In Ontario, all parents, both male and female, are entitled to take parental leave from employment. A parent is defined to include a person "with whom a child is placed for adoption and a person who is in a relationship of some permanence with a parent of a child and who intends to treat the child as his or her own".

Before a parent can take parental leave, he or she must have at least 13 weeks of service with the employer prior to the commencement of the leave. Parental leave is taken without pay; however, an employee's benefits continue during the period of the leave so long as the employee continues to make his or her benefit plan contributions. An employee may also be eligible for Employment Insurance benefits during the period of the leave. Employment Insurance benefits are equivalent to approximately 55% of the employee's wages, to a maximum of $485.00 per week. To compensate for this potential loss in wages, some employers choose to provide employees on parental leave with supplemental benefits. These supplemental benefits are paid in addition to any Employment Insurance benefits to which an employee may be entitled.

If an employee has also taken a pregnancy leave, her parental leave must begin directly after the end of the pregnancy leave. [NOTE: Only female parents, who have given birth, are eligible to take pregnancy leave.]

If an employee only takes parental leave, that leave must begin within 52 weeks after the day that the child is born or comes into the parent's custody, care and control for the first time.

If an employee takes both pregnancy and parental leave, she is entitled to take 35 weeks of parental leave. If an employee takes only parental leave, he or she is entitled to take 37 weeks of parental leave.

Parental leave must be taken as a continuous block of time. An employee wishing to take parental leave must give the employer two weeks written notice of his or her desire to take the leave.