Federal form
EI sickness medical certificate
When a patient applies for Employment Insurance sickness benefits, Service Canada requires a medical certificate from the treating practitioner. You can complete Service Canada’s certificate or your own letterhead, as long as the required elements are there. This is not a disability pension form. It certifies that illness, injury, or quarantine makes the person unable to work, and for how long you expect that to last.
What the certificate is asking
EI sickness is wage replacement while someone is off work for medical reasons. Service Canada decides weeks and eligibility from insured hours and the certificate. You are asked for incapacity for work, the start date, and the expected duration if known. You are not asked to certify that they will never work again.
The applicant may be asked to submit the certificate with the application, or to keep it for six years in case Service Canada requests it later. That is their process. Give them a signed copy and keep one in the chart. Service Canada does not reimburse your fee.
Clinic letterhead is allowed if it is complete
If you use your own form, Service Canada still wants it readable, on letterhead or with an official stamp, with the patient’s name, start date, expected duration if known, and your handwritten, electronic, or stamped signature. A one-line sticky note is not a certificate.
Who may complete and sign
Service Canada lists the treating medical professionals who may sign, practising in Canada or the United States, for an illness or injury in their field of expertise:
- Medical doctor.
- Chiropractor, podiatrist, optometrist, psychologist, dentist, midwife, nurse practitioner.
- Registered nurse, only in isolated areas when a doctor is unavailable.
- A representative of the Public Health Agency of Canada or a provincial or territorial health authority, for a quarantine letter.
Stay inside the condition you are treating. A chiropractor should not certify a chemotherapy leave. A family physician should not guess an expected return-to-work date that only the surgeon can defend.
How to complete the certificate
- Patient name matching the EI application. Add the date of birth if your letterhead does not already identify them.
- Start date of incapacity for work — usually the first day they could not do their job, which may be before they sat in your office.
- Expected duration if known. “Until the 2026-09-30 follow-up” is usable. “Indefinite” without a review date invites a callback.
- Nature of the condition at the level needed to explain work absence. You do not owe the employer a diagnosis. You do owe Service Canada enough to show this is medical incapacity, not a layoff.
- Whether they can do any work, or only cannot do the usual job. EI sickness is about being unable to work because of the condition. Do not copy-paste a WSIB restriction list unless it is true for this claim.
- Your name, profession, licence number, contact, and signature.
Do not backdate a start date you cannot support. Do not certify eight weeks off for a viral illness you saw once on day two. If you need to reassess, write a shorter window and a review date.
Worked example (fictional)
Post-op — family practice
Fictional 38-year-old retail supervisor. Do not copy into a real certificate.
Patient: unable to work due to recovery from right arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (surgery 2026-08-04, orthopaedics). Start of incapacity: 2026-08-04. Expected duration: off all work through 2026-09-15, then reassess. Currently sling, no lifting, cannot do overhead stocking or cashier shifts that require reaching. Treating practitioner: family physician following post-op protocol from the surgeon’s note of 2026-08-11. Not a CPP Disability or WSIB form. I have assessed this patient and the surgical report is on the chart.
Why certificates get rejected or requested again
- No start date, or a duration that says “as long as needed.”
- Unsigned, undated, or no practitioner identifiers.
- A form completed by someone Service Canada does not list for that condition.
- Contradicting a Record of Employment that shows they were still at work.
- Using this certificate as if it were CPP-D, ODSP, or a WSIB Form 8.
Write the EI certificate from the visit, then check the dates
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for the EI sickness medical certificate, or upload Service Canada’s current PDF. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then review every field before you sign. The clinician still certifies the content. Scribeberry does not file with Service Canada or the Government of Canada.
Frequently asked questions
Is an EI medical certificate the same as CPP Disability?
No. EI sickness is a short-term Employment Insurance benefit. CPP Disability is a separate pension with a severe-and-prolonged test and its own medical report (ISP-2519). Complete the document in front of you.
Can I use clinic letterhead instead of Service Canada’s form?
Yes, if it is readable, identifies you and the patient, includes start date and expected duration if known, and is signed. Service Canada’s own certificate is still the cleanest way to avoid a missing element.
Who pays the fee?
The patient. Service Canada does not reimburse practitioners for completing the certificate. Follow your clinic’s uninsured-services policy.
Does Scribeberry submit the certificate to Service Canada?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the PDF or letter from clinical context. The applicant keeps or submits it. You keep a copy in the chart.
Forms
