Occupational disease

Watch public hearings on Bill 149 changes to workers’ compensation

February 8, 2024

The Ontario Government has recently introduced Bill 149, which it calls the Working for Workers Four Act, 2023. It is proposing changes to a number of labour laws, including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, which makes the rules for how…

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Peterborough remembers a history of industrial hazards

January 21, 2024

The Peterborough Occupational Disease Action Committee (PODAC) is leading the charge to raise funds for a memorial monument that will honour the lives of workers who succumbed to occupational diseases. “We want to ensure the legacy of occupational disease is not soon…

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Occupational disease – making the link between work and health – review (& ODRA response)

October 19, 2023

Update Oct 30: Responding to the landscape review, the Occupational Disease Reform Alliance acknowledges the work done but regrets the resulting report “misses the point entirely” when it comes to problems with the WSIB’s occupational disease recognition system. See “Another government report…

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Our recommendations on the WSIB’s communicable illnesses draft policy

April 1, 2023

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) recently created a draft policy on Communicable Illnesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; although, the policy is not specific to COVID-19. Submissions were requested from the worker and employer communities and will be…

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Add your story on Dryden Mill RB4

January 5, 2023

Between 2002 and 2004, Dryden Weyerhaeuser Paper mill built Recovery Boiler #4 as part of reducing air emissions from their mill. Weyerhaeuser had already completed pretty much the same project at their mill in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where they installed manifolds on…

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Victory of injured workers

March 6, 2022

In January 2022, the Ontario government announced that Parkinson’s Disease will formally be recognized as an illness caused by McIntyre Powder (an aluminum powder), which was involuntarily inhaled by thousands of mine workers in multiple locations across Northern Ontario and across the…

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Profits over people

March 6, 2022

Two explosive reports recently released in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy paint a damning picture of mining companies in Northern Ontario who exploited thousands of mine workers by way of exposure to McIntyre Powder (MP) in the…

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Calling for occupational disease reform

September 9, 2021

A recent National Observer investigation detailed how an Ontario paper mill poisoned nearby First Nations and their decades-long fight for environmental justice. The toxic chemicals and contaminants also had long-term and grave impacts for construction workers at the Dryden Mill. A report…

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“A disregard for workers’ environmental & health concerns”: lessons of the McIntyre Powder program

March 30, 2021

A recently published article “Dust versus Dust: Aluminum Therapy and Silicosis in the Canadian and Global Mining” (Canadian Historical Review, 102(1) Mar. 2021: 1-26) provides a thorough, if disturbing, examination of the forces in play behind the development and widespread adoption of…

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In solidarity with the OFL call for WSIB action on cancer report

August 27, 2020

On July 7, 2020 Dr. Paul Demers of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) released a report highlighting occupational cancer and WSIB claims. The report reveals that a disproportionate number of workers are denied occupational cancer claims in Ontario compared to other…

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