Those men who took leave spent an average of 13 weeks away from work, compared to an average of 31.5 weeks for mothers. The government of Canada splits the EI benefits between maternity leave (17 weeks maximum) and parental leave to a maximum of 35 weeks. So after having a baby, moms can take at least 17 weeks leave of their jobs. At that point, she and the other parent have the option of taking off the remaining time — up to a total of 35 weeks. A mother could take 20 weeks and a father the remaining 15, for example.