OTTAWA - A new Statistics Canada report says most Canadian children between the ages of one and three living outside Quebec had working mothers who took some type of leave following childbirth.
The agency says 90 per cent of those children had working mothers who took a leave from their jobs, which lasted an average of 44 weeks.
About 26 per cent of these children had working fathers who took a leave, which lasted an average of 2.4 weeks.
Statistics Canada says 83 per cent of these children had mothers who took paid leave, while 21 per cent took unpaid leave.
In Quebec, 99 per cent of children had mothers who took some form of leave, which lasted an average of 48 weeks.
Quebec's parental benefits program differs from the Canada Employment Insurance Program available in other provinces and territories.
© The Canadian Press, 2012