On April 28 we gather to remember workers killed by or suffering from workplace disease or injury.
For a Day of Mourning event near you see Workers Health & Safety Centre’s 2025 Ontario-wide events listing. See also the WHSC guide to worker memorials around the province.
First held in 1984 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Day of Mourning was adopted officially by the Canadian Labour Congress. It is a day when workers commemorate those who have died – and recognize the lasting impact on their families and communities. Day of Mourning also strengthens their commitment to health and safety protection and coverage for all workers. This message is carried in the inscription on many of the labour monuments marking April 28: “Fight for the Living, Mourn for the Dead”.
In Dec. 1990 the Federal Government passed the Workers Mourning Day Act declaring April 28 a national Day of Mourning. The Day has since been adopted – often known as Workers Memorial Day – by approximately 100 countries around the world. For more on the history of the event, see the USW video Day of Mourning: The Untold Story.
How accurate are the statistics?
The latest (2023) statistics from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) record 1023 reported Canadian fatalities. These represent only reported and allowed (recognized) compensation claims.
Studies suggest the more accurate number of Ontario workers annually killed, injured or made ill by workplace hazards annually are far greater. Job-related deaths are dramatically underreported and fail to reflect thousands of deaths — such as workers exempt from coverage, stress-induced suicides, commuting fatalities and occupational disease not linked back to the workplace environment. Based on the research, the Workers Health & Safety Centre estimates the 2023 conservative toll of Ontario worker deaths at 2,940 (WSIB-allowed 2023 worker death claims = 294); Ontario work-related injuries and illnesses at 357,924 (WSIB-allowed 2023 worker injury and illness claims = 178,962).
- Workers’ Health & Safety Centre. 2025 Apr. Fact sheet: A More Accurate Picture of Workers Disability, Disease and Death.
- Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Health and Safety Statistics: Fatality Claims (as of Feb. 28, 2025)
- Tucker, Sean & Anya Keefe. 2022 Apr. 28. 2022 Report on Work Fatality and Injury Rates in Canada. Regina: University of Regina
- Bittle, Steven, Ashley Chen & Jasmine Hébert. 2018. “Work-Related Deaths in Canada.” Labour/Le Travail 82: 159-187
- Wigmore, Dorothy. 2017 Apr. 28. “The History Behind Canada’s National Day of Mourning.” RankandFile.ca
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety. National Day of Mourning – April 28
- 28april.org: Remember the dead, Fight Like Hell for the Living – International Workers’ Memorial Day
- Page, Peter. 2015 Summer. “The Big Book of Injured Workers: a Diary”. Our Times (An injured worker’s personal account of the Woodbridge Day of Mourning event)