The New Long-Term Illness Leave

As of June 19, 2025, the Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) was amended to include a new protected leave: Long-Term Illness Leave. This new Long-Term Illness Leave creates essentially an indefinite leave of absence for qualifying employees and will dramatically impact how employers navigate dealing with employees who are out of the workplace due to illness.

In order to qualify for the new Long-Term Illness Leave, the employee must have been employed with the employer for at least 13 consecutive weeks and both of the following conditions must be met:

1. The employee must be unable to perform their job duties due to a “serious medical concern” – a term which is not currently defined in the ESA; and
2. A qualified health practitioner (such as a physician, registered nurse, or psychologist) must issue a Certificate stating that the employee has a serious medical condition.

Initially, the total amount of unpaid leave that the employee will be entitled to take is 27 weeks, provided the Certificate does not extend beyond that period. However, if the qualified health practitioner states that the period the employee is unable to perform their duties for a longer period, then then the employee will be entitled to access the Long-Term Illness Leave for the length of time specified in the Certificate, up to a 52-week period.

The ESA then goes one step further, confirming that employees may yet be entitled to further and additional leaves if...

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