Critical illness leave in Ontario gives eligible employees up to 37 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to care for a critically ill child or up to 17 weeks to care for a critically ill adult family member.
To qualify, you must generally have worked for your employer for at least six consecutive months and obtain a certificate from a qualified health practitioner confirming that the person is critically ill and requires family care or support.
Your employer cannot refuse qualifying leave simply because your absence is inconvenient. However, you need to follow Ontario’s written notice, leave-plan and medical-certification rules.
On This Page:
- 1. How Long Is Critical Illness Leave?
- 2. Who Qualifies?
- 3. Which Family Members Are Covered?
- 4. Medical Certificate & Taking Leave
- 5. Is Critical Illness Leave Paid?
- 6. Job Protection & Other Leaves
- 7. FAQs
How Long Is Critical Illness Leave in Ontario?
Ontario provides up to 37 weeks of critical illness leave for a minor child and up to 17 weeks for an adult within a 52-week period.
| Person Receiving Care | Maximum ESA Leave |
|---|---|
| Critically ill child under 18 | Up to 37 weeks |
| Critically ill adult aged 18 or older | Up to 17 weeks |
If the medical certificate says the person requires care for a shorter period, your leave is limited to that shorter period.
Do you have to take the leave all at once?
No. Critical illness leave can be taken in separate weeks rather than consecutively.
However, Ontario counts any part of a week used for critical illness leave as one full week of your entitlement.
For example, if you take only Monday off to provide care, you have used one week of critical illness leave even if you work the rest of that week.
Can you take another critical illness leave later?
Yes. If the person remains critically ill after the applicable 52-week period ends, you can qualify for a new leave if the legal requirements are met and a new medical certificate supports it.
Who Qualifies for Critical Illness Leave in Ontario?
Employees covered by Ontario’s ESA can qualify after at least six consecutive months of employment with their employer.
The entitlement can apply whether you are:
- Full-time
- Part-time
- Permanent
- Working under a fixed-term contract
You do not need to have actively worked every day during those six months. What matters is that you have remained employed by the employer for the required period.
What does “critically ill” mean?
A person is critically ill when their baseline state of health has significantly changed and their life is at risk because of an illness or injury.
A chronic medical condition by itself does not automatically meet that definition. The critical-illness test focuses on a significant deterioration from the person’s normal state of health combined with a risk to their life.
What does “care or support” mean?
Care or support is broader than providing hands-on medical care.
It can include:
- Providing emotional or psychological support
- Participating directly in care
- Helping arrange professional or third-party care
- Supporting the family member through a medical crisis
Which Family Members Are Covered by Critical Illness Leave?
Ontario critical illness leave covers a broad range of family relationships and can also extend to someone who considers you to be like family.
Covered relationships include:
- Your spouse
- Your parent, step-parent or foster parent
- A parent, step-parent or foster parent of your spouse
- Your child, step-child or foster child
- A child, step-child or foster child of your spouse
- A child under your or your spouse’s legal guardianship
- A brother, step-brother, sister or step-sister
- A grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or step-grandchild of you or your spouse
- Certain brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and step-in-laws
- Certain sons-in-law and daughters-in-law
- An aunt or uncle of you or your spouse
- A niece or nephew of you or your spouse
- Certain spouses of your extended family members
- A person who considers you to be like a family member
The person you are caring for does not have to live in Ontario.
Can you take critical illness leave for a niece, nephew, aunt or uncle?
Yes. Ontario’s critical illness leave covers specified aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews of both the employee and the employee’s spouse.
Can you take leave for someone who is not legally related to you?
Yes, potentially. The ESA can cover someone who considers you to be like family.
Your employer can ask for the applicable federal attestation form confirming that relationship.
Do You Need a Medical Certificate for Critical Illness Leave?
Yes. A qualified health practitioner must eventually issue a certificate supporting your entitlement to critical illness leave.
The certificate must confirm:
- The name of the child or adult
- That the person is critically ill or critically injured
- That the person requires the care or support of at least one family member
- The period during which that care or support is required
Does the certificate have to disclose the diagnosis?
No. The medical certificate does not need to tell your employer what illness or injury the family member has.
It only needs to establish that the legal critical-illness requirements are met and state the period when care or support is required.
Who can complete the medical certificate?
A qualified health practitioner can include a physician, registered nurse or psychologist who is legally qualified to practise where the person is receiving care or treatment.
In Ontario, this can include psychiatrists and nurse practitioners.
Do you need the certificate before starting leave?
No. You can begin the leave before obtaining the certificate if circumstances require it.
However, a certificate must eventually be issued. If no qualifying certificate is ever obtained, you will not have the ESA protection associated with critical illness leave.
How do you notify your employer?
You must tell your employer in writing that you are taking critical illness leave and provide a written plan showing the weeks when you expect to take it.
If an emergency makes advance notice impossible, provide the written notice and plan as soon as possible after the leave starts.
Is Critical Illness Leave Paid in Ontario?
No. Ontario’s ESA does not require your employer to pay your wages while you are on critical illness leave.
You can still have income available through Employment Insurance or an employer benefit or top-up program.
Can you get EI during critical illness leave?
Yes, if you qualify for federal EI family caregiver benefits.
| EI Benefit | Maximum Benefits |
|---|---|
| Family caregiver benefit for a critically ill child under 18 | Up to 35 weeks |
| Family caregiver benefit for a critically ill adult | Up to 15 weeks |
In 2026, EI caregiving benefits generally pay 55% of your earnings up to a maximum of $729 per week.
The ESA leave and EI benefit are separate. Ontario protects your time away and your job. EI provides income and has its own eligibility rules.
Why are the EI periods shorter than Ontario leave?
They come from different laws. Ontario provides up to 37 or 17 weeks of job-protected leave, while federal EI provides up to 35 or 15 weeks of caregiver benefits.
Do not assume that exhausting EI means your Ontario job-protected leave automatically ends.
Is Your Job Protected During Critical Illness Leave?
Yes. An employer cannot threaten, fire or penalize you because you take, plan to take or qualify for critical illness leave.
Your ESA rights generally include:
- Protection against discipline or reprisal because of the leave
- Continued credit for length of employment, service and seniority
- Continued participation in certain benefit plans if you continue paying your required share
- Reinstatement to your former job or a comparable position in most cases
Can your employer fire you while you are on leave?
Your employer cannot fire you because you took critical illness leave.
A termination can still occur for a legitimate reason completely unrelated to the leave, such as a genuine elimination of the position. But the leave cannot be used as a reason or factor in the decision.
What happens if the critically ill person dies?
Critical illness leave ends at the end of the week in which the person dies.
You can then have a separate entitlement to bereavement leave. If your child dies, the much longer child death leave can apply if you meet its requirements.
Can family members share critical illness leave?
Yes, but the maximum leave is shared among employees caring for the same person.
For the same critically ill child, one or more employees can take a combined maximum of 37 weeks. For the same critically ill adult, the combined maximum is 17 weeks.
For example, if one eligible family member takes 12 weeks to care for a critically ill adult, another eligible employee has only five weeks remaining under the ESA for that person during the same leave period.
How is critical illness leave different from family medical leave?
Critical illness leave and family medical leave use different medical tests and provide different amounts of leave.
Family medical leave provides up to 28 weeks when a family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks.
Critical illness leave instead applies where the person’s baseline health has significantly changed and their life is at risk. It provides up to 37 weeks for a child or 17 weeks for an adult and requires six months of employment.
How is it different from family caregiver leave?
Family caregiver leave can provide up to eight weeks of unpaid leave per specified family member each calendar year for a serious medical condition.
Unlike critical illness leave, the condition does not need to meet the stricter “critically ill” test and there is no minimum length-of-employment requirement.
Depending on the medical circumstances, an employee can qualify for more than one ESA leave arising from the same family health crisis. Each statutory leave is a separate entitlement.
For the full Ontario leave framework, see our Leave of Absence Ontario guide.
Critical Illness Leave Ontario FAQs
How many weeks is critical illness leave in Ontario?
Up to 37 weeks for a critically ill child under 18 or up to 17 weeks for a critically ill adult.
How long do I have to work before qualifying?
You must have been employed by your employer for at least six consecutive months before the leave starts.
Is critical illness leave paid?
The Ontario ESA leave is unpaid. Eligible employees can separately receive EI family caregiver benefits.
Do I need a doctor’s note?
You need a certificate from a qualified health practitioner, although you do not necessarily need to have it before the leave begins.
Does the medical certificate need to state the diagnosis?
No. It must confirm that the person is critically ill or injured and requires family care or support, but it does not need to identify the diagnosis.
Can I take critical illness leave one day at a time?
Yes, but taking even part of a week counts as one full week against your ESA entitlement.
Can my employer refuse critical illness leave?
Not if you meet the ESA requirements. Your employer can require the permitted notice, written plan and medical certificate.
Can I be fired for taking critical illness leave?
No. Your employer cannot punish or terminate you because you properly exercise your critical illness leave rights.
Critical illness leave exists so employees can care for a family member facing a life-threatening medical crisis without giving up their employment. If you qualify, treat it as a statutory right rather than a discretionary request for time off.
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP advises non-unionized Ontario employees dealing with denied leaves, reprisals, failed reinstatement and termination connected to protected family-care obligations.