33.1. For the purposes of the third paragraph of section 7 of the Act, the period within which maternity benefits may be paid is extended if(1) the person has an accident or an illness unrelated to pregnancy;
(2) the person’s presence is required, because of a serious illness or a serious accident, with the person’s child, spouse, spouse’s child, father, mother, father’s or mother’s spouse or any other person who is a member of the family for the purposes of the provisions relating to family caregiver benefits under the employment insurance plan;
(3) the person’s minor child is dead or missing, having been the victim of a probable offence to the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46); or
(4) one of the person’s children, born from a single pregnancy, is deceased.
Subject to the third paragraph of section 7 of the Act, the maternity benefit period is extended(1) by the number of full weeks that the situation lasts; or
(2) by 3 weeks in the case provided for in subparagraph 4 of the first paragraph.
If a person is again in the situation referred to in the first paragraph during the extension of the maternity benefit period, the benefit period is extended by the number of weeks that the situation lasts, subject to the third paragraph of section 7 of the Act.
1271-2020O.C. 1271-2020, s. 81.