Parental Leave
As an SFPP member, you can purchase up to 3 years of parental or maternity leave, regardless of your gender, as well as up to 5 years of any other kind of leave. Additional years of parental leave can be purchased and applied against that 5 year amount.
Parental or maternity leave begins at the time a child is born or adopted. Any leave taken before that will count against the 5 year amount.
The leave will cost what you would have contributed to the Plan if you'd remained working for your SFPP employer. For the first year of leave, your employer pays their share of the cost. After the first year, you pay your employer’s share, too.
If you and your employer arrange to continue to make SFPP contributions while you're on parental leave, no leave will remain to be purchased once your leave ends.
Process to Buy a Parental Leave
If you want to buy a leave, contact your employer's human resources area. Once your employer tells us that you have a leave of absence that can be purchased, you'll be sent a package called a Buyback Proposal. This Buyback Proposal will tell you what you need to know to buy the gap in your service.
You must let us know you want to purchase your leave of absence by the earlier of two dates:
- 90 days from the date you are sent your Buyback Proposal; or
- April 30th of the year following the year in which your leave ended.