In response to calls from OTA and other business groups, the WSIB announced they will be returning $2 billion to Ontario employers in a surplus rebate (to be issued in February 2025), along with premium rate decreases for many rate groups, including trucking.
OTA and other business groups have been calling for the WSIB to take this action. Last month, OTA wrote the president and chair of the WSIB outlining the need to provide Ontario businesses with rebates and premium rate decreases, as the Board continues to exceed funding targets. OTA noted that with a current funding ratio over 122 percent, the WSIB should provide employers in the province – who fund the WSIB – some relief.
As OTA outlined in its submission, the Ontario trucking industry is a major employer in the province and played a pivotal role in the WSIB’s journey to tackle its unfunded liability. Starting from the 2009 Auditors General’s report and lasting the better part of a decade, the WSIB’s financial position was greatly increased through a combination of improved administration, improved economic conditions, and most importantly sustained increases in employer premium rates. While these increases were not easy for employers, the OTA and the Ontario trucking industry still supported the WSIB throughout its journey to retiring the unfunded liability.
More recently, the OTA also worked hard with the WSIB to ensure greater compliance within the sector, efforts that have returned about $10 million dollars annually to WSIB’s coffers through enforcement on Driver inc. companies.
“We think this is the right time for the Board to show they appreciate the role employers have played in getting the WSIB to such a strong financial position,” said Jonathan Blackham, OTA director of Policy and Public Affairs. “This achieves just that and we are very happy to see the WSIB make this decision.”
To be eligible, businesses must meet all the following eligibility requirements to receive a rebate of surplus funds in February 2025:
- Have an active account and premium payment obligations as of November 1, 2024
- Had premium obligations in 2023
- Have not been convicted of a Workplace Safety and Insurance Act or an Occupational Health and Safety Act offence in a proceeding under Part III of the Provincial Offences Act, in 2024 or in 2025 up to and including the date the WSIB issues a surplus rebate
- Have not been convicted in more than one such proceeding under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, or have not been convicted in more than one such proceeding under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, between 2020 and 2025 up to and including the date the WSIB issues a surplus rebate
- Have not had a traumatic workplace fatality attributed to the organization in 2024 or in 2025 up to and including the date the WSIB issues a surplus rebate, or have not had more than one traumatic workplace fatality attributed to the organization between 2020 and 2025, up to and including the date the WSIB issues a surplus rebate
- Must not be affiliated through common ownership with a business that: is ineligible to receive a surplus rebate based on the convictions criteria outlined, and has a traumatic workplace fatality attributed to them between 2020 and 2025, up to and including the date the WSIB issues a surplus rebate
Information about your business’s eligibility will be available in February 2025 and credit amounts will be displayed in eligible business’s online services accounts at that time.