A graduate student who finds it necessary for parental, health, personal, professional, or academic reasons, to interrupt his or her studies may apply for a leave of absence. You should discuss any request for a Leave of Absence with your Supervisor and the Graduate Advisor. The Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies has some information about how to apply for a Leave of Absence: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/managing-your-program/leave-absence
Parental Accommodation
Graduate students with substantial parenting responsibilities for a newborn or newly adopted child under the age of six during their course of study may apply for an eight-week parental accommodation period: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/faculty-staff/policies-procedures/parental-accommodation
Maternity/Parental benefits vary depending on the grant a student is paid from, and whether they hold a fellowship or not. Information about benefits can be found on the Faculty of Science website: http://science.ubc.ca/faculty/parental
Graduate students employed as teaching assistants may be eligible for benefits. Please see http://www.hr.ubc.ca/benefits/leaves/cupe-2278/#mat for additional information. CUPE 2278 maintains a Hardship Maternity Fund for teaching assistants who are experiencing financial hardship due to the birth of a child. Please see http://cupe2278.ca/blog/?page_id=93 for more information.