On June 19, 2025, Ontario employees with at least 13 weeks of service will have access to a new job-protected long-term illness leave.[1] Specifically, employees will be entitled to up to 27 weeks of long-term illness leave in each 52-week period.
An employee will qualify for long-term illness leave if:
- The employee will not be working because of a “serious medical condition”; and
- A “qualified health practitioner” (defined as a physician, registered nurse or psychologist) issues a certificate that: (i) states that the employee has a serious medical condition; and (ii) sets out the length of time the employee will not be working because of the condition.
Note that a “serious medical condition” is not defined under these amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA); however it can reasonably be assumed that it will be similar in scope to other current leaves under the ESA which permit employees to take protected time off work when a defined family member is seriously ill.
While employees are entitled to take up to 27 weeks of leave, if the certificate sets out a shorter period of time during which the employee must be off work, the employee will only be able to take leave for that shorter period. In addition, long-term illness leave may be extended beyond that initial duration upon the issuance of another certificate, provided the total time off does not exceed 27 weeks. It is also not a requirement that the weeks of leave be consecutive, so that the leave can assist employees with serious medical conditions which are chronic and may flare up from time to time.
Prior to this amendment to the ESA, it had just provided employees with three unpaid days of job-protected sick leave. While employees have had access to several longer-term leaves under the ESA to care for seriously and critically ill family members, they have not had access to a longer-term leave due to their own illness.
From a practical standpoint, we anticipate that the introduction of the long-term illness leave will not significantly change the way in which many employers currently manage their workforce. Employees with medical conditions constituting disabilities are already afforded protection under human rights legislation and cannot be discriminated against for reasons related disability. Accordingly, the introduction of the long-term illness leave can be seen as, at least in part, a codification of what already naturally takes place in many workplaces, namely, the granting of unpaid time off work under human rights law to employees who cannot work for medical reasons.
Of note, the new long-term illness leave also provides job protection over the period of time which the federal government provides income assistance to employees who cannot work for medical reasons. Currently, the federal government provides employees with up to 26 weeks of Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits if a physician confirms that the employee cannot work due to illness or disability. Some workplaces may also provide Short-Term Disability benefits to their employees as part of their insured group benefits plan, which may supplement all or part of the financial assistance afforded by the federal government. Accordingly, the introduction of this long-term illness leave provides job protection (over and above that provided under human rights legislation) over the period of time during which employees can receive EI sickness benefits from the federal government or short-term disability benefits from an insurer.
In any event, long-term illness leave is yet another change to the ESA which employers need to be aware of. As is the case with other statutory leaves of absence under the ESA, employers will now be required under the ESA to hold an employee’s position during the leave and reinstate the employee to the position they held prior to their leave, subject to certain exceptions. Employers may also need to reference and adjust their internal leave tracking systems and policies to ensure that long-term illness leave is adequately addressed.
For questions related to the new long-term illness leave obligations, or for advice on how to ensure your compliance with these new requirements, please contact the authors, Maggie Sullivan and Catherine Coulter, or a member of the Dentons Canada Employment and Labour group.
[1] Long-term illness leave was introduced through the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024, the sixth in a string of statutes amending the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000, and other related statutes governing employment in Ontario.
