What are the time limits to claim a work injury and to challenge a decision?
Short answer
In Quebec, a claim to the CNESST (Quebec's labour standards, health and safety board) for an employment injury is made within six months of the injury (ss. 270 and 271 of the Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases); a decision of the Commission may be the subject of an application for review within 30 days of its notification (s. 358), and then of a challenge before the Tribunal administratif du travail (Quebec's administrative labour tribunal) within 60 days (s. 359).
In detail
Section 270 covers a worker who is unable to hold their job for more than 14 full days or who has sustained a permanent impairment: the claim is made within six months of the injury. Section 271 covers the other cases and also sets six months. For an occupational disease, section 272 starts the six months from the date the worker is informed that they have the disease.
Before that, section 265 requires the worker to notify their immediate superior, or failing that another representative of the employer, before leaving the establishment where they are able to do so, and otherwise as soon as possible. Section 267 provides for a medical certificate to be given to the employer where the injury makes the worker unable to hold their job beyond the day it appeared.
To challenge: 30 days for the administrative review, then 60 days before the Tribunal administratif du travail from the notification of the decision made on review. These are two successive steps, with two different time limits.
What to document
The exact date and time of the event, a description of what happened, the name of the person notified and the date of the notice, the medical certificates, and the date you received each decision (the envelope or the acknowledgment of receipt establishes when the 30 and 60 days start).
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.