Maternity Leave Under BC Employment Standards: Rights and Pay

If you’re pregnant and working in British Columbia, the Employment Standards Act gives you up to 17 weeks of unpaid, job-protected maternity leave, with no minimum length of service required to qualify.¹ Maternity leave in BC is separate from parental leave, which can add up to 61 more weeks for a birth parent, so the combined time off can reach 78 weeks.² The leave itself is unpaid, but most employees replace part of their income through federal Employment Insurance.

Who Qualifies

Every pregnant employee covered by the BC Employment Standards Act qualifies, no matter how long they’ve worked for their employer. Full-time, part-time, casual, and probationary employees all have the same entitlement, and there’s no hours-worked threshold.¹

One boundary to know: the BC Act only covers provincially regulated workplaces. If you work in banking, telecommunications, airlines, interprovincial trucking, railways, broadcasting, postal services, or a federal Crown corporation, the Canada Labour Code governs your leave instead.³ The federal entitlement is also 17 weeks, but the notice and extension rules differ. Check which regime applies before relying on the BC provisions.

How Long the Leave Lasts

Maternity leave gives you up to 17 consecutive weeks of unpaid time off. You can start it as early as 13 weeks before your expected due date, and no later than the actual date of birth. The leave ends no later than 17 weeks after it begins.² You can return sooner if you want, but if you come back within six weeks of giving birth, your employer can require a medical certificate confirming you’re fit to work.¹

If your pregnancy ends before birth, Section 50(2) provides up to six consecutive weeks of unpaid leave starting on the date the pregnancy terminates.²

Extension for Health Reasons

If you can’t return when your leave ends because of health issues related to the birth or a pregnancy loss, your employer must grant up to six additional consecutive weeks of unpaid leave under Section 50(3).² Your employer can ask for a medical certificate explaining why. This extension is for the birth parent’s own recovery, not for child-care reasons.

Giving Notice to Your Employer

Put your request in writing at least four weeks before you plan to start leave. If your employer asks, provide a certificate from a doctor or nurse practitioner confirming the expected or actual birth date, or the date the pregnancy terminated.²

If your baby arrives early and you can’t give the full four weeks’ notice, you don’t lose the leave. BC courts and the Employment Standards Tribunal have consistently held that missing the written notice requirement does not strip away the right to leave, because the Act is benefits-conferring legislation.¹ Give notice as soon as you reasonably can.

Adding Parental Leave

Parental leave under Section 51 is available to both birth and non-birth parents and typically starts immediately after maternity leave ends. How long it runs depends on your situation:

A birth parent who took maternity leave can take up to 61 consecutive weeks of parental leave, beginning immediately after maternity leave ends unless you and your employer agree otherwise.
A non-birth parent who is not adopting can take up to 62 consecutive weeks, which must begin within 78 weeks of the child’s birth.
An adopting parent can take up to 62 consecutive weeks, which must begin within 78 weeks of the child being placed with them.

For a birth parent stacking both leaves, the combined maximum is 78 weeks, plus any six-week medical extension that applies. Parental leave also requires four weeks’ written notice, and your employer can ask for evidence of your entitlement.

Getting Paid Through Employment Insurance

The BC Act protects your job, not your paycheque. Income replacement comes from federal Employment Insurance, which you apply for separately through Service Canada.

To qualify, you need at least 600 insurable hours in the 52 weeks before your claim starts, or since your last EI claim if that was more recent.⁴ EI eligibility is completely separate from BC leave eligibility. You can qualify for unpaid job-protected leave under the Act even if you don’t have enough hours for EI.

EI maternity benefits cover 15 weeks at 55% of your average insurable weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $729 per week in 2026.⁵

After those 15 weeks, you choose between two parental benefit options:

Standard parental benefits run up to 40 weeks shared between parents, with no single parent receiving more than 35 weeks, paid at 55% of earnings up to $729 per week.
Extended parental benefits run up to 69 weeks shared, with no single parent receiving more than 61 weeks, paid at 33% up to $437 per week.

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The choice is permanent once you file. Extended benefits spread less money over more weeks, so the total dollar amount is lower. Some employers top up EI through supplemental plans, but that depends on your workplace; the Act does not require it.

Your Job, Benefits, and Seniority While You’re Away

Your employment is treated as continuous during leave. Time on leave counts toward length of service for calculating annual vacation and other service-based benefits.⁷

If your employer normally pays the full cost of a pension, medical, or other benefit plan, they must keep paying during your leave. If the plan is cost-shared and you keep paying your share, the employer must keep paying theirs. If you stop paying your share, the employer’s obligation stops too.⁷ You’re also entitled to any wage or benefit increases that would have applied had you been working.

Your employer cannot fire you or change any condition of your employment because of your pregnancy or because you took leave. That protection runs from the moment you become pregnant through the end of your leave.⁸ Restructuring your role, cutting your hours, or demoting you while you’re away violates the Act unless you gave written consent.

When leave ends, your employer must return you to the position you held before, or a comparable one.⁸ If operations were suspended while you were away, they must reinstate you as soon as operations resume. In a unionized workplace, seniority provisions in the collective agreement govern the order of recall.

If Your Employer Breaks the Rules

If your employer denies your leave, terminates you, changes your working conditions because of your pregnancy, or refuses to reinstate you, file a complaint with the BC Employment Standards Branch online. Deadlines depend on whether you still work there:

If you’re still employed, the Branch will review issues going back up to one year before the date your complaint is received.
If you’re no longer employed, you must file within six months of your last day of work, and the Branch will review issues from the last year of your employment.

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If the complaint is not resolved voluntarily, the Director of Employment Standards issues a written determination that can include mandatory administrative penalties for every violation, plus an order to pay outstanding wages.⁹ The six-month deadline after leaving a job is strict. If there’s any doubt about your employer’s compliance, file early.

1
Province of British Columbia. Maternity Leave – Act Part 6, Section 50
2
British Columbia Laws. British Columbia Code – Employment Standards Act
3
Government of Canada. List of Federally Regulated Industries and Workplaces
4
Government of Canada. EI Maternity and Parental Benefits – Eligibility
5
Government of Canada. EI Maternity and Parental Benefits – How Much You Could Receive
6
Government of Canada. EI Maternity and Parental Benefits – What These Benefits Offer
7
Province of British Columbia. Employment Deemed Continuous While Employee on Leave or Jury Duty – Act Part 6, Section 56
8
Province of British Columbia. Duties of Employer – Act Part 6, Section 54
9
Province of British Columbia. File an Employment Standards Complaint