On April 28 we gather to remember workers killed, suffer disease or injury on the job in Canada. First held in 1984 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), it 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.
The latest statistics from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), which take into account only approved compensation claims, show workplace deaths are increasing across Canada, with 1,027 reported fatalities in 2018 (334 in Ontario). Ontario Ministry of Labour statistics for 2018 record 85 fatalities from traumatic injuries, as well as 143 fatalities from occupational disease that were compensated by the WSIB. Unfortunately, as a recently released study indicated, the true numbers of job-related fatalities are dramatically underreported and fail to reflect thousands of deaths — such as workers exempt from coverage, stress-induced suicides, commuting fatalities and occupational disease.
2020: Because of COVID-19 there will be no in-person commemorations this year, but the deaths of workers from occupational injury or disease will be recognized, as they are on this day each year.
For details of online events see Workers Health & Safety Centre and the Toronto and York Region Labour Council
ONIWG VP Peter Page speaks at Woodbridge Day of Mourning 2017
- Tucker, Sean & Anya Keefe. 2020 Apr. 27. 2020 Report on Work Fatality and Injury Rates in Canada Regina: University of Regina
- Workers’ Health & Safety Centre. 2019 Apr. Beyond WSIB Statistics: A More Accurate Picture of Work-related Injuries, Illnesses and Deaths in Ontario.
- Bittle, Steven, Ashley Chen & Jasmine Hébert. 2018. “Work-Related Deaths in Canada.” Labour/Le Travail 82: 159-187
- Ontario. Ministry of Labour. 2019 Mar. Occupational Health & Safety in Ontario: Appendix A: Statistics
- 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)