When an employee needs to take a leave of absence to care for a sick family member, HR professionals are often faced with a tricky question: Which leave applies?
Over the last few years, governments across Canada have expanded various types of family-related leave, including compassionate care, critical illness, personal, and family caregiver leave. While these policies aim to support employees, they’ve also created confusion in determining eligibility, duration and other requirements.
This guide helps HR professionals quickly assess which leave applies based on illness severity, family relationship, and jurisdiction.
Types of Family Care Leave in Canada
Employees across Canada are entitled to various leaves of absence to care for a sick family member. Most jurisdictions entitle employees to the following leaves of absence:
Personal Leave (3-12 days)
- For family responsibilities, including in relation to the health of a family member.
- Required by all provinces and federal jurisdiction.
Compassionate Care Leave (27-28 weeks)
- To care for a terminally ill family member.
- Required by all provinces and federal jurisdiction.
- Employers may require medical certificate.
Critical Illness Leave (16-104 weeks)
- 16-17 weeks for a critically ill adult family member.
- 37-104 weeks to care for a critically ill child.
- Available in all jurisdictions, though Prince Edward Island only requires leave to care for critically ill children.
- Employers may require medical certificate.
Family Caregiver Leave (Ontario only – 8 Weeks)
- For a serious medical condition, chronic or episodic.
- Employers may require medical certificate.
Generally, these leaves of absence are unpaid, except for federal and Quebec employers which are required to provide 2-3 days of paid personal leave.
Key Considerations for HR Teams
Severity of Illness
For a relatively minor health care issue, an employee may wish to take a (brief) personal leave of absence. More serious illnesses may require an employee to take a (longer) critical illness or compassionate care leave.
When considering whether an employee should take critical illness or compassionate care leave, a determining factor is the severity of the family member’s illness. An employee may be eligible for critical illness leave if their family member’s baseline state of health has significantly changed and their life is at risk due illness or injury. Compassionate care leave, on the other hand, generally applies where the family member is likely to die within 26 weeks. In both cases, the illness typically must be confirmed by a medical certificate.
Typically, a medical certificate is not required for a shorter (personal) leave of absence.
Bottom line:
- Use personal leave for minor, short-term issues.
- Use critical illness or compassionate care leave for serious or terminal illnesses.
- Ensure medical certification is obtained when required.
Who is a family member?
Another factor to consider is whether the person identified by the employee as a family member meets the definition of “family” in the applicable legislation. Most jurisdictions adopt a very broad definition of family for critical illness and compassionate care leaves, but the list of people who are considered family for purposes of a personal leave of absence is often much more limited.
Bottom line:
- Definitions of family vary by type of leave of absence.
- Compassionate and critical illness leaves include broader definitions of family.
- Personal leave often has a more restricted definition.
- To confirm eligibility, check employment standards legislation where the employee works.
Length of employment
Whether an employee is eligible for a particular type of leave is often determined by the length of their employment.
Eligibility periods vary across Canada. Some provinces, like British Columbia, New Brunswick and Quebec have no eligibility periods for these leaves (i.e., employees are eligible for these leaves on their first day of work). Alberta tends to have one of the longest eligibility periods – being 90 days of employment – for any leave of absence. In Ontario, eligibility varies depending on the leave in question (e.g., there is no eligibility period for compassionate care leave, while employees must be employed for 6 months before being eligible for critical illness leave).
Bottom line:
- Eligibility varies by jurisdiction and type of leave of absence. For example:
- Immediate eligibility: Quebec, BC, NB
- 90 days: Alberta
- 0–6 months: Ontario (varies by leave)
Can leaves be combined?
Yes. Employees can take multiple family-related leaves back-to-back, if the situation meets the criteria for each leave.
How Compliance Works Helps HR Professionals
Managing leave eligibility across jurisdictions can be complex. Compliance Works simplifies this process by offering:
- Tools that help HR respond faster to employee needs
- Up-to-date comparative summaries of leave entitlements
- Cross-jurisdictional compliance tracking
- Easy-to-read legal requirements in plain language
Want to simplify your leave compliance process? Request a Demo or email us at info@complianceworks.ca to see how Compliance Works can support your team.
