For additional information and insight read OPSEU/SEFPO’s full submission here.
Ontario’s proposed Protecting Ontario’s Workers and Economic Resilience Act, 2026 (Bill 105) includes several long-overdue improvements to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA). However, OPSEU/SEFPO warns the bill ultimately weakens protections for permanently injured workers while offering only partial relief elsewhere.
The Good
One of the most significant changes restores Loss of Earnings (LOE) and survivor benefits from 85% to 90% of pre-injury net earnings, reversing cuts imposed in 1998. For many injured workers, this increase will provide meaningful financial relief. However, OPSEU/SEFPO maintains the original cuts were unjustified and should never have occurred, especially given the WSIB’s ability to return billions of dollars in rebates and surpluses to employers over the last decade. OPSEU/SEFPO is calling for the increase to be made retroactive to 1998 and for retirement contribution rates to be fully restored to 10% – their pre-1998 level.
Bill 105 would also expand mandatory WSIB coverage to workers in for-profit residential care facilities and group homes — sectors with high rates of workplace violence, understaffing, and injury. While OPSEU/SEFPO supports this change, it emphasizes that it doesn’t go far enough, noting that nearly 25% of Ontario workers still lack WSIB coverage because Ontario only covers industries specifically named in regulation. OPSEU/SEFPO continues to call for replacing this “inclusionary” model with an “exclusionary” system that automatically covers all workers unless specifically exempted.
The bill also recognizes that many Ontarians now work beyond age 65 by allowing WSIB discretion to extend benefits past that age. However, workers may still have to prove they intended to continue working. This creates unnecessary barriers. Instead, OPSEU/SEFPO calls for a clear, legislated extension of the automatic cutoff age to 70.
The Bad
OPSEU/SEFPO argues many of the positive reforms fall short or leave critical gaps:
- the LOE increase is not retroactive;
- millions of workers remain uncovered; and
- age discrimination protections depend on WSIB discretion rather than guaranteed rights.
These changes, while positive, fail to fix the underlying inequities in the compensation system.
The Ugly
The most controversial proposal would eliminate the 72-month “lock-in” for permanently disabled workers. Currently, workers with permanent earnings loss receive a final review after 72 months, giving them some long-term financial stability. Bill 105 would remove that protection entirely. Permanently injured workers would instead face ongoing and intrusive reviews, surveillance, and repeated demands to re-prove their disabilities.
The bill would also allow WSIB benefits to be reduced based on other income sources such as CPP retirement, CPP-Disability, pensions, housing supports, and child benefits. OPSEU/SEFPO strongly opposes this approach, arguing these are earned or social benefits – not replacements for workplace injury benefits and must not be used to claw back WSIB support.
In OPSEU/SEFPO’s view, the modest gains in Bill 105 are overshadowed by the significant harm caused by creating permanent uncertainty for injured workers through the removal of the 72-month lock-in.
The WSIB has returned billions of dollars to employers through rebates, while premium rates are at their lowest level in 50 years and among the lowest in Canada. This is a policy choice. It is time to put injured workers first. Surplus funds must be reinvested to improve benefits, expand entitlement, speed up claim processing, and ensure injured workers receive the support and dignity they deserve.