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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a women business leaders' roundtable in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018DANISH SIDDIQUI

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says parental leave for non-birthing parents, like fathers, would help remove barriers women face in the workforce related to expectations that they be primarily responsible for child-rearing.

Trudeau made the comment at a forum at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India.

He is raising the idea of creating a use-it-or-lose-it, funded leave for new dads days before he unveils a spending blueprint that has been the focus of lobbying efforts for further changes to parental leave policies.

The idea would be similar to the paternity leave policy in Quebec, which is the only province that provides funded leave for new fathers.

Quebec's system provides up to five weeks of paid leave to new fathers that covers up to 70 per cent of their income.

The Liberals have heard from experts that the popular program in Quebec should be replicated at a federal level.

Trudeau has also suggested the leave would be flexible beyond fathers to include, for instance, a partner in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender marriages.

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