WSIB costs down, injury rates up, says city government
The City of Thunder Bay’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) costs were $911,000 lower in 2025 than in 2024.
Members of the city’s administration credit the cost savings with increased preventative efforts to reduce mental health-related workplace claims, and the conclusion of some old claims the city no longer has to pay out.
Thunder Bay has a large municipal workforce that includes emergency services, health care, transit, and numerous other sectors.
As an employer, the city is responsible for paying out WSIB claims in the event of workplace injuries or illnesses.
While WSIB costs went down, the city saw an increase in reported injuries of 3.2 per cent from its workers.
The largest source of reported injuries was mental stress, which made up almost a quarter of all incidents, and predominantly came from emergency service workers.
The second largest source of reports came from overextension and strain, which made up 20 per cent of reported incidents.
Lost time claims, which arise from workers being unable to work and requiring compensation thanks to a work-related injury, were up 6.1 per cent in 2025.
The city has taken on several efforts to prevent workplace injuries such as a wellness program for paramedics to reduce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder claims, or a new program by the city to reduce slips, trips, and falls by city workers.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, City Manager John Collin explained that addressing the causes of accidents or issues is a key element of how the city is attempting to reduce claims.
“So someone gets injured, unfortunately,” said the city manager. “The investigation happens, the root cause is determined, corrective actions are put in place to avoid repetition of that sort of injury in the future.”
City Councillor Andrew Foulds wondered whether some types of workplace incidents might actually be underreported by city workers, such as workers on the city’s phone lines being subjected to verbal harassment from local residents.
“There is perhaps a volatility out there. Certainly there’s sometimes very abusive behaviour. There’s swearing, name calling, sometimes even slurs. I feel that’s really underreported, and that can take a toll.”
