A leave of absence in Canada is time away from work while you remain employed. Some leaves are legally protected, which means your employer must allow the time off if you qualify. Other personal leaves require your employer’s approval.

There is no single Canada-wide leave-of-absence rule. Your rights depend on the province where you work or whether your workplace is federally regulated, as well as the reason you need time away.

The most important question is whether your leave is job-protected by law. Don’t simply stop attending work because you need time off. Identify the leave that applies, notify your employer and provide any documentation the law reasonably requires.

⚠️ Need an extended leave? Don’t resign or simply stop coming to work. You can have a legal right to job-protected leave or disability accommodation even if your employer initially says the absence can’t be approved.

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What Is a Leave of Absence?

A leave of absence is an authorized period away from work during which the employment relationship continues.

A leave can last a single day, several weeks or much longer depending on why you need to be away and the employment law that applies to you.

There are two important categories.

Statutory job-protected leave

If employment standards legislation gives you the right to a leave and you meet its requirements, your employer must respect it.

Your employer does not get to refuse a protected leave simply because the absence is inconvenient or creates a staffing problem.

Employer-approved personal leave

If no law, employment contract, workplace policy or human rights obligation gives you the right to the time off, you normally need your employer’s permission.

For example, you might ask for several unpaid months away to travel, study or deal with a personal matter that does not qualify for a statutory leave.

Your employer can agree to that arrangement, but it is different from a leave the law requires it to provide.

💡 A “leave of absence” is not automatically a legally protected leave. The reason you need time away determines whether employment standards legislation, human rights law, your contract or an employer policy protects the absence.

Types of Leave of Absence in Canada

Employees in Canada can have job-protected leave rights for pregnancy, parenting, illness, caregiving and other major life events. The type of leave determines how long you can be away, whether you qualify and what notice or documentation you must provide.

Pregnancy and parenting leaves

Caregiving and serious family events

  • Compassionate Care Leave — protected time away to care for or support a family member with a serious medical condition and a significant risk of death.
  • Critical Illness Leave — leave that can allow an employee to care for a critically ill child or adult family member.
  • Death or Disappearance of a Child Leave — explains job-protected leave that can apply after the death or crime-related disappearance of an employee’s child. Eligibility and maximum leave differ across Canada.

Medical and mental health leave

  • Stress Leave Canada — explains when stress, anxiety, depression or another mental-health condition can support medical leave and disability accommodation.
  • EI Sickness Benefits — explains federal income benefits that can be available while you are medically unable to work. EI provides income; it is not itself your job-protected leave.
  • Can You Travel While on Medical Leave? — explains when travel can be consistent with a medical absence and what employees should avoid doing.

Other leave questions

  • FMLA Canada — Canada does not have the US Family and Medical Leave Act. This guide explains the Canadian leave protections that apply instead.
  • Pawternity Leave Canada — explains whether employees can take time away to adopt, care for or grieve a pet. Canada does not generally provide a specific statutory “pawternity leave.”
💡 Not sure which leave applies? Start with why you need time away from work. The reason for the absence—not the label you or your employer gives it—determines whether the time off is legally protected.

Does Your Employer Have to Approve a Leave of Absence?

If you qualify for a statutory job-protected leave and satisfy its requirements, your employer can’t simply refuse it.

You still need to follow the rules that apply to that leave.

Depending on the leave, you can be required to:

  • Notify your employer that you are taking leave
  • Give advance written notice where possible
  • Provide an expected start or return date
  • Provide reasonable evidence that you qualify
  • Provide medical documentation for certain medical or caregiving leaves

Emergencies do not always allow advance notice. Where that happens, the applicable employment standards law can allow notice to be provided as soon as reasonably possible.

Can your employer deny an unpaid personal leave?

Yes, if the leave is not protected by law, your employment contract, workplace policy or another legal right.

There is no general Canadian employment-law right to take several months off simply because you want an extended break from work.

Your employer can voluntarily approve the leave. If it does, get the important terms in writing.

What should an employer-approved leave agreement say?

For a voluntary leave that is not protected by legislation, confirm:

  • When the leave begins
  • When you are expected to return
  • Whether the leave is paid or unpaid
  • What happens to your benefits
  • What happens to vacation and other entitlements
  • What job you are expected to return to
⚠️ Don’t assume a verbal “take whatever time you need” guarantees your job indefinitely. If the leave is not legally protected, confirm the leave and return-to-work arrangement in writing.

Are Leaves of Absence Paid in Canada?

Most statutory leaves of absence are unpaid by the employer, but there are important exceptions.

Paid leave rights differ across Canada. For example, B.C. provides eligible employees with paid illness or injury days, while federally regulated employees can earn paid medical leave and receive paid portions of certain other federal leaves.

Your employment contract, workplace policy or benefit plan can also provide paid leave that is better than the legal minimum.

Can you receive EI while on a leave of absence?

Some unpaid leaves can qualify for Employment Insurance or another government income benefit.

EI benefits can provide income in situations involving:

  • Maternity and parental leave
  • Personal illness or injury
  • Caring for a critically ill family member
  • Providing compassionate end-of-life care

EI and job-protected leave are separate systems. Receiving EI does not automatically determine how long your employer must protect your job, and qualifying for job-protected leave does not automatically mean you qualify for EI.

What about disability benefits?

If you are away because of a medical condition, short-term or long-term disability benefits can provide income while you are unable to work.

Income benefits and your legal right to remain away from work are separate questions. The fact that benefits end does not automatically mean you are medically able or legally required to return.

Learn more about short-term disability benefits and long-term disability benefits.

Is Your Job Protected While You’re on Leave?

If you properly take a statutory job-protected leave, your employer can’t punish you because you exercised that right.

Depending on the law that applies, your protections can include:

  • Protection from termination or discipline because of the leave
  • Continuation of your employment relationship
  • Protection of seniority or length of service
  • Continuation of certain benefit rights
  • Reinstatement to your previous or a comparable position

Can your employer contact you while you’re on leave?

Yes. Reasonable communication about your leave or return to work is allowed.

Your employer can contact you to confirm an expected return date or request documentation the law reasonably permits.

That is different from pressuring you to perform work while you are medically unable to work or demanding that you abandon protected leave early.

What if you need more medical leave than the statute provides?

Running out of statutory medical leave does not automatically mean your employer can require you to return or fire you.

If your illness or injury amounts to a disability, additional time away can form part of the employer’s duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship.

Accommodation can also include modified duties, reduced hours or a gradual return to work when appropriate.

💡 Statutory leave and disability accommodation are different protections. The end of an employment-standards leave does not automatically mean an employee with a disability has run out of workplace rights.

Do you get your job back after leave?

Statutory job-protected leaves generally include important return-to-work protections.

Depending on the particular law, you can be entitled to return to your previous position or an equivalent or comparable job.

If you are returning from maternity or parental leave, see our detailed guide to returning to work after maternity leave.

Can You Be Fired While on a Leave of Absence?

Your employer can’t fire you because you requested, qualified for or properly took a statutory job-protected leave.

That does not necessarily make every employee on leave immune from every legitimate business decision. Whether an unrelated termination can occur during a particular leave depends on the legislation and circumstances.

If you are terminated while away, look closely at:

  • The reason your employer gives
  • When the decision was made
  • Comments about your absence
  • Whether your position actually disappeared
  • Whether someone else continues doing your work
  • Whether comparable employees who were not on leave kept their jobs

What if you’re fired while on medical leave?

A termination connected to illness or medical leave can also involve disability discrimination and failed accommodation.

Don’t assume that using all your statutory sick days ends the analysis. Medical leave, disability accommodation and termination rights can overlap.

Are you owed severance if you’re fired while on leave?

If your employment is lawfully terminated without cause, your full termination and severance rights still need to be assessed.

If the termination was improperly connected to a protected leave, disability, pregnancy or another human rights ground, additional statutory or human rights remedies can also be available.

If you are terminated, don’t sign a release before having your full severance package reviewed—you may be owed as much as 24 months’ pay.

If your employer fails to provide the termination compensation you are owed, you can also have a wrongful dismissal claim.

⚠️ Don’t resign because your employer refuses a medical or family-related leave, says there is no job to return to or pressures you to come back before you are able. Get advice before giving up your employment and severance rights.

Leave of Absence Rules Across Canada

Every province and the federal sector has its own list of protected leaves, eligibility requirements, maximum lengths and notice rules.

  • Ontario: The Employment Standards Act provides numerous leaves covering pregnancy, parenting, illness, caregiving, bereavement, domestic or sexual violence, reservist duties and other qualifying circumstances. Explore our Leave of Absence Ontario guide.
  • Alberta: The Employment Standards Code provides job-protected leaves for matters including maternity and parental leave, long-term illness and injury, compassionate care, critical illness, bereavement, domestic violence, personal and family responsibilities and reservist duties. See Leave of Absence Alberta.
  • British Columbia: Employees can have protected leave rights for matters including illness or injury, pregnancy, parenting, family responsibilities, compassionate care and other qualifying events. See our Leave of Absence BC section.
  • Federally regulated workplaces: The Canada Labour Code provides a broad range of paid and unpaid leaves, including maternity and parental, medical, compassionate care, critical illness, death or disappearance of a child, pregnancy loss, personal, family violence, bereavement and reservist leave.

Leave of Absence Canada FAQs

Can your employer refuse a leave of absence?

Your employer can’t refuse a statutory job-protected leave if you qualify and satisfy its requirements. A personal leave that is not legally protected normally requires the employer’s approval.

How long can a leave of absence last?

There is no single maximum. Some leaves last only a few days, while maternity, parental, medical, caregiving and other serious family-related leaves can last many weeks or much longer.

Can you take a leave for stress or mental health?

Yes. A mental-health condition that makes you medically unable to work can support medical leave and can also trigger disability accommodation rights.

Does your employer have to pay you during a leave?

Usually not. Many statutory leaves are unpaid, although paid leave rights exist in some jurisdictions. Your employment contract, benefit plan, EI or disability coverage can also provide income.

Can you take vacation instead of unpaid leave?

You can ask to use available vacation, but vacation and protected leave are separate employment rights. An employer should not simply treat every statutory leave as vacation in order to use up your vacation entitlement.

Can you quit while on a leave of absence?

Yes, but don’t resign because your employer says your protected leave has ended or your job is no longer available. You can have accommodation, reinstatement, constructive dismissal or severance rights that should be reviewed first.

Is FMLA available in Canada?

No. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a U.S. law. Canadian employees instead rely on provincial or federal employment standards legislation, human rights law and workplace benefits. See our FMLA Canada guide.

⚠️ Unionized? Leave-of-absence, accommodation, reinstatement and termination disputes must be addressed through your union and the grievance process. Samfiru Tumarkin LLP’s employment law team can’t assist with unionized workplace disputes.

Get Help With a Leave of Absence Problem

The most important question is not whether your employer calls your time away a “leave of absence.” It is whether the law protects the reason you need to be away.

Samfiru Tumarkin LLP helps non-unionized employees deal with denied leaves, medical and disability accommodation, pressure to return early, failed reinstatement and termination during or after protected leave.

If your employer has changed or ended your employment because of a leave of absence, our employment lawyers can protect your rights and secure the full severance pay and compensation you are legally entitled to receive.

Need Time Away From Work?

Find out whether your leave is legally protected before resigning, stopping work or accepting a termination. Our employment lawyers can protect your job and secure the full severance pay and compensation you are owed.

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