an annualized net cost of $710,589. The notice also gives counts such as 275,839 payroll records created for pregnancy‑loss leave and 2,338,706 records of bereavement‑leave changes over 10 years.
• Timing: The legislative changes are set to come into force on the 540th day after royal assent (the notice points to December 12, 2025) and the related regulations are planned to come into force the same day. The leave for placement of child is linked to related EI changes and is projected for 2026.

Note: these are proposed regulations published for comment. They are not final law until adopted in final form.