[ONT] Parental (Father) Leave - Do Employer's Top Up?

Yes they do top up. At least the company I was at. They view parental leave equally whether Mom or Dad takes it. Top up for 3 months.
As you said, others may have different opinions.

Whether you receive a top-up for maternity or parental leave depends on the company. It's common in the public service and less common (rare) at private companies, except in the NCR where private companies are competing with the federal public service. You'll need to ask your company; no one here will be able to answer that question.

How much of a top-up you receive and whether you need to be on EI to receive said top-up also depends on the company's policies.
- Most companies that provide a top-up require proof that you're on Parental EI. Some don't, and just top-up some calculated difference based on what you would receive on EI.
- Now that Extended EI is a thing, most companies require proof of what type of parental you're taking - Extended or Standard - and reduce the top-up if you're on Extended. Most of the collective agreements with the Federal Public Service, for example, top up to 93% on Standard and 55.8% on Extended; i.e., they just spread the 93% for 35 weeks over 61 weeks instead, which is all the EI program does for Extended vs Standard...
- etc...

Note that if your wife plans to take 35 weeks of Parental EI, than you are correct in that you're eligible to receive 5 weeks. If you want to take more than 5 weeks, though, do some math to determine who is better to receive the EI. If the top-up requires proof of receipt of EI, it's generally more lucrative for the spouse who receives a top-up, or the better top-up (i.e. the higher paid spouse), to be the one to receive EI while they're on Parental.

For example, my wife is about to go on maternity/parental. She'll be taking 18 months off work. I'll be taking 12 weeks off. My top-up is 93% if on Standard, but 55.8% if on Extended. Her top-up is 0%. I'll be taking 12 weeks of Standard parental EI topped up to 93%, and she'll take 28 weeks of Standard parental EI + 15 weeks of Maternity EI without top-up. Because of my top-op, taking Extended would result in thousands of dollars of sacrificed benefits (it amounts to ~$500/week after tax for the 12 weeks I'm on Parental).

Dynatos wrote: ↑ Whether you receive a top-up for maternity or parental leave depends on the company. It's common in the public service and less common (rare) at private companies, except in the NCR where private companies are competing with the federal public service. You'll need to ask your company; no one here will be able to answer that question.

How much of a top-up you receive and whether you need to be on EI to receive said top-up also depends on the company's policies.
- Most companies that provide a top-up require proof that you're on Parental EI. Some don't, and just top-up some calculated difference based on what you would receive on EI.
- Now that Extended EI is a thing, most companies require proof of what type of parental you're taking - Extended or Standard - and reduce the top-up if you're on Extended. Most of the collective agreements with the Federal Public Service, for example, top up to 93% on Standard and 55.8% on Extended; i.e., they just spread the 93% for 35 weeks over 61 weeks instead, which is all the EI program does for Extended vs Standard...
- etc...

Note that if your wife plans to take 35 weeks of Parental EI, than you are correct in that you're eligible to receive 5 weeks. If you want to take more than 5 weeks, though, do some math to determine who is better to receive the EI. If the top-up requires proof of receipt of EI, it's generally more lucrative for the spouse who receives a top-up, or the better top-up (i.e. the higher paid spouse), to be the one to receive EI while they're on Parental.

For example, my wife is about to go on maternity/parental. She'll be taking 18 months off work. I'll be taking 12 weeks off. My top-up is 93% if on Standard, but 55.8% if on Extended. Her top-up is 0%. I'll be taking 12 weeks of Standard parental EI topped up to 93%, and she'll take 28 weeks of Standard parental EI + 15 weeks of Maternity EI without top-up. Because of my top-op, taking Extended would result in thousands of dollars of sacrificed benefits (it amounts to ~$500/week after tax for the 12 weeks I'm on Parental).

Without going into details, I should note that this approach sucks for anyone who is sharing Parental with a spouse, particularly if that spouse also as a top-up.

Privilege problems.

In my experience companies rarely top up.

Like others have mentioned it rarely happens in private company.

If a company has it--- each company will also have their own top up values and the duration of top up.

My company tops up a certain percentage, up to 11 weeks.

On a similar subject... I really want to take parental leave (as a father). But my wife wants the extended 61-weeks leave.

Meaning I have to take 8-weeks.... which I'm not ok with.

Is it possible that I go back to work after 5-weeks? And forfeit the remaining 3-weeks (I will fully repay back the EI over payment). Has anyone done something similar?

GSXXRR wrote: ↑ My company tops up a certain percentage, up to 11 weeks.

On a similar subject... I really want to take parental leave (as a father). But my wife wants the extended 61-weeks leave.

Meaning I have to take 8-weeks.... which I'm not ok with.

Is it possible that I go back to work after 5-weeks? And forfeit the remaining 3-weeks (I will fully repay back the EI over payment). Has anyone done something similar?

You don't need to receive any EI. You're eligible to receive up to 8 weeks of EI if your wife receive 61 weeks. If you want to take 0 weeks, take 0 weeks. If you want to maximize your top-up, take 11 weeks, which will just reduce the amount of weeks your wife receives.

Note that job protected leave under the Ontario ESA is not the same as Parental EI benefits offered by Service Canada. Your wife can take Standard EI (15 weeks maternity + 35 weeks parental + 1 week waiting period) and still take 78 weeks of job protected leave under the Ontario ESA (17 weeks maternity + 61 weeks parental). She doesn't need to take Extended Parental EI just because she plans to take more than a year off work. Her benefit payments will just be front loaded if she chooses to take Standard EI.

She can also take 58 weeks of Extended EI while you take 11 weeks of Extended EI, and still have job protected leave for the full 78 weeks. Or, she can take 29 weeks of Standard EI while you take 11 weeks of topped-up Standard EI, and she can still be off work for 78 weeks.

Furthermore, (under the Ontario ESA) you as the father can also take 61 weeks of job protected leave as long as it starts within 78 weeks of baby's birth, even if your wife takes 61 weeks.

Again, you do not need to be receiving EI at all for your job to be protected. They're different pieces of legislation in different jurisdictions.