Since December 1, 2022, every employee in a federally regulated workplace accrues up to 10 days of medical leave with pay per calendar year — regardless of how many people the employer has. There is no size threshold to clear first.

The days build up rather than arriving all at once: an employee earns 3 paid days after an initial 30-day qualifying period of continuous employment, then one more day at the start of each following month, up to the 10-day annual maximum. Unused days carry forward to January 1 of the next year, but every carried-over day reduces that year’s earnable maximum by one — so an employee’s cap never exceeds 10 in a given year. Leave is paid at the employee’s regular rate.

An employer may ask for a medical certificate only when the absence runs 5 or more consecutive days, and the request must be made in writing no later than 15 days after the employee returns to work. This paid entitlement sits on top of a separate, longer unpaid medical leave of up to 27 weeks. Records of dates taken, days earned each year, and any certificate requests must be kept for 3 years.

This exceeds the Ontario Employment Standards Act, which gives most employees 3 unpaid sick days a year and no statutory paid sick leave — a federally regulated employer’s medical-leave obligation is materially larger, not just differently structured.

This is general information, not legal advice; confirm current entitlement details at the Canada Labour Code and the government’s interpretations page before relying on them.

Related notes

Federal vs. Ontario Jurisdiction: The Employment-Law "Instead Of" Rule — A federally regulated employer follows the Canada Labour Code and related federal statutes in place of Ontario employment law, not on top of it — the federal regime replaces the ESA, OHSA, Human Rights Code, AODA and Pay Equity Act rather than adding to them.

Personal, Bereavement, and Family-Violence Leave (CLC Part III) — Federally regulated employees have a suite of short job-protected leaves — personal, bereavement, pregnancy-loss, and family-violence leave — each with its own paid-day component.

Maternity, Parental, and Caregiving Leaves (CLC Part III) — The Canada Labour Code job-protects maternity, parental, critical-illness, and compassionate care leave; income during the leave comes separately from federal EI benefits, not from the employer.

Recordkeeping (CLC Part III) — Federal employers must keep hours and wage records for 36 months, paid-medical-leave records for 3 years, and the required averaging and holiday-substitution notices — recordkeeping failures are a designated AMP violation.