Benefit for the Worker

About WSIB

The Cover Me WSIB campaign was established to ensure all injured workers are treated fairly and covered universally under the compensation system managed by the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) was established to provide compensation to workers who have experienced workplace illness or injury as a result of their job.

However, only 76.5% of Ontario workplaces have WSIB coverage. This leaves 1.7 Million workers in Ontario with no WSIB protection in the event of a workplace illness or injury. That’s the lowest percentage of any province or territory. The WSIB is funded by employers, not the public. However, the public pays all health care and social assistance costs for injured workers with no WSIB coverage.

A century ago, Ontario’s workers and employers made a historic compromise to ensure a compensatory system that would work for everyone – injured workers gave up their right to sue employers on the condition that employers would fund a compensation system managed by the government.

We call on the Government of Ontario to provide fairness for all workers in the province by amending the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act so that it provides WSIB coverage to all workers in Ontario. As well, coverage should be simplified, creating one common plan and ensuring a level playing field for all employers.

Know Your Rights!
You Have the Right to
Refuse Unsafe Work

You do not have to complete unsafe tasks nor use any equipment that you feel is unsafe while on the job. If at any time you feel the physical condition of your work environment is unsafe, or you are being asked to work with faulty equipment or could endure violence on the job, you have the right to refuse unsafe work. A formal announcement is not necessary. Just report the issue immediately to your supervisor or employer and explain the circumstances. This will begin the work refusal process.

Maryam Nazemi
Early Childhood Educator


Maryam Nazemi worked as an ECE (Early Childhood Educator) at a private school. At her job, she was repeatedly asked to lift items that were too heavy for her. “My job as an ECE teacher was lifting a lot of kids… and moving a lot of

Steve Mantis
Carpenter


35 years ago, after finishing up a job he was working on at a construction site, Steve Mantis suffered a life-changing accident. “I was just guiding the cable – my hand quite close to the winch,” said Steve. “My glove caught one of those

How Does WSIB Coverage Help You

WSIB coverage helps protect workers in the workplace and benefits the public as a whole. If you become injured or ill at the workplace, WSIB ensures you are protected and taken care of while in recovery. WSIB also ensures you receive the proper treatment, such as on-the-job training and rehabilitation to help makes your transition back into the workforce easier.

Through this campaign, we want to help create coverage for all workers across Ontario so that no one is left behind.

The Cover Me WSIB campaign seeks to expand WSIB coverage to all workplaces, so all workers are eligible for compensation in the event of a work-related illness or injury no matter where they work.

Another part of our campaign seeks to improve the benefits for those workers receiving partial wage loss benefits. Unlike, full wage loss benefits, these payments are not increased to keep pace with the cost of living.

 

WSIB Coverage Economist Report – 2019

A study was complied by Perspicacity Intelligence & Analytics to review they impacts of WSIA coverage expansion in Ontario. Roughly 24% of workers in Ontario are not covered by WSIB. That leaves approximately 1, 678,000 workers in Ontario with no protection in the event of a workplace illness or injury. Calculations suggest that expanding coverage would add $59.2 M to the contribution to legislative requirements and $162.6 M to the contribution to administrative overhead.

Coverage expansion could also result in savings to health care (OHIP) costs of the tax-paying pubic. This could mean a $128.5 million offset for OHIP cost relief – OHIP costs would be paid by WSIB as part of the employer assessments resulting in tax relief.

To read the full economist report, click on the link below.