Ontario to reform WCB

The newly elected government of Michael Harris has outlined the initial steps it will take to turn around Ontario’s workers’ compensation program.

Labor Minister Elizabeth Witmer says the government intends to restore the program to its original mandate as a workplace accident insurance plan and to ensure that it works more effectively for both employers and injured workers. The announcement follows the disbanding of the Royal Commission on Workers’ Compensation in late July.

Witmer plans to move forward with a short-term package of initiatives to put the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) on a firmer financial footing. Details have yet to be announced.

While these shorter-term reforms are being pursued, Cameron Jackson, the minister responsible for the WCB, will begin a review of the compensation system.

The review will focus on: the current system for compensating long-term pension disabilities; the adjudicative and appeal system at the WCB; the need for new methods of delivering WCB services; and the financial viability of the current system with a view to ensuring a financially stable future. The minister’s study will tabled in April, 1996.