Ontario’s injured worker community have long recognized the need for research into workers’ compensation on topics they define as important and in which they also participate.
Participatory research projects
- focus on issues that affect injured workers and their families
- value lived experiences (qualitative data) in addition to statistical, quantitative data
- identify gaps in current research
Participatory action research uses the collaborative , activist approach for community empowerment. It equitably involves all partners, emphasizes co-learning and knowledge sharing.
Examples include the 2026 Thunder Bay & District Injured Workers Support Group (TBDIWSG) & Lakehead University project on the impact on families of workplace injuries ; 2020 TBDIWSG / Lakehead University Workers’ Compensation Experience Study; McMaster University & ONIWG’s 2010 “Knowledge Brokering with Injured Workers” study; TBDIWSG’s 2008 “Poverty in Motion” study; the Injured Workers’ History Project (2005- ); 1999-2001 Injured Worker Participatory Research Project led by Bonnie Kirsh, and its “Making the System Better” report.
Education and workshops
Research findings and public education on workers’ compensation and injured workers’ rights are shared in many ways:
- Injured Workers Speakers Schools , training on the workers’ compensation system, leadership and self-advocacy, held around the province
- published reports & articles
- webinars, videos and online discussions by injured workers’ groups and community legal clinics (such as Thunder Bay & District Injured Workers Support Group’s weekly Tuesday sessions; IWC’s monthly Know Your Rights meetings )
- theatre (such as “Easy Money” on stigma research or the Meredith play on origins and principles or workers’ comp
- community forums and informal discussions at meetings organized by injured workers’ groups, community legal clinics, labour, Bancroft, RAACWI etc
- workshops and conferences