How Much Does CNESST Pay After a Workplace Injury?

A pay stub and calendar used to track CNESST income replacement indemnity payments.

CNESST pays 90% of your net income, called the income replacement indemnity, starting on the 15th day you are unable to work because of a workplace injury.

For the first 14 days, your employer pays that same 90% of net income directly, then gets reimbursed by CNESST. From day 15 onward, CNESST pays you directly, every two weeks.

How is the CNESST indemnity calculated?

CNESST does not use your gross pay. It uses a standardized table that estimates your net income by removing federal tax, Quebec provincial tax, Quebec Pension Plan contributions and Quebec Parental Insurance Plan premiums, based on your family situation. That net figure, multiplied by 90%, is what arrives every two weeks.

Your salary base is fixed on the date of your injury. If you are off work for more than a year, that base is indexed each year to the cost of living. For 2026, the indexing rate is 2.0%.

Is there a cap on what CNESST will pay?

CNESST cannot base your indemnity on more than the maximum annual insurable earnings, set at $103,000 for 2026. If you earned more than that when you were injured, your indemnity is still calculated on $103,000.

There is a floor too. CNESST will not calculate your indemnity below the minimum insurable earnings, set at $34,620.96 as of 1 May 2026, based on the minimum wage for a standard work week.

What happens in the first 14 days?

Your employer pays you 90% of net income for those first 14 days, the same rate CNESST pays afterward. Some collective agreements require the employer to keep paying beyond day 14, in which case CNESST reimburses the employer instead of paying you directly.

CNESST Payment at a Glance for 2026

Period Who pays Amount
Days 1 to 14 Employer 90% of net income
Day 15 onward CNESST, every 2 weeks 90% of net income
2026 maximum insurable earnings CNESST $103,000 per year
2026 minimum insurable earnings CNESST $34,620.96 per year
Deadline to file a claim Worker 6 months from the injury, or 2 years if it involved sexual violence

For exceptions and appeal windows specific to Quebec, see our article Quebec CNESST Claim Deadlines.

What should you do while you wait for a decision?

Keep every pay stub, every doctor's note and the date CNESST or your employer contacted you. If your indemnity is calculated on the wrong salary base or the wrong family situation, that record is what gets it fixed. Recovery that stays documented is recovery that survives a dispute.

The Quebec Workplace Injury Companion Guide is built around this exact process, with the forms, the appeal windows and the pages to log the appointments that back up your claim. Paired with the National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide, you get province-specific pages for Quebec and a national tracking system that works no matter where recovery takes you next. Read more in our full guide to recovering after a workplace injury in Quebec.

National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide

If your recovery were reviewed tomorrow, what would your record say?

The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide is where your recovery gets documented, day by day. Symptoms, appointments, calls and costs, written while they are fresh. It works in every province and it stands on its own.

Both guides, $49. Add the Quebec Workplace Injury Companion Guide for the dates and rules that shape your recovery in Quebec, and the discount applies at checkout. Normally $63.99.

Every figure on this page comes from a named authority. How we check
Last verified: September 2026.