Sick Days and Family Responsibility Leave in Canada by Province

Your sick days depend on the law that covers your job: your province’s or territory’s employment standards law, or the Canada Labour Code if your employer is federally regulated (which law covers you). Federally regulated employees earn paid medical leave, up to 10 days a year. British Columbia gives 5 paid and 3 unpaid sick days a year after 90 days on the job. Ontario gives 3 unpaid sick days plus 3 unpaid family responsibility days a year.

How many sick days do you get in each province?

“Not stated” means our source gives no figure, not that the leave doesn’t exist.

In some provinces one set of days covers your own illness and your family’s needs: Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador each have a single leave for both, and Saskatchewan’s protected days also cover a dependent member of your immediate family. In Quebec, the 2 paid days a year are one total for illness and family obligations.

The days reset each calendar year in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec; New Brunswick counts a twelve-month period. Federally, your employer picks the calendar year or its vacation year. Unused days don’t carry over in Ontario, B.C., Alberta, Quebec or Prince Edward Island.

Nunavut’s row is blank: we found no sick leave figures in the territory’s sources, and the consolidation of its Labour Standards Act we read is dated June 13, 2022. Yukon’s figures come from its fact sheet on special leave without pay, updated August 2021, on yukon.ca.

Are sick days paid?

The rows with paid sick days are federally regulated jobs, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec:

• Federal: your usual wage for the hours you normally work.
• British Columbia: An average day's pay for each paid day, the province’s measure.
• Prince Edward Island: after a year with the same employer, paid days at your regular wage rate: 1 paid day in the second year of employment, 2 in the third, 3 in the fourth and each year after.
• Quebec: after 3 months of uninterrupted service, 2 paid days of absence a calendar year, worked out like statutory holiday pay.

The days are unpaid in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories. Saskatchewan’s guidance says “Paid sick leave is not provided for in The Saskatchewan Employment Act”. A contract or collective agreement can pay more; see your contract.

For longer absences, EI sickness benefits pay 55% of your earnings, up to a weekly maximum, for up to 26 weeks when you can’t work for medical reasons, with a medical certificate showing it and roughly how long. EI pays the benefit, not your employer, and it takes 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before your claim (or since your last claim, whichever is shorter). Some employers have their own paid sick leave or short-term disability plan, and Service Canada says to check with your employer before applying. More is in our EI sickness benefits guide.

What is family responsibility leave, and how many days do you get?

Family responsibility leave is short time off for a family member’s illness, care or an urgent matter. It is unpaid in the rows that say so; federally regulated jobs pay the first 3 of the 5 days once you have 3 consecutive months with the employer, and Quebec’s paid days can be used for it.

Ontario: up to 3 days of unpaid leave each calendar year, after 2 consecutive weeks with your employer, for an illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter involving certain relatives. They include your spouse (married or not), parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren (step relatives included, and foster parents and foster children), yours or your spouse’s, your child’s spouse, your siblings, and a relative who depends on you for care. An urgent matter is something unplanned or out of your control that could cause serious harm, emotional harm included, if you didn’t respond. The guide’s examples: a babysitter calling in sick counts; leaving early for your daughter’s soccer game doesn’t. Your employer can’t require a medical note for a relative’s illness, injury or medical emergency, though it can ask for evidence “reasonable in the circumstances”. These days are separate from Ontario’s sick days.

British Columbia: up to 5 unpaid days in each employment year (counted from your start date) for the care, health or education of a child under 19 in your care, or the health of another member of your immediate family.

One leave for both: in Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador the same days cover you and your family, and in Saskatchewan you and a dependent member of your immediate family; their rules are under your province.

Elsewhere:

• Federally regulated jobs have personal leave: up to 5 days a calendar year for a family member’s health or care, the education of a family member under 18, or an urgent situation involving you or a family member, with the first 3 paid after 3 consecutive months.
• Quebec allows 10 days a year for your child’s or your spouse’s child’s care, health or education, or the health of a family member or someone you care for as an informal caregiver.
• New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island set out a few unpaid family days of their own, shown in the table. Nova Scotia’s can also go to medical, dental or similar appointments.
• The sources we read for the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut state no family responsibility leave.

For a critically ill family member, see critical illness leave; after a death, bereavement leave.

What are the sick leave rules where you work?

Federally regulated jobs

• You can take up to 27 weeks of medical leave for illness or injury, organ or tissue donation, medical appointments during working hours, or quarantine.
• After your first 30 days of continuous employment you earn 3 days of medical leave with pay.
• After that you earn 1 more paid day at the start of each month of continuous employment, up to 10 days a year.
• Paid days you don't use carry over into the next year, up to a maximum of 10 days.
• For a medical leave of 5 days or longer, your employer can ask for a certificate from a health care practitioner.
• When you come back, your employer can reassign you to another position if you can't perform your previous job functions.

Ontario

Ontario’s 3 unpaid sick days a calendar year apply after 2 consecutive weeks with your employer, full-time or part-time. They aren’t pro-rated: start partway through a year and you still get the full amount for the rest of it. They needn’t be taken in a row, but your employer can count a part day as a full one.

British Columbia

B.C.’s illness or injury leave applies to full-time and part-time employees alike, and the days needn’t be consecutive. With two part-time jobs at once, you get the days in each job after 90 days there.

Alberta

• You need at least 90 days of employment with the same employer.
• You can take up to 5 days each calendar year, and unused days don't carry over.
• The leave is for your own health or to meet your family responsibilities to a family member.
• Your employer doesn't have to pay wages during the leave unless your contract or collective agreement says so.

Saskatchewan

• You need more than 13 consecutive weeks of employment with your employer.
• The absence can be for your own illness or injury or that of a dependent member of your immediate family.
• Up to 12 days a calendar year are protected for an illness or injury that isn't serious.
• Up to 27 weeks in a 52-week period are protected for a serious illness or injury.
• Your employer can't require a medical note unless the absence lasts more than five consecutive working days, or you've had non-consecutive absences of two or more working days for illness or injury in the preceding 12 months.

Manitoba

• You need at least 30 days of employment with the same employer.
• You get 3 unpaid days a year, and unused days don't carry over.
• The leave covers your own illness or the needs of your family.

Manitoba’s note limits are under doctor’s notes.

Quebec

• You need 3 months or more of uninterrupted service with your employer.
• You get a total of 2 days of absence with pay per calendar year (January 1 to December 31).
• The 2 days cover absences for a non-work-related accident or illness, family obligations for your child or your spouse's child, caring for a family member as an informal caregiver, organ or tissue donation, and domestic or sexual violence or a criminal offence.
• Unused days don't carry over to the next year and aren't paid out.

Newfoundland and Labrador

• You need a continuous period of 30 days with the same employer.
• You get 7 unpaid days a year, used for your own illness or for family responsibilities, and unused days expire at the end of the year.
• The Labour Standards Act doesn't require a sick note, though it doesn't stop an employer from asking for one.
• For family responsibility leave of three or more consecutive days, you give a written statement of the nature of the family responsibility.

Other provinces and the territories

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories give a few unpaid sick days a year. Prince Edward Island adds paid days after a year with the same employer, and you can use them before the unpaid ones. Yukon’s days build up at one per month worked, to a maximum of 12, and an illness absence isn’t cause for firing once you have earned the days.

Do you need a doctor’s note for a sick day?

The table’s last column has each rule in short, in three groups.

No note for a short absence:

• Ontario: since October 28, 2024, no note from a qualified health practitioner (a physician, registered nurse or psychologist), though your employer can ask for evidence “reasonable in the circumstances”.
• British Columbia: no doctor’s note unless you are off longer than 5 days in a row, or take more than 2 health leaves of 5 days or less in the year. Your employer can ask for “reasonably sufficient proof,” such as a pharmacy receipt, a hospital bracelet or your own signed statement.
• Manitoba: since October 1, 2026, the date the province’s fact sheet gives for Bill 11 taking effect, no note when you miss a week or less, or 10 days or less in the same calendar year. Your employer can ask for reasonable verification, and if it requires a note, it reimburses you for the health professional’s reasonable charge.
• Nova Scotia: no note unless you miss more than five working days in a row, or already had two or more separate absences of five days or fewer in the past 12 months; notes from various qualified health professionals count.
• Saskatchewan: the limits are in its rule; past them, the employer may require a note, and it must ask for one in writing.

A note past a set length:

• Federal: at 5 days or more, a health care practitioner’s certificate, given in writing if your employer asks within 15 days of your return.
• New Brunswick: at four or more days in a row, a medical practitioner’s, nurse practitioner’s or midwife’s certificate.
• Prince Edward Island: at five or more days in a row, written confirmation from a qualified practitioner.
• Northwest Territories: past three days in a row, a medical certificate if asked.

No length set in the law:

• Alberta: no certificate is required by law, but employers can set their own policies.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: see its rule.
• Quebec: a note isn’t mandatory, but your employer can ask for an official document when circumstances warrant, such as a long or frequent absence.
• Yukon: your employer may require a doctor’s or nurse practitioner’s certificate.

What if you’re off sick for weeks or months?

For a serious illness or injury, a longer leave protects your job for weeks, unpaid wherever the source says so:

• 27 weeks in a 52-week period: Ontario, after 13 consecutive weeks, since June 19, 2025; Manitoba, after 90 days, if the illness keeps you off at least two weeks; Nova Scotia, after three months; Newfoundland and Labrador, after 30 days, or 104 weeks in a 104-week period when a criminal offence caused the illness or injury; Saskatchewan, after more than 13 consecutive weeks; British Columbia, however long you have worked there, in units of a week or more; New Brunswick, after more than 90 continuous days.
• 27 weeks on another clock: federally regulated jobs, no window stated; Alberta, per calendar year since January 1, 2026, after 90 days; Prince Edward Island, 27 consecutive weeks in a year after 90 days.
• Quebec: up to 26 weeks of job protection in any 12-month period.

The pages and Acts we read for the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut state no such leave. Where a certificate is named, it usually says you can’t work and for about how long (Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, B.C.; Alberta’s gives the expected length); Manitoba’s comes from a physician, B.C.’s from a doctor, nurse practitioner or other designated health professional.

The leave keeps your job but doesn’t pay; EI sickness benefits can. If the illness outlasts both, income may come from an employer disability plan, your own disability insurance or, for a long-term or permanent condition, CPP disability benefits.

Is there stress leave?

The laws compared here name no leave called stress leave. Their leaves turn on whether illness or injury keeps you from working: B.C.’s longer leave applies “if they can’t work due to their own illness or injury,” and EI counts “any medical condition that prevents you from working”. For an illness or injury caused by your work, see workers’ compensation benefits.

Can you be penalized for taking sick days?

Ontario’s guide says employers “cannot threaten, fire or penalize in any way” an employee who takes or plans to take sick leave. Federally, an employer can’t penalize, dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or discipline you for applying for, taking or being on a leave. In B.C., an employer can’t fire or lay you off, or change your job conditions without your written agreement. Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan say much the same.

More on what job protection means, filing a complaint and wrongful dismissal.

What if your contract or collective agreement gives you more?

The law is a floor. In Ontario, a contract or collective agreement with a “greater right or benefit” than the sick leave standard applies instead, and its own note rules then replace the ban on requiring a note. The federal page puts it this way: “If a collective agreement or arrangement exists providing better protections, the most favorable provisions apply”.

Related pages

• Job-protected leave in Canada
• Caregiver leave
• Bereavement leave
• Parental leave by province
• EI sickness benefits