Canada Country Note, Doucet, Andrea; Lero, Donna S. & Tremblay, Diane-Gabrielle (p. 65)
Sixteen of the 30 countries covered by this review reported policy changes or proposals since January 2010 (the Russian Federation country note could not be updated, so there is no information on recent developments in that country). In eight countries, policy changes intended to improve leave policy were reported; in 4 cases, these involved changes aimed at increased take-up by fathers with Finland and Norway increasing incentives to fathers to use Parental leave, Poland introducing Paternity leave, and the UK enabling the transfer of unused Maternity leave to fathers. Australia introduced its first universal paid leave and is committed to introduce paid Paternity leave in 2013.
Five countries made cuts to existing policies or announced postponement or cancellation to previously announced changes. But in two cases - Czech Republic and Hungary - cuts were reversed before coming into effect; in Iceland a cut to the Leave Fund budget has yet to be implemented; while Spain deferred a previously announced extension of Paternity leave while also introducing a new leave to care for seriously ill children. The UK introduced measures to enhance leave policies as well as cancellation of a previously announced policies.
Six countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland) reported proposals put forward to improve leave policies, the most substantive being from a taskforce in Finland and a committee in Switzerland, and a government proposal in Germany to enable carers to work reduced hours.
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Canada:
The maximum period of post-natal leave available in Canada is 12-13 months; this is paid at 55 per cent of earnings (or in Québec, 11 months can be paid at over 66 per cent of earnings), up to a ceiling. There is no entitlement to ECEC at any age, and levels of attendance at formal services for children under and over 3 years are below the average for the 30 countries included in this review, especially for over 3s.