Category: Modern Dad

Paternity Leave in Canada: What Every Father Should Know

David Pierre   ·  

Becoming a parent is a life-changing experience, I know it was for me. And those changes bring on both joy and responsibilities. For fathers, taking time off from work to be with their newborn child is integral to bonding and adjusting to the new role. In Canada, the law provides various options for fathers to take time off work for the birth or adoption of a child, including paternity leave. This article will provide a comprehensive overview of paternity leave in Canada, including your rights and benefits.

Paternity Leave in Canada

In Canada, the right to take time off work for the birth or adoption of a child is governed by federal and provincial laws. Under the federal Employment Insurance (EI) program, eligible employees can take up to 15 weeks of EI benefits for standard parental leave, which can be shared between both parents. Additionally, some provinces have their own laws providing for extended parental leave or other benefits.

To be eligible for EI benefits, you must have worked a minimum number of hours in the past 52 weeks and have a valid claim for EI benefits. To apply for EI benefits, you must provide proof of your paternity, such as a birth certificate or adoption order, and your proof of employment.

Rights and Benefits of Paternity Leave

The right to take time off work for the birth or adoption of a child is a fundamental right in Canada and is protected under federal and provincial laws. This means that your employer cannot discriminate against you or terminate your employment because you have taken paternity leave. Additionally, your job and benefits are protected while you are on leave, and you have the right to return to work at the end of your leave.

Under the EI program, eligible employees can receive benefits equal to 55% of their average weekly earnings, up to a maximum of $573 per week. These benefits are paid by the federal government and are intended to provide financial support while you are on leave.

In addition to EI benefits, some provinces have their own laws providing for extended parental leave or other benefits. For example, in Quebec, eligible employees can take up to 5 additional weeks of leave, while in British Columbia, eligible employees can take up to 8 additional weeks of leave.

Tips for Taking Paternity Leave

Taking paternity leave is important in supporting your family and bonding with your child. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your leave:

  1. Plan ahead: Start planning your leave as early as possible, including making arrangements with your employer and applying for EI benefits.
  2. Be open with your employer: Be transparent with your employer about your plans to take paternity leave, and discuss any concerns or questions you may have.
  3. Make the most of your time off: Use your time off to bond with your child and enjoy your family while also taking care of yourself and preparing for your return to work.

As a father in Canada, you have the right to take time off work for the birth or adoption of a child. By understanding your rights and benefits, and being proactive in your planning and preparation, you can make the most of your paternity leave and support your family during this exciting and challenging time.

Drumheller, AB – One Family, One Day.

David Pierre   ·  

Drumheller, Let’s Do This!

Try Drumheller if you’re looking for a great day trip from Calgary and don’t want to fight the crowds near the mountains. Drumheller has plenty of shops, restaurants, and attractions to keep everyone entertained. Also, if you’re driving from Calgary, it’s about 1 hour and 30 minutes, perfect for getting a car nap in if your kids still nap!

The Hoodoo Trails near Drumheller, AB, Canada

First Stop – The Hoodoos Trail

For my family, every trip to Drumheller starts at the Hoodoos Trail. What we like about this, compared to mountain trails, is how easy it is for everyone to wander all over the hoodoos and explore all the little details. Some days, my son and I make it to the top, and other days, we don’t make it more than 100m from the parking lot. Both of those are perfectly acceptable. I am not sure how the parking works. I know we’ve gone on the weekend and had to pay $5 (cash) to park, and most times, we’ve gone and parked for free. I don’t know when you have to pay and when you don’t, so maybe bring $5 just in case. Because, who has cash anymore, so you better be prepared for it. You’re going to want to make sure you have suitable footwear, as some spots can be tricky. Also, make sure to have sunscreen and lots of water, since it can be pretty hot on the Hoodoos in the summer. Another great location, but a bit more challenging for smaller children, is Horsethief Canyon. If you’re arriving at Drumheller along highway 570 from the southeast, you might also want to have a stop at the Atlas Coal Mine. I wouldn’t say this is the best location for kids, but it makes for some great photos, and you’ll get to see something you usually wouldn’t come across.

The Hoodoo Trail has something for all ages to explore
Hoodoos make a great picnic bench!

Downtown Drumheller

Once we’ve had our fill of adventure, we head into the town of Drumheller to walk around and check out all the quirky shops and all the local dinosaur statues and art. This part is fascinating if you have a Dinosaur lover in your home. I am into dinosaurs also, but I enjoy all the art shops in Drumheller. There are some quirky items that would be a conversation starter if they were on your coffee table at home! If you have a significant dinosaur lover in your home, check out the Royal Tyrell Museum. It has a fantastic collection of fossils and exhibits. We tried the Royal Tyrell Museum a few years back but found it to be a bit crowded and not worth the money with smaller children that have the attention span of an ant. When I spend a certain amount of money, I need to spend hours at a location to make it worthwhile. But, after about 45 minutes, my kids were tired of looking at fossils and wanted to leave. So maybe We’ll try again in a few more years when they can appreciate fossils and how much money it takes to look at them. So, for now, it is just as fun to get ice cream from the Jurassic Store across from the world’s largest dinosaur statue and walk around, far less expensive also! If you’d like to eat more than ice cream, there are lots of local restaurants near the world’s largest dinosaur; however, if your children are more into happy meals or DQ blizzards, you’ll find those also along the main highways that lead into Drumheller.

The World’s Largest Dinosaur in Drumheller, Alberta

Keep Exploring!

Anyway, Drumheller is one of our family’s favourites in the summer. Fewer crowds, easy to get around, and lots of exploring!

The 2021 Toyota Sienna Handles A DIY Project With Ease

David Pierre   ·  

When asked to do a partnership with Toyota Canada, we were so excited to have a vehicle with the cargo space to finally be able to do a bedroom makeover for our kids. The 2021 All-Hybrid Toyota Sienna was the perfect vehicle for us to do it. 

Okay, the back story. A few months ago, my daughter Eva decided she was going to become a world-class climber. Her first climb? Her crib – and it took her all of ten seconds to climb it. So now that she can easily climb out of her crib, we thought it was time to move her out of the spare room and into a bunk bed with our older son Ben. We live in a smaller inner-city home, which means space is at a premium. Every room must be as efficient as possible if we are going to make it all work. It’s what we expect from our home, and what we also expect from our vehicle.

We love living in the inner city because we are close to so many local shops, and we’ve never had the need for a second vehicle. However, when you don’t have a second vehicle to share the life’s everyday needs, you come to expect a lot from the one you have. We need our vehicle to haul the entire family (comfortably!) and our stuff all around the city; to and from the kids’ places like school, the grocery store, the hardware store, and everything in between. Our vehicle must have comfort, plenty of cargo space, and excellent fuel efficiency – and honestly, that’s what you get with the 2021 Toyota Sienna.

Seriously, my mind was blown! That sort of fuel efficiency is usually reserved for compact cars, not vehicles with this much power

One Feature That Blows My Mind

To me, the most impressive feature of the 2021 Toyota Sienna is the fuel efficiency. Toyota does this by using a 2.5L four-cylinder hybrid engine. This engine will do 6.7 L/100km combined in the AWD configuration.  Seriously, my mind was blown! That sort of fuel efficiency is usually reserved for compact cars, not vehicles with this much power (245 hp) and cargo capabilities. Which is precisely what we are going to use it for today; hauling our whole family to a big-box curb-side pick-up location, getting all the things we need to makeover our kids’ room.

I think we can all agree that 2020 and 2021(so far) has been weird. Let’s get that out of the way. The days of going into a store with your kids and feeling carefree about all the touching and licking are gone. These days, many stores offer curbside pick-up, and to be honest, I like it. Hauling your young kids into a store is already challenging enough. I mean, I do look forward to the day we can comfortably go back into the stores, but until then, curbside all day! Because let’s face it, keeping your kids entertained and comfortable in a Toyota Sienna is easy. For instance, the one we are in has a premium, 12-speaker audio system to hear all the subtle nuances of songs as complex as “The Wheels on The Bus.” Additionally, there are charging ports everywhere for their devices, and the Sienna comes with a rear-seat entertainment system. In short, it has everything to keep your kids entertained while waiting for your curbside pick-up.

So Many Features To Handle Kids and Cargo.

When it’s time to make the pick-up, everything is made easy and efficient with the Toyota Sienna. Backing into the parking area is a sinch with a backup camera. Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 gives you a polite warning if you’re getting too close to any cars or objects. A digital rear-view mirror gives you a camera display of the area behind your vehicle, just in case those kids or boxes are obstructing the regular rear-view mirror. Furthermore, Opening the back hatch is easy with either a push of a button on the keys or the back door. Or, if your hand’s area already full, wave your foot under the bumper, and the back door will open by itself. Once the door is open, we have plenty of cargo space for everything needed to do a makeover of our kid’s room, even with the third row up! However, if you need a little more room (think long boxes and 2×4’s) you can easily collapse the third row for even more space, and when I say easy, I mean it. One hand is all it takes. 

Finally, for the big reveal! What did we decide on for the room? Well, you’ve probably picked up on a theme when it comes to my family. We are practical and enjoy functionality, so we kept things simple. We went with minimal trinkets and decorating with maximum storage and functionality – because that’s who we are. So it’s no wonder why we enjoy the Toyota Sienna so much, because, despite its dramatic look, there wasn’t anything dramatic about using it to pick up all the things we need to make over Ben and Eva’s room. We expect our family vehicle to be comfortable, highly functional, and reliable when moving us from location to location – and with the 2021 Toyota Sienna, that’s precisely what you get.

Fish Creek Ice Caves, A Winter Outing For Young Families

David Pierre   ·  

If you’re looking for a family friendly outing on a mild winter day in Calgary, I highly suggest the Fish Creek Ice Caves. The Ice Caves are located in Fish Creek Provincial Park and can be accessed by parking Near Annies Cafe, Bow Bottom Trail, and walking a short distance to the Caves.

At first, you’ll walk along a paved path in an open field. Once you cross a bridge, turn right. You’ll think you’ve hit a dead-end once you’ve turned right, but if you closely inspect, you’ll see a few paths that go around the barrier fence, and they take you down along the frozen rivers edge to where the ice caves are.

The caves themselves are relatively small, but this makes them great for families with young children. The caves are easily accessible for younger kids. They can also get right up close to the frozen waterfalls, and there are a few small hills that the kids can climb up and explore. You can continue along the river’s edge, following the path for those that are feeling for a bit more of a hike. We went a little way and saw a coyote, birds, and other adventurous families. However, since we were walking with our 18-month old, we didn’t get very far and headed back to the caves area.

The best part about the outing, if you are going with young kids, is that you’ll be able to visit the caves, have a snack, get a short walk in, and be back home in time for nap time, that is, of course, if you can get your child to nap. But hopefully, the fresh air will increase the odds of a nap happening. I mean, what more could a parent ask for?

Wardrobe Malfunction At The Zoo

David Pierre   ·  

In partnership with Tide, I would like to share with you one of my most significant wardrobe malfunctions as a busy parent. Also, I’ll share with you how something as simple as my choice of laundry detergent could have prevented this mishap. 

Is this an outing or Arctic expedition?


Now, if you’re a parent reading this, you know what an outing with a child is all about. There’s a level of planning involved that I’m sure would impress the scientists working on the next moon landing. There are healthy snacks, water, favourite toys, strollers, unhealthy snacks for when the healthy snacks get rejected, and your kid is getting hangry. You get the idea. 


Anyway, another necessity when going out with a child is a change of clothes, maybe even two. It never fails that, kids find a way to get mud, dirt, ketchup, and anything in between all over their clothes within the first 10 minutes of going somewhere. So you rush off to the changing area, change your child, and stuff the dirty clothes into the bottom of the backpack, letting the stains set-in, more on that later. It’s probably at this point you realize that whatever was all over your child is now all over you. It never fails. Now, for those of you that have followed me for a while, you know I love wearing t-shirts. So, it always pains me to see mud and smoothie splattered all over my shirts. It also pains me that after all the planning, the one thing I never remember to bring is a change of clothes for myself.

Alright, here is the embarrassing story.


Okay, are you ready for this embarrassing story? It’s also a story of pure parenting perseverance. The type of stuff Ellen might invite you onto her show for, hint. 

It was at this point that the entire seam that restricts the world from seeing my posterior decided it was no longer willing to cover my butt. As I knelt, a loud “POP” echoed through the room.

Alright, so on this particular day, Benjamin and I were at the zoo in the middle of the winter. We were in one of the warm buildings, because, you know, winter. I was following Benjamin around from one animal to the next when he locked in on one of his favourites, the turtles. On this day, the turtles were extra cute, nibbling on some tiny turtle lettuce, or something. As a result of their cuteness, a crowd gathered around them. Benjamin, not aware of standard society rules, barged up the front of the group and yelled back to me to come and see the turtles. So, I apologetically made my way to Benjamin. Since I am aware of standard society rules, I knew that I must crouch down so that the people behind me can also see the turtles. 

The incident happened at the adorable turtle enclosure

It was at this point that the entire seam that restricts the world from seeing my posterior decided it was no longer willing to cover my butt. As I knelt, a loud “POP” echoed through the room. Now, you’re probably thinking, well, no one noticed, right? Wrong! It was apparent that other people saw my mishap. The sound was so loud, and I was left with no choice but to acknowledge the rip. “Oh man, I ripped my pants,” I said, contemplating my next move. Do I tie my coat around my waist? That wouldn’t make any sense; it’s pretty cold for that move. Now you’re probably thinking, you could leave, right? Wrong! This building was the first stop. And after all that planning and packing, there was no way I was going home so soon. 

This is what the pants looked like after the incident

So what did I do? For the rest of the time, I just stayed standing up, refusing to bend over or kneel, which is surprisingly tricky when accompanied by a barely 3ft person. Of course, it was a little drafty, but I don’t think anyone noticed.

I could have prevented this.


As much as I love telling that story now, I didn’t think it was all that funny at the time. And it wasn’t until I had a chance to talk with the great people at Tide, that I learned that there are better ways to treat our clothing and prevent them from failing when we need them the most. Furthermore, it’s days like this that our clothes are put to the test. We are walking in the cold weather, into a warm building, letting the sweat absorb into our clothing. Then there’s the dirt and food stains. Those clothes go into the washer, and the cycle repeats itself the next day. 


Washing and wearing your clothes can cause things like permanent stains, dinginess, and fading, which can keep them from looking great. Tide Power PODS contains specific ingredients that help maintain clothing appearance over time. 

My kids make a mess of their own, and my clothes


First, they contain builders and chelants. Builders lock up calcium and magnesium to reduce water hardness, allowing surfactants to do their job, which is removing stains. 

Secondly, Tide Power PODS contain scavengers. Scavengers seek out things like chlorine, which is often found in drinking water. Chlorine has been shown to damage and fade fabrics over time. 

Third, Power Pods contain polymers. Polymers keep stains and soils from re-depositing onto other garments after the surfactants have removed them, preventing dinginess on clothing over time.


Finally, Tide Power PODS contains cold-water enzymes. The enzymes are part of an overall formula designed to function well in cold water. Since washing in the cold maintains bright colours and prevents fading.

Alright, if you didn’t want to read all that technical stuff, I’ll sum it up like this. Tide Power PODS are designed to keep your clothes looking better for longer, and maybe saving you an embarrassing moment along the way.

Thankfully Tide Power PODS keeps my clothes looking great!

If you want to learn even more about Tide Power PODS, or you’d like to try them out for yourself click here!