On National Day of Mourning, report offers glimpse of injuries, fatalities and occupational disease rates in Canada
As Canada marks the National Day of Mourning, a new report is shedding light on workplace injuries and deaths, and issues four recommendations to improve data collection and safety. Canadian workers’ compensation boards accepted 1,042 work-related death claims in 2024, according to the 2026 Report on Work Fatality and Injury Rates in Canada, authored by Sean Tucker and Anya Keefe. Each year they analyze data collected by the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC).
Work-related deaths concentrated in disease cases
Those deaths comprised 381 traumatic injury cases and 661 attributed to occupational disease. Alberta recorded the most injury-related deaths at 91, while Ontario had the highest count of disease-related fatalities at 242. Quebec reported the largest number of accepted lost-time injury claims at 75,642 out of 267,199 nationally.
The authors say the analysis uses full‑time equivalent (FTE) employment to calculate rates, dividing accepted fatality counts by estimated covered employment and multiplying by 100,000. They describe this as a way to “arrive at a fatality rate per 100,000 workers.”
Injury fatality rates highest in Saskatchewan and Alberta
Saskatchewan records the highest injury-related fatality rate at 4.1 deaths per 100,000 FTEs, followed by Alberta at 3.8 and Newfoundland and Labrador at 3.3.
Short-term fluctuations are evident when 2024 is compared with the 2021–2023 average. Newfoundland and Labrador’s injury fatality rate rises 161 per cent, Manitoba’s 59 per cent and New Brunswick’s 57 per cent. In contrast, Nova Scotia’s rate falls 41 per cent and Ontario’s 22 per cent over the same comparison period.
Looking at three‑year moving averages, Manitoba shows a 34 per cent increase in injury fatality rate between 2019–2021 and 2022–2024, with Quebec up 17 per cent and British Columbia up 12 per cent. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia see declines of 29 and 15 per cent respectively.
Occupational disease surpassing traumatic deaths
Occupational disease deaths now dominate accepted work-related fatalities across much of the country. For 2020–2024, Newfoundland and Labrador posts the highest disease fatality rate among larger provinces at 7.9 per 100,000, trailed by Alberta at 5.1 and Ontario at 4.7.
The authors observe that “in most jurisdictions, the occupational disease fatality rate has surpassed (or is close to surpassing) the injury fatality rate.” They link this pattern to increased recognition of long-latency conditions such as asbestos-related cancers and to policy shifts like presumptive coverage for firefighters.
When 2024 is measured against the 2021–2023 average, Nova Scotia’s occupational disease fatality rate climbs 27 per cent and Quebec’s 14 per cent, while Saskatchewan, British Columbia and New Brunswick record decreases of 46, 26 and 20 per cent respectively. Comparing 2019–2021 with 2022–2024, Quebec shows an 8 per cent increase in disease fatality rates, whereas Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Ontario register double-digit declines.
Lost-time injury rates trending downward
Lost-time claim rates per 100 FTE workers indicate a different pattern than fatalities. Over 2020–2024, Manitoba has the highest average rate among provinces with large workforces at 2.6, with British Columbia and Quebec both at 2.2.
For 2024 alone, every jurisdiction reports lower lost-time injury rates than the 2021–2023 average. The steepest reductions among larger provinces are in Quebec, down 24 per cent, and Alberta, down 22 per cent, with Newfoundland and Labrador decreasing 14 per cent.
However, when three‑year averages are compared, Quebec’s lost-time injury rate increases 10 per cent between 2019–2021 and 2022–2024, and Ontario’s rises 6 per cent. New Brunswick shows the largest decline at 19 per cent, with Newfoundland and Labrador down 12 per cent.
Significant gaps in coverage and recognition
Tucker and Keefe caution that compensation statistics understate the full impact of work hazards. Citing earlier research, they report that “the annual total number of work-related fatalities in Canada is likely ten times higher than reported by the AWCBC,” once unfiled claims, non‑covered employment and undiagnosed work-related diseases are considered.
Coverage varies considerably: the report cites an estimated 98 per cent of the workforce insured in Prince Edward Island compared with 73 per cent in Nova Scotia. Agricultural operations, some self‑employed workers and other groups often fall outside provincial and territorial systems. Differences in waiting periods, presumptive disease lists, “found dead” provisions and options to claim through auto insurers further complicate comparisons.
The authors also note small jurisdictions can exhibit sharp year‑to‑year rate swings due to limited numbers of fatalities and workers. For this reason, they place greater emphasis on multi‑year averages for policy analysis.
Recommendations for timelier data and stronger prevention
The report concludes with four overarching recommendations aimed at improving both data quality and prevention. First, Tucker and Keefe urge workers’ compensation boards and the AWCBC to publish national and jurisdictional statistics for accepted lost-time claims, no‑lost‑time claims and fatalities by March 31 each year so they are available ahead of the National Day of Mourning. They argue that accelerated release “will help raise public awareness of work-related injuries and fatalities.”
Second, the authors call for harmonized data collection and reporting across prevention and compensation agencies, proposing that Statistics Canada could lead an initiative modeled on Australia’s national workers’ compensation dashboard.
Third, they advocate measures to better capture work-related injuries, diseases and deaths recognized in legislation and policy. Suggested approaches include estimating the scale of unreported cases, increasing penalties for claim suppression, linking compensation databases with population‑based health and exposure registries, and supporting tools like Ontario’s Occupational Disease Surveillance System. The report also highlights guidance from the 2020 document Using Scientific Evidence and Principles to Help Determine the Work-Relatedness of Cancer as a way to reduce the “occupational disease compensation gap.”
Finally, the authors argue for expanded primary prevention efforts, including focused interventions in high‑risk sectors, strengthened enforcement of existing occupational health and safety rules, and coordinated education and awareness campaigns. They write that such initiatives “could strengthen the accuracy, comparability and timely availability of the data… as well as foster greater awareness and improved prevention of work-related injuries, diseases, and fatalities in Canada.”
