A follow-up survey conducted among Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) employees has found a continued decline in mental health outcomes, raising questions about operational strain within Ontario’s public workplace compensation and insurance system.
The study, carried out by the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW), an independent third-party provider, indicated that WSIB employees are experiencing job-related anxiety and depression at twice the national average. Early results suggest conditions have worsened since the previous survey a year earlier.
The findings come amid an ongoing strike by members of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750), which has now entered its fourth week. Union representatives say rising caseloads and chronic understaffing are leading to burnout among staff tasked with managing injury claims, return-to-work support, and other statutory insurance benefits for workers and employers across the province.
OCEU president Harry Goslin said that current workloads are not sustainable and are affecting both staff well-being and service delivery. He said the union intends to continue pressing for reforms to address what it views as systemic operational failures within the WSIB.
Chief steward Nicole Francis said the employer has yet to acknowledge the validity of the data collected through OHCOW’s methodology. She said that the ongoing denial of the problem is contributing to further frustration among front-line employees.
From an occupational health perspective, OHCOW’s John Oudyk noted that although most of the metrics were negative, employee engagement scores remained relatively close to national averages. He said this could signal that workers still have confidence in the value of their roles, despite current conditions.
The WSIB is a publicly funded agency that administers no-fault insurance for workplace injuries and illnesses in Ontario. The organization plays a central role in the province’s broader risk management framework, with responsibilities including claims adjudication, loss prevention, and compensation funding.
Labor unrest at the WSIB comes amid increased scrutiny of the administrative burden in Canada’s public insurance systems. Long-term sustainability, employee capacity, and service quality have become recurring issues across similar government-run insurance models, particularly those managing injury, disability, and health-related claims.
The WSIB has not yet issued a formal response to the updated survey results or the union’s latest statements. Key bargaining issues, including workload management and employee wellness, remain unresolved.
