Québec Parental Insurance Plan

Québec Parental
Insurance Plan
Evolving with today’s parents!

Key Moments

1990

Early stages of the plan

Starting in the early 1990s, different women’s and family rights groups have fought for improved parental leave and for the implementation of a Québec parental insurance plan that would be more accessible, generous and adapted to the reality and needs of Québec families. To lead this mobilization, these groups and organizations gathered around the Regroupement pour un régime québécois d’assurance parentale, founded in 1990 by the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) and primarily made up of family organizations, women’s groups and trade union federations.

1996

Social consensus

From 1996, the Gouvernement du Québec has taken a stand for the creation of a Québec parental insurance plan, particularly in the context of an employment insurance reform led by the federal goverment at that time, which tightened the eligibility requirements and at the same time reduced its accessibility. At the Economic and Employment Summit, when presenting its new family policy, Québec announced its intention to implement its own parental insurance plan. Employers as well as union and social partners were favourable to this initiative.

1997-2001

Negotiations between Québec and Ottawa

Several negotiation sessions were held during that period. The talks focused primarily on the transfer of a portion of the contributions that Quebecers were paying to the Employment Insurance Plan so that Québec can finance its own parental insurance plan.

2001

Adoption of the Act respecting parental insurance

On May 25, 2001, the Act respecting parental insurance was unanimously adopted by the NationalAssembly.
This act is the concrete manifestation of Québec’s commitment to adopt a more flexible and generous plan than what the federal government was proposing. From 2001, the main parameters and eligibility requirements for the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), as we know them today, were set out: be a resident of Québec, be required to pay QPIP premiums, have earned at least $2,000 in insurable earnings and have had an interruption of earnings. Exclusive benefits for fathers were introduced, a distinctive feature compared to the rest of Canada, in order to increase their participation in the plan. This feature will have a positive impact on the presence of Québec fathers within the family, since taking paternity leave was now part of the social norm in Québec.

2004-2005

Canada-Québec Agreement: a crucial step for a unique plan in Québec

In 2004, negotiations between the two levels of government were concluded and an agreement in principle was signed on the financing of the new Québec plan – the final agreement was signed the following year. This historic agreement led to the creation of the new QPIP as of 2006. By adopting its own parental insurance plan, which was generally more generous than that of the federal government, Québec stood out by its family policy and was acting as a pioneer. Even today, Québec is the only province that has chosen to have its own plan.

2005

Amendment to the Act respecting parental insurance of 2001

In view of the QPIP coming into effet on January 1, 2016, the Act of 2001 had to be amended. The Parental Insurance Fund (Fund) was created and the Conseil de gestion de l’assurance parentale (CGAP) was established in order to manage the QPIP and administer the Fund with the support of a parity board of directors representing all interests of the contributors. The QPIP would be financed entirely by the Fund, which is made up exclusively of contributions paid by wage earners and self-employed workers as well as by employers.

2006

The Québec Parental Insurance Plan came into effect

The Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) was officially launched on January 1. It is considered one of the best parental insurance plan in North America, more generous and accessible, particularly because of its higher income replacement rate. Therefore, the QPIP makes it easier for parents to balance their professional and family life.

Did you know that… ?
2006 marked the highest increase in births in Québec since 1909!
It was a record increase of 7% if we compare the number of births in 2005 (76,341) with the number of births in 2006 (81,962).

2006-2007

State-of-the-art online service

The QPIP has innovated by offering the first transactional government online service thanks to a web application that includes financial payment. This innovative business solution has earned the QPIP several awards.

2006 

Flèche d’or Gala held by Association du marketing relationnel

Coup de cœur du jury award to the QPIP’s Centre de service à la clientèle

2007 

Octas Gala held by Réseau action TI du Québec

  • Winner in the category “Services publics en ligne – organisation publique”
  • Winner in the category “Solution d’affaires – organisation publique”

Prix d’excellence held by the Institut d’administration publique du Québec

Winner in the category “Fonction publique”, project “Mise en œuvre du Régime québécois    
d’assurance parentale”

2007

Preventative withdrawal and closely spaced pregnancies

The government and the CGAP have shown that they were sensitive to situations of unfairness that may be experienced by the QPIP clientele. Therefore, in order not to financially penalize mothers experiencing a preventative withdrawal or closely spaced pregnancies, regulatory amendments were made in 2006. Regarding closely spaced pregnancies, the regulations were amended to allow workers to receive a level of benefit comparable to that received when they first participated in the QPIP. As for workers on preventative withdrawal, changes have made it possible to calculate the amount of the benefit on employment income earned before their preventive withdrawal.

Pay equity

In 2007, regulatory amendments helped to prevent penalties to persons who had received pay equity payments and thus to improve their benefits.

2009

Low-income weeks

In order for persons who maintained partial labour market participation not to be penalized, the QPIP has adopted a “small weeks” measure, which means for periods that are less paid. With this measure, the average insurable earnings can, in certain circumstances, be determined based on a period prior to the “small weeks” situation. As a result, more generous benefits can be provided to parents who have gone through periods where they were less paid right before the arrival of a child.

2011

Eligibility of intermediate resources and family-type resources

Intermediate resources and family-type resources who take care of vulnerable adults became eligible for the QPIP and may receive benefits. Legislative amendments have been made to make them eligible for the QPIP and, as a result, they will be treated like self-employed workers. Therefore, these resources pay contributions based on the remuneration that is paid to them and can receive QPIP benefits.

2016

First decrease in the contribution rate

Through sound management, the Parental Insurance Fund achieved financial balance in 2011 and a first decrease in the contribution rate came into effect on January 1, 2016, after five consecutive increases from 2008 to 2012. The increases were mainly attributable to the success of the QPIP, whose popularity with parents was considerable, as proven by the significant increase in the number of births and the participation of fathers in the plan.

2019

Significant improvement in the participation of fathers in the QPIP 

As the QPIP came into effect, the participation of fathers at the birth of a child has increased significantly. Many more were taking advantage of paternity benefits and were also sharing more parental benefit weeks with the other parent.
Here are a few statistics: 

  • In 2019, the participation rate of fathers in paternity benefits was 72% compared with 56% in 2006.
  • In 2019, when both parents were receiving QPIP benefits, the ratio of shared parental benefit weeks was 26.5% compared with 19.7% in 2006.

2020

Adoption of Bill 51, An Act mainly to improve the flexibility of the parental insurance plan in order to promote family-work balance

Bill 51 was unanimously adopted by the National Assembly on October 27, 2020. The Act was assented to on October 29, 2020. The improvements made to the plan help to better meet the needs of parents in terms of family-work balance and in the context of the labour market.

Several measures have taken shape to adapt the QPIP to new realities of parents and work. The main measures include a provision that encourages greater sharing of parental benefits or adoption benefits between the parents. Therefore, when parents share a certain minimum of weeks of parental benefits or adoption benefits, they can receive additional weeks of benefits. Welcome and support benefits have also been added for adoption to ensure equity between the parents in terms of the number of weeks granted, regardless of the method of filiation. Finally, the period within which paternity benefits, parental benefits or adoption benefits can be taken was extended from 12 months to 18 months.

2021

Major improvement in the increase in benefits measure

The improvement in the increase in benefits, which came into effect on September 26, 2021, is meant to provide better financial support to low-income workers who receive QPIP benefits. The increased benefits are now calculated based on the individual income rather than the family income. Therefore, more parents will be eligible and will receive more generous increased benefits. Furthermore, the eligibility threshold for increased benefits will follow the indexation of the minimum wage.

Did you know that… ?
In 15 years, the QPIP insured over 1.1 million births and 8,000 adoptions.
Last update: November 19, 2021