Managing Work

You don’t have to tell an employer that you have MS or share any medical details. Some jobs may require a medical exam as part of the hiring process, and in those cases, you may need to disclose your diagnosis. Otherwise, employers can only ask whether you can do the essential parts of the job, not about your specific health condition.

You may need to disclose if:

• You need workplace accommodations.
• You need more time off.
• Your MS symptoms are mistaken as something else, for example, drug or alcohol use.
• You’ll be applying for disability benefits.

Before you disclose, think about:

• Possible outcomes of making your diagnosis public.
• Your legal rights about disclosure and job accommodation. 
• Getting help from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW), MS Navigators, and peers living with MS. 

If you decide to disclose: 

• Explain your symptoms, whether they’re visible or invisible. 
• Keep notes about any conversations you have with your boss or human resources. 
• Save copies of your performance reviews, they can help protect you if you’re treated unfairly at work.

If MS is making your job harder, you can ask for changes at work to help you do your job. These changes are called accommodations. Even small adjustments can make a big difference. 

• Changing your schedule: flexible hours, different shifts, working from home, or taking time off for medical appointments.
• Changing your tasks: swapping certain duties or sharing tasks with someone else.
• Changing your workspace: moving closer to a washroom, adjusting your desk, adding ramps or handrails, or using assistive devices.
• Changing your role: moving to a different position or getting training for another job in the organization.

Canadian employers and unions must legally accommodate the needs of employees or union members with disabilities, up to the point of undue hardship. This is called the duty to accommodate. It’s set out in the federal Canadian Human Rights Act, Employment Equity Act and provincial human rights legislation, and is reinforced in Supreme Court of Canada rulings.

The duty to accommodate means your employer or union must make the changes you need to do your job as well as you can. This duty has limits. They don’t have to provide an accommodation if they can show it would cause undue hardship for the organization.

Undue hardship is mainly about health, safety, and cost. Your employer would need to show that the accommodation creates a real health or safety risk, or that the cost is so high it would seriously affect the business or change how it operates.

Disability and the duty to accommodate

A disability is any physical, mental, learning, or health‑related condition that makes it harder to do everyday activities, like working. It can be temporary, ongoing, permanent, or episodic. Disabilities can be visible or invisible. When you ask for an accommodation, your employer must look at what barriers you’re facing, consider ways to remove or reduce those barriers, and provide accommodation unless doing so would cause undue hardship. 

If you are an employer looking for more information on navigating accommodations in the workplace, please see our Employers Guide to MS. 

As an employee with a disability, you have a right to ask for accommodation in the workplace.

It’s your responsibility to let your employer know that you need accommodation and for suggesting the type of accommodation that you need. If you don’t tell your employer that you need an accommodation, they may not be legally required to provide one. If your employer offers an accommodation that would let you to do the main duties of your job, and you refuse it, they may not be legally obligated to keep accommodating you.

Before you ask for an accommodation, think about what you need and get a note from your doctor that explains your abilities and limitations related to your job. The note should focus on what you can and can’t do, not your diagnosis, and should only include the information your employer needs to support your request.

The following tools from The Institute for Work & Health (IWH)’s Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED) may help. 

• DCIDE: Decision-Support for Communicating about Invisible Disabilities that are Episodic
• JDAPT: Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool

The Canadian Human Rights Act and all provincial and territorial human rights laws state that employers can’t discriminate against someone because of a physical or mental disability. Employers must accommodate you unless doing so would cause a serious safety risk or be too expensive for the business to keep running.

• Make sure that you keep a record of all communication with your employer.
• Talk to human resources (HR) and/or your union representative. 
• Get legal advice from disability advocacy groups or community law clinics. 
• Consider filling a formal complaint to the appropriate human rights commission.

Short-term disability (STD) insurance helps replace your income for the first weeks or months after your sick days run out. Most plans pay a percentage of your usual earnings, like 70%, up to a set limit. Coverage can last 15, 26, or 52 weeks, depending on how your employer or insurer sets up the plan.

If you don’t have short‑term disability benefits at work and you’ve paid into EI, you can apply for EI sickness benefits. These benefits provide up to 26 weeks of income support. EI sickness benefits pay about 55% of your insurable earnings. There’s also a maximum weekly amount you can get as set by the government. See Employment Insurance Sickness Benefits.

LTD insurance begins after sick time, EI, or STD benefits end. LTD benefits usually start after a waiting period of one to six months and may continue for several years, often to the age of 65. 

• Most employer LTD plans pay about 60% of your regular income.
• Many plans make you apply for Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) benefits (or Quebec Pension Plan disability benefits). CPP-D is a federal disability benefit for people who can’t work because of a severe and prolonged disability. If you receive CPP-D, your LTD payment may be reduced.
• For the first two years, you qualify if you cannot do your own job.
• After two years, you must show you cannot do any job you are reasonably suited for based on your training, education, or experience.
• Your plan may require you to take part in a rehabilitation or return‑to‑work program.
• If your employer pays the LTD premiums, your LTD payments are taxable. If you pay the full premium yourself, they are not taxable.

CPP-D provides income assistance if you are unable to work any job due to a serious long-term disability. We have a CPP-D Application Support (CAS) program, that helps people understand how to complete sections C2 and C8 of the form. If you would like help with your application, contact our MS navigators at 1-844-859-6789 or msnavigators@mscanada.ca. 

The QPP disability benefit replaces some of your employment income if you’re a resident of Quebec and not able to work because of disability, as defined by the QPP.  

The DTC is a non‑refundable tax credit that helps people with disabilities, or their supporting family members, reduce the amount of income tax they owe. If you’re approved, the Canada Revenue Agency may review your past tax returns (up to 10 years), which could lead to refunds.

The fact that you receive Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Plan disability benefits or other types of disability or insurance benefits, does not necessarily make you eligible for the disability tax credit. It is also possible to qualify for the disability tax credit but not be eligible for CPP or QPP disability benefits. 

The CDB provides monthly financial support to Canadians with disabilities between ages 18 and 64. To qualify, you must live in Canada, have an approved Disability Tax Credit (DTC), and have filed your tax return for the previous year. The monthly amount can be up to $204.20. For more information on how to apply, please visit its official Government of Canada website. 

Each province/territory has its own disability programs. For more information, contact your provincial government ministry of community and social services. You can find information on provincial and territorial benefit programs and services through Benefits Finder Tool or by contacting MS Navigators at 1-844-859-6789.

The NIHB program provides registered First Nations and recognized Inuit with coverage for a range of health benefits, including pharmacy, vision and dental care, mental health counselling, medical supplies and equipment, and medical transportation. 

If you’re a veteran, make sure you enroll in the VAC health care system. VAC may offer disability‑related benefits and supports that you could receive in addition to CPP disability or private insurance. For more information, go to https://veterans.gc.ca/en.

Long-term Disability (LTD)

• For most plans, if you can work again and earn income, your disability benefits will end.
• Few private insurance policies will allow you to work part-time and still receive benefits.
• Read the terms of your long-term disability policy closely before returning to work. 

Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D)

• You’re able to work and earn some money without losing the CPP-D benefit. The amount that you are allowed to earn changes each year. For more information, please visit Canada.ca.
• If you return to regular paid work, your CPP-D benefit will continue for a three-month work trial period, then stop.
• If you return to work within two years and need to stop working again because your MS‑related disability becomes severe and long‑lasting, your CPP‑D benefits will be reinstated (restart) without a new application. Visit Canada.ca for more information on how to request reinstatement. 

• The CPP vocational rehabilitation program offers career counselling, skills and education upgrading, retraining, and job search skills for people who qualify. 
• For people who qualify, Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities can help you build job skills, get support you need at work, or start your own business. In Quebec, this fund is run together with Sphere-Quebec.
• Provincial governments offer job‑training and job‑placement services. Many provinces also give short‑term wage support to employers who hire people with disabilities.
• Many long-term disability plans let you take part in a return‑to‑work program. They may pay for training or other supports that help you get ready to work again.
• Private companies and community organizations offer a range of services and programs, including vocational, interest and skills testing, career counselling, retraining, skills upgrading and job placement. For more information on these topics please visit: Employment and Social Development Canada. 

The disability tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit that can reduce your federal income tax if you meet the strict eligibility requirements. To be eligible for the disability tax credit, a qualified health care professional must certify that you are: 

•  blind all or almost all the time, even with corrective lenses or medication. 
• the impairment must be prolonged. 
•  have a severe and prolonged mental or physical impairment that markedly restricts you in any of the following basic activities of daily living: walking, speaking, hearing, dressing, feeding, bowel or bladder functions, perceiving, thinking and remembering. 

Tax Relief Application 

To claim the disability tax credit, you and your doctor (or another qualified health professional) must complete and file a Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate. Canada Revenue Agency must validate the certificate for you to be eligible for the disability amount. 

Points to keep in mind when applying for the disability tax credit:

• People with MS may have difficulty qualifying for the disability tax credit because of the episodic nature of MS and the strict DTC eligibility requirements. 
• The medical section (Part B) is the most important part of the disability tax credit certificate. 
• Have a qualified health care professional most familiar with the impact MS has on your activities of daily life (including fatigue and mobility problems), fill out Part B of the form. 
• Encourage your health professional to attach a separate note explaining the impact MS has on your life. 
• Set up a file with photocopies of your application forms, supporting documents and related correspondence. 
• If your application is denied, you have the right to appeal the decision. 

Qualified Practitioners:

Medical doctors – All sections
Optometrists – Vision
Audiologists – Hearing
Occupational therapists – Walking, feeding, dressing
Physiotherapists – Walking
Psychologists – Mental functions needed for everyday life
Speech language pathologists – Speech

Reassessment

Your eligibility for the disability tax credit and health status will be reassessed regularly. If you have qualified for the DTC previously, don’t assume you will automatically re-qualify. Your healthcare provider may have to verify that your current health status still meets the DTC eligibility requirements. 

Appealing the denial of the disability tax credit 

If your application for the disability tax credit is denied, file an appeal immediately. See File an Objection – Income Tax on the Government of Canada site. 

If you’re eligible to claim the disability tax credit, you may also be eligible for the disability support deduction for expenses for personal care products or services that enable you to work or go to school. The deduction may include amounts paid for full-time or part-time attendant care services. You’ll need to complete Form T929 to calculate your claim.

The medical expense tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit you can claim up to a certain amount or 3% of your net income, whichever is less. If the medical expense is covered under an insurance plan or provincial drug program, you can only claim the portion that isn’t reimbursed. Medical expenses may include: 

• prescription medications or medical devices 
  • adapting a vehicle 
  • 50% of the cost of an air conditioner (to a limit of $1,000) 
  • certain costs to build or change a residence to make it accessible 
  • travel expenses related to medical treatment (if medical treatment is not available locally). 

Attendant care expense deduction is available if you’re eligible to claim the disability tax credit and have expenses for personal care that allows you to work. 

• wheelchairs, walkers, canes and crutches 
• hearing aids 
• prescription eyewear 
• selector control devices for people to select, energize, or control household, industrial or office equipment 
• toilet seat, bath seat, shower seat 
• hoist (lift) to move a person with a disability 
• cane or crutch 
• clothing supplied on written order of a medical practitioner for use by person with a disability 
• incontinence products 
• auxiliary driving controls 
• modification of a vehicle to adapt it for transportation of a person using a wheelchair 

You can apply for a GST/HST rebate on the cost of adapting a vehicle, but you must complete Form GST 518, GST/HST Specially Equipped Motor Vehicle Rebate Application and send it to the CRA. With a new vehicle, you can ask for the rebate directly from the supplier. The rebate applies only to the GSH/HST on the adaptation, not on the purchase price of the vehicle. 

Provincial and municipal governments may offer some tax relief. For information on provincial tax credits, contact your provincial government Ministry or Department of Finance. For information on property tax deferment, contact your municipal office.