Not countering your point (since it speaks to the loss of an employee for time), but a primary difference between Canada and the US is who pays. I think that i

Not countering your point (since it speaks to the loss of an employee for time), but a primary difference between Canada and the US is who pays. I think that is a point many articles fail to mention when comparing, and they put too much focus on the loss of time. In Canada the parental leave money comes from the government. For Microsoft and in the US, the company is paying 100% of it. If the government pulls the plug on this benefit in Canada, I predict you'd see significantly fewer parental benefits offered by the companies.