CNESST lawyer in Montreal: contest a decision on time

Our CNESST lawyer services in Montreal

As workers’ compensation lawyers, we step in at every stage of an employment injury file, from the first claim to the hearing, including after the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST, formerly the CSST) has made its decision. The full process is set out on our CNESST lawyer page; here is what we do for a Montreal file.

CNESST claim after a workplace accident

We help you file a claim on the Worker’s Claim form: the circumstances of the event, the notice to your employer, witnesses and the medical certificate from your attending physician. An injury that happens at the workplace while you are at work is presumed to be an employment injury, and we make sure the file shows it from day one.

Administrative review of a CNESST decision

The CNESST’s internal review office, the Direction de la révision administrative (DRA), reexamines the decision. When the CNESST has denied your claim, we challenge the decision: we draft the request for review, support it with medical evidence and add an independent medical opinion when the disagreement concerns the diagnosis, the consolidation date or your functional limitations.

Hearing before the Administrative Labour Tribunal

The Administrative Labour Tribunal, known in Quebec as the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT), decides the dispute after review. Our CNESST law firm prepares witnesses, coordinates the medical expert, pleads your case and cross-examines the other side’s expert. The Tribunal also offers conciliation, and we negotiate an agreement before the hearing when it serves you.

Bureau d’évaluation médicale disputes

When the designated physician of your employer or of the CNESST disagrees with your attending physician, the medical questions can be sent to the Bureau d’évaluation médicale (BEM). We prepare your medical records for that review, then contest the decision that follows if it cuts your income replacement indemnity.

Relapse, recurrence or aggravation

A closed CNESST file can reopen if your health worsens and the aggravation is linked to the original employment injury. Everything rests on consistent medical follow-ups: the steadier the record, the stronger the claim.

Workplace accidents in Montreal

Services accounted for 87.8% of jobs on the island of Montreal in 2025, manufacturing for 8.3% and construction for 3.7%, according to the Quebec government’s socioeconomic profile of the region. Each sector brings its own workplace injuries and its own occupational diseases.

Hospitals, schools and public services

Staff at the CHUM, the MUHC, school service centres, school boards and city services file many psychological injury claims: depression, post-traumatic stress, burnout. These claims are harder to prove than a fracture, so we document events, dates and witnesses with care.

Port, warehouses and transport

The Port of Montreal, the distribution centres of Saint-Laurent and Anjou, and the city’s trucking and transit fleets produce back injuries from handling, falls from loading docks and musculoskeletal disorders from repetitive tasks. A work-related accident in a vehicle may also involve the SAAQ.

Construction sites and manufacturing

Construction sites across the island and aerospace and manufacturing plants in Saint-Laurent account for falls from height, crush injuries and occupational injuries from exposure to noise or chemicals. Each one calls for a medical causal link between the job and the diagnosis.

Your CNESST appeal deadlines in Montreal

A missed deadline alone can sink a contest against the CNESST, because these time limits are strict. They come from the Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (LATMP in French). Our article on the deadlines in a CNESST dispute explains each step; these are the dates that govern your file.

Step	Deadline	Starting point	Legal basis
Claim for an industrial accident	6 months	The injury or death	LATMP, s. 270
Claim for an occupational disease	6 months	The day you learn you have the disease	LATMP, s. 272
Claim related to sexual violence	2 years	The injury or knowledge of the disease	LATMP, ss. 270 and 272
Request for administrative review	30 days	Notification of the decision	LATMP, s. 358
Contest before the Tribunal	60 days	Notification of the review decision	LATMP, s. 359
Contest with no review decision	After 90 days	Receipt of the request for review	LATMP, s. 359
Right of refusal, preventive withdrawal, temporary assignment	10 days	Receipt of the decision	Tribunal administratif du travail
Complaint about a sanction by the employer	30 days	Knowledge of the sanction	LATMP, ss. 32 and 253

The 60-day deadline to contest

This time limit was 45 days until April 6, 2023. The Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime raised it to 60 days by amending section 359 of the LATMP. Many documents still carry the old figure, so rely on the Act in force.

Deadlines run from notification, meaning the day the letter or email actually reached you. Keep the envelope when the date printed on the decision differs from the date it arrived: it helps defend your deadline. Decisions on the right of refusal or preventive withdrawal, which come from the Act respecting occupational health and safety, follow the shorter 10-day deadline.

CNESST benefits after an employment injury

The income replacement indemnity equals 90% of your weighted net income, based on a salary capped at the maximum insurable earnings of $103,000 for 2026. It is paid every two weeks as long as you cannot do your job, then, if functional limitations remain and a suitable job is determined but not available, for up to one more year (s. 49), after which it is reduced according to that job’s income.

CNESST compensation also includes the indemnity for bodily injury when a permanent impairment remains, medical treatment and physiotherapy costs, personal assistance at home, adaptation of your home or vehicle, rehabilitation and death benefits. Our guide on how much the CNESST pays gives the amounts item by item.

The first 14 days off work

Your employer pays 90% of your net salary for each day you would normally have worked during the first 14 full days of incapacity (s. 60 of the LATMP). The CNESST takes over from the 15th full day, under s. 124, and reimburses the employer.

Your CNESST lawyer across Montreal

We represent injured workers from downtown and Old Montreal to Saint-Laurent, Anjou, Montréal-Nord, LaSalle and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, from our office on rue McGill. The Tribunal administratif du travail has its Montreal office at 500 René-Lévesque Boulevard West. We visit you at home when recovery or mobility requires it, and we also handle files by phone.

You choose your representation: a lawyer who is a member of the Barreau du Québec or an expert in administrative recourse at a lower cost, depending on the complexity of the case. Our lawyers bring 30 years of combined experience in administrative law. For a road accident on the job, see our SAAQ lawyer in Montreal page; for a private insurer’s refusal, our disability insurance lawyer in Montreal.

Our CNESST lawyers elsewhere in Quebec

We handle CNESST disputes before the Tribunal across the province, from our offices in Montreal and Quebec City. On the South Shore, see our page for a CNESST lawyer in Longueuil; we also serve workers in Laval and the North Shore.