Six workers’ compensation boards (WCBs) in Canada are currently holding onto $4.9 billion in excess funds, according to recent research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The CFIB has called for these funds to be returned to small businesses.
The CFIB report highlights that WCBs in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon have surpassed their funding targets, with Manitoba’s board being the most overfunded at 160%, well above its 130% target.
Currently, nine of the 12 WCBs have rebate policies to return excess funds to employers. The CFIB estimates that small businesses with five employees could receive rebates ranging from $1,745 in Ontario to $5,360 in New Brunswick if these surplus funds were returned.
Some boards have initiated surplus distributions in recent years. Manitoba, for instance, returned $118 million in 2024; Prince Edward Island issued $21 million in 2023; and Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) distributed $1.2 billion in 2022.
Manitoba aims to continue offering rebates through 2026 until its funding ratio is reduced to 130%. Despite being overfunded, Prince Edward Island has yet to announce its rebate plan for this year.
Ontario, meanwhile, stands out as the only province that legally mandates the return of WCB surplus funds to employers, including automatic rebates when the funding level reaches 125% or higher. In April 2022, WSIB allocated $1.2 billion in surplus funds to nearly 300,000 Ontario businesses.
Marvin Cruz, CFIB’s director of research, stated: “Little has changed since our report last year, and the same five boards – with a new addition of Ontario – are sitting on huge surpluses they don’t need while small businesses struggle with lower consumer demand and rising costs on all levels.
“These surplus funds would allow business owners to pay down their debt, offset the elevated costs of doing business, invest in their employees through health and safety and other measures, and grow their business.”
Cruz pointed out that the “overfunded” boards could issue rebates to small businesses without jeopardizing worker payouts.
Julie Kwiecinski, CFIB’s director of provincial affairs for Ontario, said: “CFIB encourages all provinces to follow Ontario’s lead and make the return of WCB surplus funds law. We also urge all governments that have boards with surpluses over their funding targets to issue employer rebates now, and regularly in the future.
“Most employers say that workers’ compensation premiums are one of the most harmful taxes to their business, because as a payroll tax, they’re profit-insensitive. WCBs are directly funded by employers, so we’re just asking governments to return surplus money that belongs to businesses that pay into WCBs.”
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