Sick notes have been a routine part of HR practice for years. It feels straightforward: employee calls in sick, employee gets a note, HR files it away. But across Canada, that routine is being dismantled — and in some provinces, continuing to follow it could now put your organization on the wrong side of the law.
Legislative changes in 2025 and 2026 are reshaping when employers can ask for medical documentation and, in at least one province, who has to pay for it. For HR professionals managing multi-province workforces, rules for sick notes are no longer uniform. Here’s what you need to know.
Why This is Happening Now
The shift away from routine sick note requirements gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, when governments across Canada temporarily prevented employers from requiring medical certificates. Those restrictions were initially framed as emergency measures, but the underlying logic — that requiring a note for a short absence places unnecessary burden on employees and clogs an already strained healthcare system — has stuck.
Legislators are now enacting permanent restrictions around sick notes, which HR teams must understand and follow.
Recent Amendments re Sick Notes
Manitoba
Manitoba’s Bill 11, The Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Sick Notes for Employee Absences), which is still working its way through the legislature, represents the most recent (and unique!) change to sick note rules in the country.
What employers will no longer be able to do:
- Require sick notes for a short-term absences unless the absence continues for more than one week, or the employee has already been absent due to illness or injury on more than 10 scheduled workdays (including partial days) in the same calendar year.
What employers will still be able to do:
- Require a physician’s certificate for long-term sick leave (27 weeks in a 52-week period).
- Request documentation to confirm an employee is fit to return to work after an absence.
A new obligation — reimbursement: This is where Manitoba breaks new ground. If an employer legitimately requires a sick note and the employee incurs a cost to obtain it, the employer must reimburse that cost within 30 days of receiving proof of the expense.
Download Checklist: Sick Note Restrictions Across Canada
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Sick Notes – Laws in Other Provinces
Most jurisdictions distinguish between (short-term) sick leaves (3-12 days, depending on the jurisdiction) and (long-term) sick leaves for serious illness or injury (27 weeks in a 52-week period). Restrictions on medical notes vary from one jurisdiction to the next, but typically employers may require sick notes after 3-5 consecutive days’ absence.
Some recent amendments
Over the past year, three provinces have amended their legislation to restrict the ability of employers to ask for sick notes for short-term sick leaves.
- B.C.: Cannot request a sick note for a health-related leave of 5 consecutive days (or less) where the employee has not taken more than one other such leave that calendar year. (Subject to exceptions where documentation is needed to assess fitness to return to work or accommodation needs.)
- Ontario: For sick leaves of 3 unpaid days or less, employers may require evidence “reasonable in the circumstances”, but this cannot include a certificate from a physician, a registered nurse or a psychologist. (See our earlier post for more details on changes to Ontario sick leave.)
- Saskatchewan: May request a sick note from a qualified medical practitioner if the absence continues for more than 5 consecutive working days, or if there are non-consecutive absences of 2 or more days in a 12-month period. (Subject to exceptions where there is a record of chronic absenteeism and no reasonable expectation of improved attendance.)
Legislative outliers
Here are a few interesting outliers:
- Quebec: While employees must advise the employer of any leave (with reasons) as soon as possible, employers cannot request documentation for the first 3 absences of up to 3 consecutive days within a 12-month period.
- Alberta: There are no restrictions on employer’s ability to request sick notes.
- Newfoundland & Labrador: Employers cannot request a sick note for (7 days unpaid) short-term sick leave.
What has not Changed: Long-Term Leave is Different
It is worth being clear on this point, because the shift on short-term documentation rules does not extend to long-term absence management. All provinces that provide for serious illness or long-term injury leave — generally 27 weeks in a 52-week period — continue to require employees to provide medical certification.
The legislative intent is not to remove medical oversight from serious or extended illness. It is to stop employers from applying the same evidentiary standard to a two-day cold as a six-month medical leave.
What HR Teams Should do Now
1. Audit your absence policies against current provincial rules. A national template that was compliant two years ago may not be compliant today. Review your sick leave policy for each province in which you operate and map your documentation requirements against the current thresholds. Also see our Guide to Employee Sick Leave.
2. Stop requiring notes for short absences where the law now prohibits it. Blanket sick note requirements for any absence are not permissible. Continuing to ask for them exposes your organization to complaints and potential liability.
3. Build a reimbursement process ahead of Manitoba’s Bill 11. This reimbursement obligation is coming. Bill 11 will come into force 180 days after it is passed by the Manitoba government. Use this time to set up a clear process for employees to submit expense evidence and a defined turnaround for reimbursement.
4. Train your managers. Policy changes on paper means little if managers are still calling employees and asking them to “just get a note.” Manager-level non-compliance is one of the most common sources of employment standards liability. Training should be specific: here is what you can ask for, here is what you cannot, and here is when to escalate to HR.
Getting this right is not just a compliance exercise. Employees who are asked for documentation they are not legally required to provide are more likely to feel mistrusted and less likely to engage openly about their health. Updating your approach is also an opportunity to build the kind of workplace culture where people feel safe taking the leave they are entitled to.
How Compliance Works Helps HR teams
The organizations most at risk are those still running a uniform national sick leave policy that treats every province the same. Compliance Works can help you reduce that risk.
- Receive immediate updates when amendments – like Manitoba Bill 11 – come into force.
- Build quick charts where you can compare sick leave laws in every province.
- Use checklists to ensure you are meeting employment standards obligations across Canada (plus health and safety, human rights, privacy, etc.).
Want to ensure you are complying with critical HR laws? Request a Demo or email us at info@complianceworks.ca to see how Compliance Works can support your team.
