WSIB Benefits
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, 24% of Ontario workers do not 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.