Loss-of-earnings benefits would go up to 90%, WSIB could extend benefits to workers over the age of 65
Ontario’s plan to raise workplace injury benefits and allow some support past age 65 is being hailed by the Ford government as a major step to protect injured workers, but advocates say it still leaves significant gaps.
Government pitches long-awaited increase
Under proposed amendments to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, Loss-of-Earnings (LOE) benefits from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) would rise from 85 to 90 per cent of a worker’s after‑tax income. The government says this would be the first increase to the LOE rate in nearly 30 years and would help injured workers manage higher living costs while preserving WSIB’s long‑term financial stability.
“No worker should have to worry about paying their bills while they recover from a workplace injury,” Labour Minister David Piccini said in the announcement, adding that the changes are part of a broader push to “protect workers” and keep Ontario competitive for business.
The bill would also give WSIB discretion to continue LOE payments past age 65 where a worker can show they intended to keep working, a shift the province says reflects a workforce in which more people are remaining on the job beyond traditional retirement age.
Injured-worker advocates call it a ‘half measure’
Chris Grawey, a community legal worker at the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic, said his organization supports the direction of the reforms but views them as incomplete.
“Whenever there’s material advancements for injured workers, we support that,” he said, noting that the clinic backs the move to 90 per cent. “From our perspective, these are only half measures.”
Grawey said the clinic’s longstanding position is that workers who suffer job-related injuries should not experience any wage loss at all. He is also pressing for retroactive compensation, arguing that if the government now accepts 90 per cent as the right level, it should apply that rate back to 1998, when the LOE benefit was cut from 90 to 85 per cent during what officials then called a financial crisis at the WSIB.
“In effect, the government or WSIB was borrowing money from injured workers to address the so‑called financial crisis,” he said, pointing to subsequent surpluses and large cumulative savings for employers. “What are you supposed to do when you borrow money from someone? You pay it back with interest.”
Call to extend benefits to 70 and strengthen retirement income
Grawey outlined the clinic’s recommended model for LOE duration. Their proposal would allow compensation until the later of: age 70 for workers injured before 65; five years after injury for those injured at 65 or older; or a later date where the board is satisfied the worker would have retired later but for the injury. They are also calling for retroactivity on LOE changes back to 1998.
Grawey further wants the province to address Loss of Retirement Income (LRI) benefits, which were cut in 1998 when the WSIB reduced its contribution from 10 to 5 per cent of an injured worker’s LOE amount. He is urging that contribution to be increased to 11.9 per cent – matching current combined Canada Pension Plan contribution rates – and made retroactive to 1998, when the cut took effect.
Without such changes, he said, many injured workers reach 65 with only a modest lump‑sum retirement payment. “Could be like $5,000, $10,000. That’s all they have,” he said.
Grawey also warned that relying solely on an “evidence‑based” test to prove intent to work beyond 65 could disadvantage low‑income, non‑union and immigrant workers who may lack formal retirement plans or documentation. He said combining that test with a higher age cutoff and guaranteed post‑65 coverage would “create the most fair, equitable plan for injured workers.”
Union leader presses for full restoration and wider coverage
Organized labour is also pushing for deeper reforms. Harry Goslin, president of CUPE 1750, which represents WSIB and health and safety association employees, said the proposed LOE increase is “welcome, but far from enough” to undo nearly 30‑year‑old cuts that continue to disadvantage injured and ill workers, including a cap on insurable earnings, reduced retirement income benefits and cuts to prevention services.
Goslin highlighted that about 1.56 million Ontario workers still lack WSIB coverage and that roughly 60 per cent of Canadian workers without workplace liability insurance are in Ontario, calling it “a political choice to leave 1.56 million workers without protection.”
As the legislation moves forward, the debate is shaping up not over whether the WSIB changes are needed, but over how far the province should go in restoring past cuts, expanding coverage and addressing what critics describe as decades of under‑compensation for injured workers.
