Police service ‘vigorously opposed virtually every’ officer’s PTSD application to the WSIB
Police officers diagnosed with post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) say their employer is undermining their recovery by contesting access to workplace mental health benefits, according to a report.
Their accounts align with a six‑year Ontario Civilian Police Commission report, obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request, which found that the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) in Ontario “vigorously opposed virtually every” officer’s PTSD application to the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB). The report was heavily redacted and does not include details of officers’ testimonies.
The investigation began in 2019. Five of six officers who spoke with CBC said the service has continued to push back on mental health claims under Chief Peter Moreira, who became chief in March 2023.
“When it comes to what police stand for, we’re helping people. I figured I’d get the same help, and I didn’t,” said one officer, identified as Connor, according to the report.
Chief cites WSIB delays; officers report betrayal
CBC reports that DRPS has filed “intent to object” forms in roughly 10 per cent of WSIB claims since 2023, most of them mental‑health‑related, but has escalated few to full appeals. All six officers interviewed had their claims objected to; three are now in formal appeal, noted CBC.
Chief Moreira said objections are used to obtain timely information in a slow system. “There’s no other mechanism by which, as an employer, we can find out any information with regards to how the injury happened, how we can best support it, and how we can prevent it from happening to somebody else,” he told CBC News.
He added: “It’s never the intent of the organization to re‑aggravate an injury to a member, but there are very few steps that we can take, and only in those rare cases do we exercise any of those rights.”
Officers told CBC they felt betrayed and set back clinically. Stephen, whose PTSD was diagnosed by his psychologist and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, saw his approved claim appealed. “It makes you feel worthless when you’ve poured so much into your employer and you’ve been so faithful,” he said. “It’s unreal. It’s infuriating.”
Access to records and mental health impact
Hamilton‑based paralegal Michelle Zare told CBC that when an employer files an intent‑to‑object form, it gains access to the worker’s WSIB file, including medical and psychological records. “Whether they proceed with a formal appeal beyond that level or not, they’ve already called you into question,” she said.
Psychologist Sean O’Brien, who has treated DRPS members for nearly 30 years, described such objections without clear reasons as “absolutely devastating” for officers with “significant and disabling traumatic mental stress injuries,” CBC reported.
Data released by the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) in 2018, based on an online survey of 5,813 Canadian public safety personnel, showed that 44.5 per cent screened positive for one or more mental health disorders, and the most common were PTSD (23.2 per cent) and major depressive disorder (26.4 per cent).
Also, the report titled Workplace Injury and Mental Health Outcomes, released in February 2025, found that the negative mental‑health impact of a workplace injury is exacerbated by “difficulty navigating compensation bureaucracies.” The same paper reported that injured workers who experienced high levels of stress from the compensation process were at increased risk of depression and anxiety six years after injury.
