“I'm Waiting on My First Payment!” | How Does CNESST Pay You? What You Get, Who Pays First and When

A woman in a knit sweater with a black brace on her wrist reads a letter on the iron staircase of a Montreal brick home, with autumn leaves and a mug of coffee on the steps.

When a workplace injury in Quebec stops your pay, two questions come first: who pays you now, and how much. Here is how the CNESST pays you.

The CNESST pays an income replacement indemnity of 90% of your net income, every two weeks. Your employer pays your wages for the part of the day you were hurt, then 90% of your net wages for the first 14 full days. The CNESST pays from the 15th day. In 2026, it counts gross earnings up to $103,000 a year.

How much does the CNESST pay?

90% of your net income. Section 45 of Quebec's Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases sets the rate. Net income here is not the take-home figure on your last pay stub. Under section 63, it is your gross yearly employment income less deductions the CNESST sets by income bracket and family situation, so two people with the same pay can receive different amounts.

The 2026 limits, from the CNESST's page on calculating the indemnity:

  • Most gross earnings counted: $103,000 a year, since 1 January 2026.
  • Minimum insurable earnings: $34,620.96 a year, since 1 May 2026.
  • Yearly increase: your indemnity rises each year on the anniversary of the day you became unable to work. In 2026 the increase is 2.0%.

Who pays the first 14 days?

Your employer. Under section 59, your employer pays your net wages for the part of the work day you lost when you were hurt. Under section 60, it then pays 90% of your net wages for each day or part of a day you would normally have worked, for the first 14 full days.

It pays you on your usual pay day, once you have given it the medical certificate from the first health professional who treats you. The CNESST then reimburses your employer.

From the 15th full day, the CNESST pays you directly, under section 124.

How often does the CNESST pay?

Every two weeks, under section 125. You can sign up for direct deposit in Mon Espace CNESST, the CNESST's online service for workers, where you can also follow your file and send messages.

What do you need to file, and by when?

If you are off work more than 14 full days, file the CNESST's Worker's Claim form within six months of the injury, under section 270. For an injury resulting from sexual violence, the limit is two years. For an occupational disease, you have six months from the day you learn you have it, under section 272.

Your employer must help you fill out the claim. Keep a copy of everything you send, with the date.

Can your CNESST payments change?

  • Each year. The indemnity is increased on the anniversary of the day you became unable to work.
  • From age 65. It is reduced by 25% from your 65th birthday, by 50% from your 66th and by 75% from your 67th, and it ends at 68, under sections 56 and 57. Different rules apply if you were 64 or older when you were hurt.
  • When you can work again. Payments stop when the CNESST decides you can do your job or an equivalent one. In some cases, such as when no suitable job is available, they can continue for up to a year, as the CNESST's page on the income replacement indemnity explains.

What if you disagree with a CNESST decision?

Ask for a review within 30 days of being notified of the decision, under section 358. If the review decision still goes against you, you have 60 days from being notified of it to contest it before the Tribunal administratif du travail, under section 359. Some medical questions follow a different route, so read the decision letter for the steps that apply to you.

Both clocks start when you are notified, so write down the day each letter reaches you.

One protection is worth knowing. If a review or the Tribunal later cancels or reduces your benefit, money the CNESST already paid you generally does not have to be paid back unless it was obtained in bad faith, under section 363. That protection does not cover the first 14 days your employer paid.

Do you pay tax on CNESST payments?

No. CNESST payments go on your tax returns, but you deduct the same amount again, so you pay no tax on them. They still count in the income used to work out some credits and benefits.

The CNESST sends you RL-5 and T5007 slips, as its page on compensation notes. On your Quebec return, the amount from box C of your RL-5 goes on line 148, and Revenu Québec's line 148 help says it entitles you to a deduction on line 295. Your federal return works the same way with the T5007.

What should you keep track of?

  • The day and time you stopped work. Your employer pays that part of the day.
  • Every day you would normally have worked in the first 14 days, and what your employer paid for each.
  • Your medical certificate, and the date you gave it to your employer.
  • The date you filed your claim. The six-month limit runs from the injury.
  • Every CNESST payment. The date it arrived and the amount.
  • Every decision letter, and the day it reached you. You have 30 days to ask for a review.
  • Every call and message. The date, the name and what you were told.

When a payment looks short or late, this record is how you show exactly which days and which dollars are missing.

Why use Hurt Square?

Because when a payment is late or looks wrong, the first question is always what you were owed and when. Hurt Square guides give you one place to keep it all.

  • Every payment and every call. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide has structured space for time away from work, wage loss and every conversation with your employer and the CNESST.
  • The Quebec rules, in plain words. The Quebec Workplace Injury Companion Guide holds the board, the forms, the deadlines and the appeal routes in Quebec.
  • Made for hard days. 123 pages and more than 1,200 fillable fields that work on your phone, tablet or computer, in plain language. When your union representative, worker adviser or lawyer asks for something, it is already there.

Both guides, $39 until 22 November. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide and the Quebec Workplace Injury Companion Guide, with the discount applied at checkout. Bought separately: $63.99.

Get both guides

Who can help?

The CNESST answers questions at 1-844-838-0808, as listed on its contact page. If you are in a union, start with your union representative. Community groups that defend injured workers' rights, and legal aid if you qualify, can also help at little or no cost.

Read next

Every figure in this article comes from a named source. How we check
Last verified: 20 October 2026.
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