Paid pregnancy loss leave included in Budget 2023. But who can get it?

Federal workers who experience pregnancy loss may soon be entitled to paid leave, according to a proposal in the Liberals' 2023 budget. Advocates say the benefit should be for all.

Federal workers who experience pregnancy loss, whether it’s a miscarriage or a stillbirth, may soon be entitled to paid leave, according to a measure in the Liberals’ 2023 budget.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the 255-page document Tuesday, and in it was a proposal to amend the Canada Labour Code and create a new leave for federal workers who experience pregnancy loss.

The leave would also apply to parents planning to have a child through adoption or surrogacy, the budget states.

“This measure will provide better labour protection for approximately 955,000 federally regulated sector workers, particularly women, by ensuring they have access to the time they need to recover from the physical and psychological trauma resulting from a pregnancy loss,” the federal government stated on its website.

While parents who have experienced pregnancy loss and experts who spoke to Global News say the measure is a step in the right direction, they say it doesn’t go far enough.

Michelle La Fontaine, a program manager of the Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, said she has “mixed emotions” about the proposal as it still leaves out so many Canadians.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction, but the scope is so narrow that I don’t see it as a win for bereaved parents,” she said. “I think families that will learn about this will feel very disappointed that it doesn’t apply to them, as it’s something that is tied to an employer.”

La Fontaine experienced a pregnancy loss with her twins at 20 weeks gestation. She said she had exhausted her bereavement and sick time and had to go back to work within three weeks — even though she knew she was not ready.