Relapse, recurrence or aggravation of an employment injury

A relapse, recurrence or aggravation of an employment injury occurs when the injury reappears or worsens after it has consolidated (healed or stabilized). If you have had a work accident or an occupational disease, this can happen to you.

What is meant by a relapse, a recurrence and an aggravation?

• A relapse is the return, the reappearance of the symptoms of an injury that was in the process of healing.
• A recurrence is the reappearance of an injury after a more or less long period of recovery.
• An aggravation is an increase in the severity of an injury or its effects.

Admissibility of a relapse, recurrence or aggravation

The CNESST determines whether the employment injury is a relapse, a recurrence or an aggravation. To be admissible, you must show that after a past injury or illness had consolidated (healed or stabilized), there:

• has been a change in your medical condition since the injury healed or stabilized
• is something new in terms of treatment, prescribed or administered, that is likely to improve your health

If you think you have had a relapse, a recurrence or an aggravation of an employment injury, you must fill out a Worker's claim form and send it to the CNESST. You must fill out a new claim even if you had already filled one out when your work accident occurred or your occupational disease first appeared.