Menu

Injured Workers

Lise Vaugeois Nov 25 2025

NDP seek overhaul of WSIB system

,

Despite recent announcements from the Ford government, advocates still want an overhaul of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

The government is proposing to increase coverage amounts to 90% of an injured worker’s normal take-home pay and extend payments to workers over the age of 65.

Advocates say it is a good start, but more improvements are needed.

Kendall McKinney of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers says the system creates injured workers as a problem, not as people.

This is a system that is designed to reduce human beings down to ciphers that can be managed and mostly cost contained, and cost shifted back onto the injured workers, back onto the public at large and away from the employers who actually control the workplace that made these people sick and injured in the first place,” says McKinney.

“It’s a total abdication of responsibility.”

The NDP suggests a complete overhaul of the WSIB program.

NDP Labour Critic Jamie West says too many injured workers continue to be denied coverage.

“When a worker is injured, they’re supposed to be compensated fairly,” says West.

“We don’t see that. Instead, what we see is that 70% are denied. And if you don’t have access to a lawyer, if you don’t have access to a union with full-time compensation officers who are going to fight that, you are probably never going to have access to WSIB.”

The NDP brought forward a Private Member’s Bill but was defeated in second reading this past week.

Lise Vaugeois Nov 25 2025

Injured workers seek policy change to Workers Compensation and Insurance Board

, ,

Injured workers continue to advocate for policy changes to the Workers’ Safety and Insurance Board.

Armed with a new report, they want an end to benefits being cut off at age 65.

The age limit went into place at a time when retirement was mandatory.

Tebasum Durani from the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic says the policy is outdated and does not reflect today’s reality.

“The law draws a line based on age and age alone,” says Durani.

“We believe that this is discrimination that violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of age. The continued existence of the law as it stands reflects a world that no longer exists.”

Durani says more than 421,000 people in the province were working past the age of 65 in 2024, with just under 164,000 of those being over the age of 70.

She says the province could look at the practices of other provinces to see how they approach older injured workers.

“Other provinces like Alberta and British Columbia have developed flexible and individualized approaches that give older workers the chance to provide evidence of their intended working plans and retirement plans.”

In a statement from the WSIB, a spokesperson writes that the rules regarding entitlement to benefits related to a person’s age are set out in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act and would require legislation from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

They say the WSIB is here to help people injured at work regardless of their age, providing people with health care benefits as long as required for the work-related injury, adding that if someone suffers a permanent impairment, they are entitled to a non-economic loss benefit based on the degree of their permanent impairment, regardless of their age at the time of the injury.

remember-2-1

National Day Of Mourning

,

Communities across the region are marking the National Day of Mourning today (Tuesday) for workers killed or injured in the line of duty.

There won’t be any in-person ceremonies this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Kenora and District Labour Council is asking the public to light a candle in honour and reflection of those who have lost their lives on the work site.

The day is also meant to renew a commitment to improve health and safety and prevent further injuries, illnesses and death.

 

 

Injured-workers-1

Injured Workers Group Files Complaint To United Nations

, ,

A United Nations committee is receiving a complaint about how the workers compensation board makes decisions.

The UN submission is being made by the Ontario Association of Injured Workers Groups.

Regional injured workers advocate Janet Paterson accuses the board of being in a hurry to fit injured workers back into jobs, even though some workers are not capable of doing so.

As an example Paterson says somebody who may have been compensated for $2,000 in lost earnings for a month, will end up receiving $200.

She believes “human rights are being violated because of this practice.

Advocate Steve Mantis says the practice, known as ‘deeming’, “denies people the right to income security when they are unable to get back to work because of a workplace injury.”