Ontario’s WSIB extends double rebates for small business to help with health and safety

Employees at small businesses are 44% more likely than those at large ones to experience a work-related injury, according to a recent study highlighted by Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).

A driver of that might be weaker health and safety policies and procedures at small employers, and the fact that business owners are facing a lot of challenges in the current economy, it said.

To help smaller businesses prioritize improving health and safety, extra incentives through the WSIB’s Health and Safety Excellence program (first announced in June 2022) are being extended through the end of 2024.

This means smaller businesses (with up to 99 full-time employees) can:

• earn double the rebates in both 2023 and 2024
• receive $1,000 towards their health and safety plan in both 2023 and 2024

“Extending the additional incentives to the end of 2024 to help even more smaller businesses double their rebates while creating safer workplaces wasn’t a hard decision,” said Rod Cook, vice-president of Workplace Health and Safety Services at the WSIB. “Every business that invests in health and safety means fewer injuries in the long run so it’s important for us to help however we can.”

The Health and Safety Excellence program connects Ontario businesses with approved providers in their industry or community who help design a plan based on 39 available health and safety topics. For each topic completed, businesses can earn a rebate on their WSIB premiums. Since its inception in 2020, the program has distributed over $45 million in rebates, according to the WSIB.

Smaller businesses can find out more and enroll in the Health and Safety Excellence program on the WSIB’s website. Visit wsib.ca/healthandsafety for more information.