Quebec CNESST Claim Deadlines
The dates that govern a CNESST claim in Quebec. Free. No email required. For anyone injured at work.
Quebec runs two contestation steps with two different clocks, and one of the two numbers you will find published almost everywhere is wrong.
It is sixty days to the Tribunal, not forty five. The window to contest an administrative review decision at the Tribunal administratif du travail was lengthened from forty five days to sixty.
Plenty of law firm pages and guides still say forty five. That is the safer error to make, since acting early costs nothing. But if you have been told you are out of time at day fifty, check again.
AT A GLANCE
| You have | To do this | Counting from |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Request an administrative review of a CNESST decision | Notification of that decision |
| 60 days | Contest a review decision at the Tribunal administratif du travail | Receipt of the review decision |
| 90 days | After this with no answer, you can go to the Tribunal anyway | Your review request or observations |
| 6 months | File your Réclamation du travailleur with CNESST | Generally, the event |
What if CNESST simply does not answer?
After ninety days you can go over their head. If you asked for an administrative review and CNESST has not responded within ninety days of your request, of your observations, or of the documents you filed, you may contest at the Tribunal administratif du travail directly.
That is a genuine remedy for being ignored, and almost nobody uses it. Note the date you filed and the date of anything you sent afterwards, because the ninety days runs from the latest of those.
Can CNESST take back money it has already paid you?
Generally no, and this is the fear that stops people contesting. Where a benefit is later cancelled or reduced, whether on review or by the Tribunal, benefits already provided cannot be recovered.
The exceptions are narrow. Benefits obtained in bad faith, and salary paid as an indemnity under section 60. Short of that, money received in good faith stays with you.
It runs the other way too. Where a benefit you were refused is later granted, or increased, CNESST pays interest from the date of your claim.
How the two steps actually work
The review is decided on paper. The Direction de la révision administrative decides without a hearing, after giving the parties a chance to make observations in writing or by phone. The request itself must be in writing and briefly state your grounds.
The Tribunal is a hearing. It is independent of CNESST, it sends the complete file to the parties, and it convenes you. Its decision is final.
Some decisions skip the review entirely. Those made jointly by CNESST and the SAAQ or the crime victims scheme go straight to the Tribunal. And for certain others, including decisions following an opinion from the Bureau d'évaluation médicale, you can choose either route.
Two practical things worth doing
Keep the envelope. If the date printed on the decision is more than about five days earlier than the day it reached you, that envelope is your evidence of when notification actually happened, and your clock runs from notification.
Make sure you get an acknowledgement of receipt. CNESST normally sends one after a review request, and usually encloses a copy of your file with it. If no acknowledgement arrives, chase it. That copy of your file is also the thing you need in order to argue.
And if you have missed a deadline, it is possible in some circumstances to be relieved of your default, by the administrative review or by the Tribunal. It is not automatic and you will need a reason, so ask rather than assume it is over.
Were you injured in a vehicle while working?
Then decisions made jointly by CNESST and the SAAQ go straight to the Tribunal without an administrative review. The road accident side has its own clocks, three years to claim and sixty days on every decision. Our Quebec SAAQ page sets those out.
Last verified: July 2026
Checked against: the Tribunal administratif du travail on contesting a CNESST decision, CNESST's own policy document on review requests and access to the worker's file, and the Loi sur les accidents du travail et les maladies professionnelles.
Deadlines change. If you find something on this page that is out of date, write to Recovery@hurtsquare.ca and we will correct it publicly.
Keeping the record these deadlines depend on
Every clock on this page runs from notification rather than from the date printed on the letter, and one of them starts from something you sent rather than something you received.
Two things decide how an injury claim goes. What you wrote down and whether you did the right thing at the right time for where you live. The National Recovery Guide handles the first, the daily record of symptoms, appointments, calls and costs that a claim is eventually judged on. The Provincial Companion Guide handles the second, the deadlines on this page and the forms, boards and appeal routes behind them. People who have only one tend to end up with a careful record aimed at the wrong process, or the right dates and nothing to put in front of them.
Your Recovery. Documented. Protected.
See the Quebec Workplace Injury Companion Guide
This page is general information for people in Quebec. It is not legal or medical advice. Rules differ by province and change over time. Confirm anything specific to your situation with a representative, the CNESST or the Tribunal administratif du travail.