Submission draws attention to the significant revenue leakage from the provincial coffers caused by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claim suppression. In particular this revenue leakage impacts health care and social assistance, budget areas already stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Claims suppression refers to actions taken by an employer to induce a worker not to report an injury or illness, or alternatively, to under-report the severity of an injury or illness or the amount of lost time attributable to that injury or illness. It was identified as a “moral crisis” by Prof. Harry Arthurs in his 2012 “Funding Fairness” report to the WSIB. It was called a “real problem” by Prism Economics and Analytics in their 2013 report to the WSIB: “Workplace Injury Claim Suppression.” The 2020 Speer-Dykeman Operational Review found the WSIB’s system of audits and checks does not provide a “credible basis” to make judgments about the system’s performance. Claim suppression has been indicated as a huge issue by government and WSIB inquiries, but to no avail…
