Below are some special circumstances that may impact you. Contact Service Canada for advice on your specific situation. Changing your planned number of weeks You can change the number of weeks you request as long as you don't go over the maximum for the option you chose.
You can't change between standard and extended parental benefit options once a week of parental benefits has been paid to you, or if a payment has been made to the other parent when benefits are shared.
The number of weeks of maternity and parental benefits you can get doesn't change if you have a multiple birth (twins, triplets, etc.). This is also the case if you adopt more than 1 child at the same time.
Maternity benefits are available to people who are away from work because they're pregnant or have recently given birth, including surrogates. Parental benefits are not available to surrogates.
Canadian Forces member
If you're a Canadian Forces member (regular or reservist) who must defer or interrupt your parental leave because of an imperative military requirement, your eligibility period for parental benefits could be extended.