In order to qualify for these benefits, you need to meet the following criteria:
You're pregnant or have recently given birth when requesting maternity benefits
You're a parent caring for your newborn or newly adopted child when requesting parental benefits
Your regular weekly earnings from work have decreased by more than 40% for at least 1 week (this will be checked through your records of employment)
You accumulated 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim or since the start of your last claim, whichever is shorter.
Insurable earnings include most of the different types of compensation from employment, such as wages, tips, bonuses and commissions. The Canada Revenue Agency determines what types of earnings are insurable.
Example of a typical situation : You have been working for a few years. You just gave birth to your child, and you are going on maternity benefits. You need to prove that you have worked a minimum of 600 hours in the past year (52 weeks).
Example of a situation in which you would need to prove you have worked 600 hours since the start of your last claim: You lost your job, and were on regular Employment Insurance for 6 weeks as of January 2023. You found a job and worked for 8 months, before giving birth in November 2023. To qualify for maternity benefits starting in November, you need to have worked 600 hours since the start of your previous EI claim (in other words, since January 2023, because that’s less than 52 weeks).
You’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
There are other situations in which you may be eligible (if you get sick or require bed rest during pregnancy, or if you’re not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident but have a work permit, if your child i snot legally adopted, and more). There are also situations that affect your eligibility (for example, if you had a recent Employment Insurance claim). See here and here for more details on these situations.