ONIWG Submission on amendments to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act makes recommendations on benefits issues including restoring and backdating the Loss of Retirement Income 10% rate; providing universal coverage; and deleting that section of the bill that would eliminate the 72-month lock-in. The submission also references announced closure of the IWOS program.
Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs
Re: Bill 105 – Schedule 9 Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997
Submitted on behalf of Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG)
Submitted by Janet Paterson
President, ONIWG
jlrwpat@tbaytel.net
May 14, 2026
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the review of Bill 105 and for your consideration of our submission. While Bill 105 – Schedule 9 deals with a few specific changes to the WSIA, parts of the proposed changes could further negatively impact the workers, members of “Ontario’s workers built this province, and we will always have their backs”, who suffered serious and permanent injury or illness in their workplace, too often leaving them unable to recover physically, mentally and financially. The WSIB reports that about 80% of workers injured or ill will recover and return to work and their lives without any lasting issues. Sadly, roughly 20% are the ones that we meet, through ONIWG, our member groups and IWOS groups. We are greatly concerned that the announcement of the closure of the IWOS program at the end of June will leave many injured and ill workers with nowhere to for help. We already know how stretched the injured workers community legal clinics, the OWA and unions are and we question what is the plan for these workers who will be impacted by the closure of these groups?
The Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG), democratically founded in 1991, actively advocates on behalf of injured, ill, and disabled workers; primarily on a systemic basis. We have 22 injured workers groups in Ontario, and they work closely with other groups and agencies in their individual communities, advancing and supporting the interests of injured and disabled workers and their families.
In 1998, under Harris’ regime, the Loss of Earnings (LOE) rate was reduced from 90 to 85%. Prior to this, the 10% that they deducted from the worker’s net earnings was used for the Loss of Retirement Income (LRI) for the worker. At the same time, the amount that the WSIB put towards the LRI was reduced from 10 percent to 5% and the injured worker was allowed to add their 5% to bring the LRI to 10% at age 65. The Unfunded Liability was cited as the reason for the cuts, but nothing has been done to revert to the original 10% LRI rate, although it was eliminated in 2018. We call that the 10% LRI rate be backdated to 1998, adding that the additional 5% would be in replacement of the lost CPP pension that many with long-term serious injuries or illnesses have lost and who are living in serious poverty.
ONIWG members endorse later retirement post 65, citing that working beyond 65 is necessary due to the reduced income faced following injury or illness during their work years. We recommend that WSIB wage loss benefits be paid to age 70 and allow for benefits to be paid beyond 70 based on individual worker’s intention to continue working.
The introduction of universal coverage would make a big difference for about 15.6 workers or 28% of Ontario’s workforce who are currently without workers compensation at work. The WSIB is responsible for all costs of the OHS system, paid with employer premiums. The 28% of employers not covered by compensation do not have to pay for H&S protection or enforcement, throwing off the real statistics for the MOL Prevention system. Inclusion of all workers would increase employment, lower costs for EI as well as social programs and improve economic and social conditions for workers and families. Premiums paid by the new employers would add $244.7M to revenue for the WSIB, which would decrease premium rates for existing employers by 6.2%, adding $205M to Ontario’s economy. Ontario’s OHIP would be offset with $107M paid for by the WSIB through employer assessments, providing more healthcare dollars in Ontario. The $260M cost of WSIB’s funding obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, Office of the Employer Advisor, Office of the Worker Advisor, Health and Safety Associations and research would be decreased by 6.2% or $75M, taken on by the new employers. Universal coverage has been widely endorsed, and it is timely that the WSIB should take this step.
The 72-month lock-in should not be removed. Most importantly, it concerns the mental wellness for all of those who would be affected by the potential and ongoing Increased monitoring and surveillance and perpetual financial uncertainty, causing significant psychological consequences on workers suffering from chronic pain conditions, traumatic psychological injuries, and permanent disabilities. The constant fear that a phone call, letter, or reassessment could trigger a reduction or termination of their benefits and multiple confronting reassessments can worsen compensable medical conditions, undermine recovery, and further shift the economic consequences of workplace injury. When one is injured at work and requires time off, many changes occur for the worker and the family. Initially, the unknown injury causes great concern, wondering when normal will return and then when healing fails, if they will recover. Nothing is normal, you don’t have your work routine, your work buddies disappear, family life begins to fracture as everyone adjusts to this new “person” while wondering when things will go to “normal”. As recovery continues to lapse, the situation gets worse. Lack of entitlement for the injury means you don’t receive Loss of Earnings or benefits for treatment. Your treating physician is saying you cannot go back to work while the WSIB is telling you that you have to return to work or you will lose your benefits. Final determination of injury can take some time but it has already been misdiagnosed as a strain and you are back to work, regardless of awaiting further testing. The fear is real when you are told that it doesn’t matter what the specialist says, the adjudicator is making the decision that can ultimately cause the final break at your point of injury. Things are heating up more at home and no one is happy, there is little money for the basics of life, they are scared, concerned and don’t know how to help. The injury is causing acute pain but at the same time, it has become chronic; it never stops, even when you are lying down. You are likely being treated with opiates that don’t stop the pain but affect your psyche. All of this takes time, and for many, the 72-month lock-in arrives but it doesn’t confirm that you are recovered or will get better but that this is as good as you will get. The lock-in stops the endless cycle of waiting for the next shoe to drop. You are now locked in at a specific Loss of Earnings (LOE) and you don’t have to worry any more about changes to your LOE. There can still be a lot of uncertainty in your lives but you can financially think about a future plan. The 72-month lock-in will provide certainty for succession of the injured workers’ life.
Pre-existing conditions are still being used to deny entitlement for injury, despite the fact that this was unlawful. Bill 105 also says that workers can never receive more than 100% of their pre-injury income from all sources combined. Pre-injury wages are often low and frozen in time. They do not reflect what a worker could have earned in the future through raises, promotions or better jobs. Any new income—like raises, pensions, or government benefits—can be clawed back. This means workers will be stuck at old income levels and become poorer over time. Also, government benefits are not “extra” benefits. WSIB is meant to compensate for a workplace injury. Other programs are meant to support people in different ways, like raising children or providing affordable housing. It is deeply unfair to claw these back.
We will discuss why some of the proposed actions are well received but it is imperative that they won’t be implemented until consultation with injured workers and allies has happened to ensure the best outcome for these workers who have been critically harmed by many of the WSIB’s policies in the past.
We look forward to answering any questions or concerns that you have regarding our submission.