u/Live-Summer-1763

Hi everyone! I am an internationally educated teacher. I moved to Canada because my husband is Canadian. I’m currently on maternity/parental leave and I’m planning to take some college courses in Ontario to address gaps in my education so I can eventually become a Registered ECE.

The situation is a little complicated because I was given only one opportunity to complete the courses needed to address my education gaps, and I have to complete them within one year. CECE also told me that they cannot delay/postpone my application simply because I am caring for my baby.

I’m having a baby, so obviously I’m trying to figure out how to balance the courses with caring for a newborn and receiving EI parental benefits.

I spoke with Service Canada, and they told me that taking courses could potentially affect my parental benefits, depending on the circumstances. They said I would need to report the courses once I’m receiving parental benefits.

My question is: Is there a specific number of study hours per week that is considered “too many” and could cause EI parental benefits to be reduced or stopped?

For example, if the courses are online/asynchronous and I’m studying around 5–10 hours per week while continuing to personally care for my baby, would that generally be considered okay? (I already asked Service Canada but they told me they have to individually assess every case did not give me exact answer)

I’m not trying to avoid reporting anything—I absolutely plan to report the courses but if I end up losing parental benefits because of the couses maybe it is better to decline the offer and start the process all over again after a year. But it took me nearly 2 years to gather all my previous college certificates/ translations/ related documents to submit to CECE from Europe and Asian schools. It would be bit hard to go through all this process again.

Has anyone in Canada/Ontario taken college courses while receiving EI parental benefits? What happened with your benefits?