In July, I had the joy of hearing about one of my clients welcoming a beautiful, healthy baby girl into the world. This milestone brought immense happiness to the new parents, who have spent the past few weeks adjusting to life with their little one. Fortunately, they’ve been able to focus on this new chapter without the burden of financial stress, thanks to the paid parental leave provided by their employers—a benefit that 76% of Canadians currently enjoy.¹
But it hasn’t always been this way.
The first official parental leave policy in Canada was introduced in 1971, offering new mothers a fifteen-week maternity leave with two-thirds of their regular salary. While this was a significant improvement over the previous lack of policy—which often forced new mothers to either quit their jobs or return to work immediately—it still represented a substantial pay cut and provided no provisions for fathers or adoptive parents.
In the years that followed, labour organizations began to advocate for broader protections for all new parents. A pivotal moment came in 1981 when postal workers went on strike for forty-two days—a long stretch for anyone awaiting their mail! Their efforts paid off, securing seventeen weeks of paid maternity leave for postal workers. This was just one of many victories won by workers across the country, which eventually led to the introduction of adoption leave, paternity leave, and more comprehensive parental leave policies overall.²
Today, new parents like my client benefit from these hard-fought efforts, and their children will too when they grow up. The protection of parental leave is just one aspect of the broader labour movement that we commemorate each Labour Day, but it’s one that has been particularly meaningful to me recently. Seeing my client’s gratitude for the time he can now spend with his growing family highlights just how crucial these rights are.
This Labour Day, I encourage all of us to take a moment to reflect on the progress we’ve made—and continue to make—to ensure that our rights as workers and citizens are protected and accessible to all.
¹ “Parental leave, 1977 to 2022,” Statistics Canada,link
² “Maternity and parental benefits,” Canadian Labour Congress,link
