Recent documents are in both PDF and html formats but all may be available in alternate formats on request.
UN Convention on the Rights of People with a Disability (CRPD): ONIWG Submission
Submission focuses on systemic barriers (including WSIB practices of deeming and experience rating) encountered by injured workers and workers with disabilities when trying to maintain employment following workplace injury or illness. Referencing Articles 27 and 28 of the CRPD, ONIWG recommends a holistic approach to assessing workplace issues…
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WSIBs principle of Better at Work contravenes Time to Heal and WSI legislation
The purpose of this letter is to engage the Government and the WSIB in a conversation about their mistaken and harmful philosophy promoting “immediate” return to work, rather than “early and safe” return to work based on an individual’s situation ….
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Re Appeal time limits – Workplace Safety and Insurance Act
Time limits on appeals, first introduced into the system with Bill 99, have added unnecessary complexity that adversely affects injured workers’ access to justice – especially those with modest education or for whom English is a second language – and proves a burdensome challenge even for experienced representatives.
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WSIB misuse of IWH update on “Adequacy of Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Ontario”
Letter to the Premier regrets that the Board is ignoring the real message: why do only 48% of injured workers return to work after injury and replace over time their pre-injury earnings? The study data goes only to 2008 – before the major changes made in claims adjudication from 2010 on. So what are injured […]
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Workers concerns downplayed and misrepresented by Rate Framework Consultation
Letter to the WSIB Chair protests the Consultation’s virtual dismissal of worker-side concerns submitted, with considerable time and effort, by injured worker groups, labour and advocates.
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Commentary on Bill 163 supporting Ontario’s First Responders’ Act
Clinic’s submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy welcomes the assistance the presumptive amendment provides to first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but also makes recommendations on addressing more broadly the under-compensation of work-related mental health disabilities.
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Letter to Premier on WSIAT Chair Appointment
The importance of choosing a fair minded Chair of the Workplace Safety and Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) – last bastion of justice and hope for injured workers – in an open process.
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Submission to the Ontario Ombuds Office
Following up on the overwhelming response to the report “Prescription Over-ruled”, health professionals, workers, legal advocates and labour groups call for a full investigation by the Ontario Ombuds Office of the WSIB for systematic disregard of the medical advice provided by doctors treating injured workers, in favour of so-called “paper doctors” who have not met […]
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Intervener factum, Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal, et al. v. Fraser Health Authority, et al.
In their submission to Supreme Court case addressing issues of causation and Workers Compensation Appeals Tribunal jurisdiction, IAVGO and ONIWG argue that scientific certainty is not required (and in fact definitive scientific evidence on work-related causation rarely exists). Decisions should be based on the best available evidence and the balance of probabilities standard established under […]
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Open letter to the Minister of Labour
A forthright message to the Minister on just why injured workers feel so betrayed after government promises that the unfunded liability would not be solved on the backs of injured workers.
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