Funding Fairness: State of Workers’ Compensation Funding in 2024

Workers’ compensation insurance is entirely funded through mandatory employer premiums and investment earnings. Ideally, provincial/territorial workers’ compensation boards/commissions (boards from hereafter) should aim to adequately balance their funding to protect the compensation benefits of injured workers in the long-term, while at the same time preventing the volatility of premiums or overcharging employers. Boards, however, should not accumulate large surpluses in their funding as it deprives employers of crucial resources that could be re-invested to meet the massive challenges being faced by many small businesses.

This snapshot provides an overview of the latest funding levels of provincial/territorial boards, and highlight the potential benefits that direct rebates would provide to small businesses across Canada.

Key Takeaways

• The latest data shows six boards are overfunded, five of which were also overfunded last year.
• If all six overfunded boards provided rebates, small businesses would receive a
  $4.9 billion boost.
• Nine out of twelve boards have a policy to return funds to employers. 
• Only the Ontario government has legislated mandatory rebates under set targets.
• Manitoba returned $118 million of surplus funds in 2024, Prince Edward Island $21 million in 2023, and Ontario $1.2 billion in 2022.