MONTREAL - Almost all new mothers in Quebec received a paid leave last year, according to a new report by Statistics Canada.
Ninety-seven percent of Quebec mothers took a paid leave from work following the birth of their child in 2010-2011, according to the report released Monday.
That’s significantly higher than the Canadian average of 90 percent.
Overall, 99 percent of Quebec mothers of children between one and three took a leave from work, either paid or unpaid.
Their breaks lasted, on average, 48 weeks compared to 44 weeks for mothers in the rest of Canada.
There’s an even-larger gap between men, where 76 percent of Quebec fathers took time off, compared to just 26 percent outside of the province.
Those paternal breaks were three weeks longer than in the rest of Canada where the average was 2.4 weeks.
Independent workers, regardless of gender, took shorter breaks.
Quebec's parental benefits program differs from the Canada Employment Insurance Program available in other provinces and territories.
-With files from The Canadian Press
