IWC news

In an opinion article in Saturday’s Hamilton Spectator (Dec. 13, 2025) IWC legal representatives Chris Grawey and Tebasum Durrani discuss how the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act could be amended to address age discrimination against older workers at the WSIB. This follows release of the joint IWC/ONIWG report Rights Don’t Retire at a press conference in the Legislative Assembly Nov. 25, and the Minister of Labour’s acknowledgement that the issue must be addressed.

The Ontario-made solution proposed by a broad coalition of injured workers advocates and labour organizations includes:

• Compensation for loss of earnings continues to age 70, if the worker was younger than 65 at the time of injury or recurrence. Currently, federal law requires a worker to begin their Old Age Security and Canada Pension Plan retirement benefit at age 71.
• If the worker was age 65 or older, compensation for loss of earnings continues for five years after the date of injury or recurrence.
• If the board is satisfied that the worker would have retired at a date later than provided for above, compensation for lost earnings continues to that date.

Retroactivity should be provided to all injured workers impacted by the age cutoff, back to December 2006, when mandatory retirement ended in Ontario. As the authors point out, this is feasible given the WSIB’s financial reserves. Moreover, with cumulative savings to business since 2018 totalling more than $21.5 billion because of WSIB premium rate reductions and surplus distributions, it is time that injured workers get their fair compensation.

The proposed amendments would be long overdue recognition that more people are working later in life — not just by choice, but because financial security increasingly requires it….

The reform campaign of IWC and the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups to end the WSIB’s age discrimination of older workers took another step yesterday with a media conference at Queen’s Park and release of the joint report: Rights Don’t Retire: Working Together to end Age Discrimination

The report explains the WSIB’s age limit on benefits (the ’65 cut-off’,) why it doesn’t reflect today’s reality and older Ontarians’ participation in the workforce. Not only does this law impact those workers who can least afford to lose income, it is discriminatory, as it denies support to injured workers solely based on an increasingly arbitrary age rule. Potential solutions to age-based limits are outlined in the report.

For more on the continuing campaign and actions you can take, go to https://injuredworkersonline.org/endtheagecutoff/

In this episode, titled “WSIB’s Age Discrimination”, Tebasum Durani interviews legal experts (and co-workers) John McKinnon and Chris Grawey about one of the ways WSIB policies and practices create poverty, focusing specifically on what happens when workers turn 65. The interview lays out the problems faced by injured workers as they approach retirement age, the solutions to that problem.

While the policies in question apply to workers as they turn 65, it is an issue that affects anyone with a work acquired injury or illness, regardless of age. If you want more information on the ways WSIB’s policy discriminates against older injured workers and how you can help, visit InjuredWorkersOnline.

You can listen on:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
YouTube

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to our podcast, previous episodes touch on things like working in the heat and cold, the Toronto protest bylaw, a new book about workers compensation and community research in Ontario, and Ontario’s billion dollar rebates to employers. 

Make sure to subscribe or follow the podcast so you get notices when new episodes drop. 

IWC is hosting their monthly meeting for injured & ill workers on Wednesday, Sep. 24 from 1pm – 3pm. The topic: New research presentation: how psychological injuries are treated at the WSIB and return to work

Presenter: Nikolai McLeod, Osgoode Hall law student

Following that, we will all discuss WSIB’s new billion dollar rebates to employers, and our ongoing “Age 65” WSIB age discrimination campaign. You are welcome to join for just one section, or to attend both!

We will return to in-person meetings soon, but this month is online or by phone only.

You will need to register at tinyurl.com/IWSept24th, after which an email will be sent to you with the details.

The Women of Inspiration is a group of women who have been affected by work injury and gather together for support, knowledge sharing, and company.

The Women of Inspiration Injured Workers’ Group is meeting on Saturday, September 20th, 2025, at 10:30am, and we hope you are able to join us! Light refreshments and TTC tokens to be provided.

Feel free to share this invite to other women who you think might be interested. If you would like to get in touch about the meeting, feel free to call IWC and ask for Kathrin or Audrey: (416) 461-2411.

You can attend the meeting either in person at IWC’s office at 815 Danforth Ave, Suite 411 (4th floor, there is an elevator) or online via zoom. If you plan to join us in person, please let us know so we can plan snacks.

Register to Attend the meeting via zoom: https://tinyurl.com/SeptWOI

Who Killed Sir William?

In the latest episode of IWC’s podcast (formerly InjuredWorkerCast)  Tebasum Durrani holds a discussion with  Steve Mantis, co-author with Marion Endicott of  Who Killed Sir William?  – “a reflective and analytical look at what happened to the original vision behind Ontario’s workers’ compensation system as envisioned by its founder Sir William Meredith over 100 years ago and why that matters more than ever today….

The book unpacks a bold research project called the Research Action Alliance on the Consequences of Work Injury which brought injured worker community activists and university researchers together to document the long-term impacts of work injuries economically, socially and mentally – and trained injured workers to be public speakers for self-advocacy…

So in some sense this episode isn’t just about a book.  It’s also a blueprint for activism because in a time when benefits are being clawed back for injured workers,  when older workers are being cut off benefits just because they hit age 65 and when the system seems stacked against the very people it was built to protect,  this story reminds us that research can be radical and community-led activism is essential.”

Tune in to listen here: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube