Injury indemnity guidance: Vaccine Impact Assistance Program
Last updated: August 19, 2026
This document is subject to periodic updates. Please consult this page to ensure you’re referencing the most current version.
On this page
- Purpose
- What are injury indemnity payments
- Who is eligible
- How is the amount of your injury indemnity is determined
- What’s the payment process
- Appeal and injury indemnity amounts
Purpose
This guidance document provides information on section 6.5.1, Vaccine Injury indemnity, of the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program Policy Framework.
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What are injury indemnity payments
The injury indemnity payment is a one-time, lump sum payment. The injury indemnity maximum is established by the Program in the financial support table. Of note, the financial support table is subject to updates.
Injury indemnity payments provide financial support to help people who have experienced a serious and permanent vaccine injury. It is not meant to cover every loss or expense related to an injury.
For you to be eligible for an injury indemnity, the Program undertakes a medical assessment which first assesses whether your medical condition meets criteria for a probable causal relationship with a Health Canada-authorized vaccine. After medical assessment, if your medical condition has met the criteria for a probable causal relationship to a Health Canada-authorized vaccine, the condition is considered a vaccine injury for the purposes of the Program.
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Who is eligible
If the Program’s medical experts find that the injury meets Program criteria for serious and permanent and there is a probable causal relationship between your medical condition and the vaccine, then you are eligible for an injury indemnity. Following your medical assessment, the Program will send you a written Notice of Decision that lets you know whether your claim is approved and if approved, the amount of your injury indemnity payment.
How is the amount of your injury indemnity determined
The Program’s medical experts review your medical information and conduct a medical assessment. This assessment determines if the diagnostic criteria have been met for the claimed injury, if this injury is linked to a Health Canada-authorized vaccine, and if this injury meets the criteria for serious and permanent. Once the medical assessment determines a link to a vaccine, a standardized severity assessment process is completed to determine how much the injury affects daily functioning, independence, ability to work and need for ongoing care and support.
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How injury indemnity payments are calculated
Once a vaccine injury is established, a severity assessment determines the amount of financial support tied directly to your injuries.
Following the severity assessment, a severity rating will be applied to your injury. This rating determines how much of the maximum payment you will receive.
The maximum amount is updated annually using the annual change in the ratio of the Consumer Price Index year over year.
Injury indemnity payments are government program benefits and are not a source of income for tax purposes.
What’s the payment process
The Program will send you a Notice of Decision which will let you know the injury indemnity payment you are to receive and will ask you to provide your banking information so your payment can be deposited to your bank account by direct deposit.
If your bank account information changes, please contact the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program.
Appeals and injury indemnity amounts
As a result of an appeal process there may be a change in the amount of your injury indemnity.
If you have appealed your decision, you will receive an Outcome of Appeal letter advising you if there has been a change to your injury indemnity payment and telling you:
- What decision was made and if there will be an adjustment to your injury indemnity payment and if so, how much to expect
- The reason for the decision, for example, changes in medical need, updated documentation
- What you can do next including how to ask questions, seek clarification
If an appeal results in a higher severity rating, you will receive an additional injury indemnity payment representing the difference between the initial severity rating and the severity rating resulting from your appeal. If the appeal results in a lower severity rating, you may be required to repay any excess amount you have already received. This is considered an overpayment, and interest may be applied in accordance with applicable government policy.
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