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In 2019, the Canadian government implemented a “use it or lose it” five-week leave period offered to eligible two-parent families receiving shared parental leave benefits, including adoptive and same-sex couples. Under the standard option, parents can split up to 40 weeks of shared parental leave, with a maximum of 35 weeks allowed for one parent, thereby promoting the use of a minimum of five weeks of leave by “second carers.” Recent data suggests that since the Canada-wide reform, there has been a significant increase in partner uptake of parental leave – from 32% in 2020 up to 47% in 2022. This leap in partner uptake of parental leave may reflect a cultural shift in norms of masculinity and fatherhood.
An increasing number of households are composed of dual-earner couples who prefer egalitarian divisions of responsibility within their marriages, with more men in heterosexual relationships opting to use paternity leave to support this balance. Despite this, unequal division of domestic labour remains a major driver of gender inequality worldwide. This article offers a window into the role of parental leave policies in reimagining masculinity and fatherhood and supporting contemporary family organization preferences in Canada. This information can help career professionals better understand workplace constraints and norms of masculinity that impede modern family leave preferences, helping them support clients navigating paternity leave.
Reimagining fatherhood and masculinity
Paternity leave has been proven to have numerous benefits for father-child relationships, marital satisfaction and both parents’ overall well-being. In the Canadian context, the introduction of reserved parental leave in Quebec (“use it or lose it”) in the early 2000s resulted in an increase in fathers’ responsibility for children. The shift in childcare responsibility from solely women’s labour to a shared endeavour between mothers and fathers has transformative implications for gendered parenting patterns, promoting equitable co-parenting relationships.
A significant number of fathers are expressing a desire to partake in involved fathering and foster emotional connections with their children, resulting in motivation to take paternity leave. Some fathers are choosing to organize their work life around their family lives rather than vice versa, and are embracing paternity leave to support their wives’ career ambitions while sharing parenting responsibilities. Many men are reimagining fatherhood and masculinity, striving to be both good providers and equal partners in parenting.
Challenging workplace norms
Work flexibility is a large contributor to the uptake of paternity leave, while confining narratives of masculinity remain a deterrent. Workplaces continue to value employees who dedicate themselves relentlessly to work, resulting in a disconnect between couples’ growing desire for egalitarian relationships and the workplace’s demand for unwavering commitment. Men who use flexible work arrangements or extended parental leave have been perceived as lazy and uncommitted. Some employers expect fathers to remain in contact and available to work throughout leave, suggesting paternity leave is viewed as an inconvenience rather than a necessity.
“Work flexibility is a large contributor to the uptake of paternity leave, while confining narratives of masculinity remain a deterrent.”
Unfortunately, taking parental leave can be a barrier to occupational advancement for both men and women. A traditional narrative of masculinity in many workplaces continues to pressure some fathers to conform to a breadwinner role, despite their desire for a reimagined ideal of fatherhood identity. However, some men have reported noticing a cultural shift over time, facing less scrutiny for deciding to prioritize family and challenging workplace norms that stigmatize paternity leave.
Role of policy
To be responsive to client needs, career professionals must be aware of the influence of existing policy on clients’ capacity to use parental leave in a way that aligns with their family preferences. In Quebec, the introduction of a five-week reserved paternity leave period in 2006 led to a 250% increase in leave uptake. In Nordic countries, reserved paternity leave policies have led to a doubling in the number of parental leave days taken by fathers. These examples demonstrate that parental leave policies are instrumental in contributing to a dismantling of gendered narratives that pigeonhole fathers into the role of breadwinner and in opposition with caregiving responsibilities.
To support the needs of clients at a policy level, career professionals can advocate for prolonged reserved paternity leave that ensures both parents have access to equal and sufficient time off. These policies could reshape dominant narratives by establishing that parental leave for fathers is as valuable as leave for mothers. Moreover, these policy changes could transform organizational attitudes toward parental leave, eliminating the need for men to justify taking extended leave to engage in involved fathering.
How career practitioners can support parents
Career practitioners are uniquely positioned to support clients in enacting fatherhood and masculinity in preferred ways through career decisions, such as using parental leave. Therefore, in anticipation of further transformation of fatherhood norms in Canada, I end this article with three calls to action for career professionals:
- Foster a space in which fathers are supported in exploring how dominant discourses of masculinity are influencing their use of paternity leave. Career professionals can access resources to learn about dominant fatherhood narratives, enabling them to collaborate with their clients to consider and explore the impact of these discourses on their clients’ lives. These conversations can create opportunities for clients to develop personal fatherhood narratives that align with their values.
- Provide clients with up-to-date information on parental leave options in Canada; specifically, that parents are free to share the existing parental leave weeks in any way they choose and highlighting the “use-it-or-lose-it” five-week period.
- Advocate for gender equality by mobilizing research that speaks to contemporary conceptualizations of masculinity and fatherhood in Canada. Communicating this information to clients – and, on a larger scale, to government and workplaces – can help honour egalitarian family preferences and combat the shame and stigmatization that men face when using paternity leave.
Through these commitments, practitioners can walk alongside clients as they navigate their professional lives in a way that empowers them to construct a masculinity and fatherhood identity that is meaningful to them and their families.
