Work leave for burnout in Quebec

Nobody wakes up one morning burned out. It settles in slowly, over months, until the day getting up for work becomes impossible. Many people arrive for a first session with the same sentence: I don’t recognize myself anymore. Here is what the research says, what Québec law provides, and how a return to work is actually prepared.

Burnout: what are we talking about?

Since 2019, the World Health Organization has included burn-out in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon, and states plainly that it is not classified as a medical condition. The WHO describes it as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, with three dimensions:

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to it;
• reduced professional efficacy.

The Gouvernement du Québec makes the same distinction: burnout is not officially identified as a mental disorder, but it is recognized as the result of chronic work-related stress. That nuance has a practical consequence: a work leave is usually issued for the associated diagnosis (adjustment disorder, anxiety disorder, depressive episode) rather than for the word “burnout” itself.

The signs that come up most often

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety groups the most common manifestations:

• physical, emotional and cognitive fatigue that rest does not fix;
• irritability, cynicism, loss of meaning at work;
• trouble concentrating and remembering;
• disrupted sleep and changes in appetite;
• social withdrawal, from colleagues and loved ones alike;
• unexplained physical pain (headaches, muscle tension, digestive issues).

Who can prescribe a work leave?

For Employment Insurance sickness benefits, the medical certificate may be signed by a medical doctor, chiropractor, podiatrist, optometrist, psychologist, dentist, midwife, nurse practitioner or registered nurse (in isolated areas when a doctor is unavailable). The condition treated must fall within the scope of practice of the professional who signs.

Your protections in Québec

Your job

The Act respecting labour standards protects your employment relationship during a sickness absence for up to 26 weeks in any 12-month period. You must notify your employer as soon as possible and give the reason for the absence.

The first two days

If you are credited with three months of uninterrupted service with your employer, the first two days of absence are paid each calendar year. They cannot be carried over to the following year.

The medical note question

Since January 1, 2025, section 79.2 of the Act respecting labour standards prohibits an employer from requiring a document justifying the absence for the first three absence periods of three consecutive days or less taken over 12 months. Beyond that, the employer may ask for supporting documentation where circumstances warrant it, notably because of the length or frequency of the absence.

Employment Insurance during the leave

EI sickness benefits provide up to 26 weeks of financial assistance, at 55 % of your insurable earnings. In 2026, the maximum amount is $729 per week.

To qualify you need 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of your claim (or since your last claim, whichever is shorter), and your regular weekly earnings must have decreased by more than 40 % for at least one week.

Where does the CNESST fit in?

A psychological injury can be recognized as an employment injury, but every case is assessed individually. Two things to know:

• burnout does not appear as such in the regulated list of occupational diseases; among psychological conditions, only post-traumatic stress disorder carries a presumption;
• without that presumption, the worker must show that the disease is characteristic of the work performed or directly related to the particular risks of that work.

On the prevention side, the picture has changed. Since October 1, 2025, the Act respecting occupational health and safety requires employers to take the measures needed to protect a worker exposed in the workplace to physical or psychological violence. Work-related psychosocial risks (overload, low decision-making autonomy, lack of recognition or support, organizational justice, violence) must now be identified and managed like any other workplace hazard.

Getting through the leave, not just enduring it

The first weeks serve one purpose: recovering. After that, a useful leave tends to look like this:

• Keep a minimum rhythm. Steady wake-up and bedtime, a bit of movement every day, some human contact.
• Do not decide your career right away. Resigning or switching fields are decisions to revisit later, once the exhaustion has lifted.
• Name what led here. Workload, lack of recognition, conflict, loss of meaning, personal circumstances: without that reading, the return often brings back the same script.
• Start a follow-up. That is where the therapeutic work happens, not in rest alone.

Preparing the return to work

A return is prepared, not improvised. Gradual return, adjusted tasks, reorganized schedule, concrete strategies for managing workload and setting limits: this is exactly the ground covered by therapy and occupational therapy in mental health.

We set out the protections, the steps and the frequent questions on our full page: Work leave and mental health in Québec.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: World Health Organization, Burn-out an occupational phenomenon · Québec.ca, Work and mental health · Éducaloi, Time Off Work for Health Reasons · CNESST, Non-work-related accident or illness · Canada.ca, EI sickness benefits · CNESST, Occupational disease · CNESST, Act to modernize the occupational health and safety system. See also our Work leave and mental health, Individual therapy and Contact pages. This article is informational and does not replace medical or legal advice.