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The evidence

456 verified Canadian data points. Every one of them checkable.

Canadian sources only, federal and provincial. No foreign data substituted at any point. Every figure links to the exact page it came from, and nothing is rounded, converted or restated.

01436 rated high confidence02Canadian sources only03Deep page links, no homepages04Nothing rounded or restated

The burden Canadian workplaces carry

274,022

Accepted lost time claims in Canada, 2023

Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC)

116,372

Claims to muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints

AWCBC

50,801

Back claims. The most claimed body part in Canada

AWCBC

$39,000

Average direct cost of one lost time claim, 2018

Institute for Work & Health

9.1

Days lost per full time employee per year to illness or disability, 2025

Statistics Canada

61%

Canadian workers who show up while unwell at least weekly

Benefits Canada

What is documented when workplaces act

CA$1.62

Median return per dollar invested in workplace mental health programmes

Deloitte Insights (Deloitte Canada)

CA$2.18

Median return where the programme has run 3 or more years

Deloitte Insights (Deloitte Canada)

2.14

Benefit cost ratio for Ontario transportation employers, 2013 to 2018

Institute for Work & Health

10.9 days

Average days off after the return to work policy

Institute for Work & Health

30% reduction

Sustained reduction in soft tissue injuries at an Ontario utility

Institute for Work & Health

$232 million (5%) per year

Annual reduction in the burden of illness attributable to physiotherapy

Deloitte LLP, prepared for Canadian Physiotherapy Association

Charted

The same data, drawn.

Where Canadian workers get hurt

Accepted lost time claims by part of body, Canada 2023

The back alone accounts for more claims than the next 3 body parts combined.

SourceA122A123A124A125A126A127

Soft tissue is the single largest claim category

Accepted lost time claims by nature of injury, Canada 2023

Sprains, strains and tears: exactly what a capacity deficit produces, and exactly what physiotherapy addresses.

SourceA116A117A118A119A120A121

Absence days per worker, by sector

Days lost per full time employee per year, all personal reasons, Canada 2025

Health care loses more than 3 times what professional services loses.

SourceA315A316A317A318A319A320A321A322

Every documented Canadian return clears break even

Canadian dollars returned per dollar invested, 2013 to 2018

The dashed line is break even. Mental health figures and OHS spend figures come from different studies and are not a like for like comparison.

SourceA401A402A403A418A419A420

A claim runs 2 months or longer

Average claim duration in days

Each board publishes a different duration measure, so these bars are not a like for like comparison.

SourceA135A158A143

A written return to work policy halved time off

Average days off after a work related injury, one Ontario hospital system

Niagara Health, more than 4,800 workers. The peer group of 29 hospitals improved 25% over the same period.

SourceA408A409A410

Managers and employees are not describing the same workplace

Per cent, paired survey waves

A 45 point gap on burnout prevention. Managers cannot act on a problem they cannot see.

SourceA542A541
The gap

Where Canadian workplaces fall short, and what closing it is documented to deliver.

46

Absence is not measured

Per cent of Canadian organisations that track employee absence

You cannot price a risk you do not count

The Conference Board of Canada

15

Absence cost is not measured

Per cent that track what absence actually costs them

No cost baseline means no business case

The Conference Board of Canada

RRRadj = 1.4, 95% CI 1.03, 1.8

Injury reported late

Raised risk of not returning to work when treatment is delayed

Delay converts a short complaint into a long claim

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation (Springer)

75%

No workplace mental health strategy

Employees reporting no overall workplace mental health strategy

Mental health now drives the largest share of long term disability

Mental Health Commission of Canada and Morneau Shepell

61%

Presenteeism unmeasured

Canadian workers who show up while unwell at least weekly

Present but unproductive costs more days than absence

Benefits Canada

200%

Premium incentive left unclaimed

Ontario prevention programme rebate, capped at 2× prior year premiums

The regulator already pays for prevention

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)

Master source list

Check any of it.

Every source page was opened and read before the figure was entered. Homepages, domain roots and search pages were not accepted.

Every source, searchable

Showing 60 of 456

IDPublisherMetric recordedYearSource
A1 01Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC)Accepted lost time claims, national total2023Open
A1 02AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, national total2022Open
A1 03AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, national total2021Open
A1 04AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Quebec2023Open
A1 05AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Ontario2023Open
A1 06AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, British Columbia2023Open
A1 07AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Alberta2023Open
A1 08AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Manitoba2023Open
A1 09AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Saskatchewan2023Open
A1 10AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Nova Scotia2023Open
A1 11AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, New Brunswick2023Open
A1 12AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Newfoundland and Labrador2023Open
A1 13AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, Prince Edward Island2023Open
A1 14AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, male workers2023Open
A1 15AWCBCAccepted lost time claims, female workers2023Open
A1 16AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, etc.2023Open
A1 17AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: surface wounds and bruises2023Open
A1 18AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: traumatic injuries to bones, nerves, spinal cord2023Open
A1 19AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: open wounds2023Open
A1 20AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: intracranial injuries2023Open
A1 21AWCBCLost time claims, nature of injury: other traumatic injuries and disorders2023Open
A1 22AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: back, including spine, spinal cord2023Open
A1 23AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: finger(s), fingernail(s)2023Open
A1 24AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: shoulder (including clavicle, scapula, trapezius)2023Open
A1 25AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: arm(s)2023Open
A1 26AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: wrist(s)2023Open
A1 27AWCBCLost time claims, part of body: hand(s), except finger(s)2023Open
A1 28Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) / Government of CanadaWorkplace fatalities recorded in Canada2022Open
A1 29CCOHS / Government of CanadaAccepted claims for lost time due to work related injuries or diseases2022Open
A1 30CCOHSDefinition of a Lost Time Claim (NWISP)2025 (fact sheet last modified)Open
A1 31Institute for Work & HealthNon traumatic MSD incidence decline, lost time compensation claims2004 to 2011Open
A1 32Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)Allowed lost time claims, WSIB Schedule 12020Open
A1 33WSIBLost time injury rate, WSIB Schedule 12020Open
A1 34WSIBLost time injury (LTI) rate, WSIB Schedule 12023Open
A1 35WSIBAverage composite claim duration, WSIB Schedule 12024Open
A1 36WSIBTotal claim payments, WSIB2024Open
A1 37WSIBHealth care component of claim payments, WSIB2024Open
A1 38WSIBShare of allowed lost time claims that were sprains and strains2020Open
A1 39WSIBShare of allowed lost time claims affecting the lower back2020Open
A1 40WSIBHigh impact claims share of lost time benefit payments2020Open
A1 41WorkSafeBCShort term disability claims accepted, WorkSafeBC2024Open
A1 42WorkSafeBCProvincial time loss claims rate, WorkSafeBC2024Open
A1 43WorkSafeBCAverage duration, short term disability claims, all subsectors2020 to 2024Open
A1 44WorkSafeBCDays lost from work, all claims2024Open
A1 45WorkSafeBCClaims first paid, injury type "Strain, back"2024Open
A1 46WorkSafeBCClaims first paid, injury type "Strain, other"2024Open
A1 47WorkSafeBCComposition of total claim cost: short term disability claims2024Open
A1 48WorkSafeBCComposition of total claim cost: long term disability claims2024Open
A1 49WorkSafeBCComposition of total claim cost: health care only claims2024Open
A1 50WorkSafeBCTotal claim costs (distribution of costs by benefit type)2024Open
A1 51WorkSafeBCAccepted time loss claims for musculoskeletal injuries2020 to 2024Open
A1 52WorkSafeBCTotal claim costs for all MSI injuries2020 to 2024Open
A1 53WorkSafeBCMSI share of all time loss claims and of claim costsnot stated on the page, February 2026 news releaseOpen
A1 54WorkSafeBCWork related death claims, WorkSafeBC2024Open
A1 55Workers' Compensation Board AlbertaLost time claims, WCB Alberta2025Open
A1 56Workers' Compensation Board AlbertaLost time claim rate, WCB Alberta2025Open
A1 57Workers' Compensation Board AlbertaDisabling injury rate, WCB Alberta2025Open
A1 58Workers' Compensation Board AlbertaEstimated average claim duration (TTD days), WCB Alberta2025Open
A1 59Workers' Compensation Board AlbertaClaim benefit expense, WCB Alberta2025Open
A1 60Health Canada (Canadian Pain Task Force)People living with chronic painReport released March 2021 (no reference year stated in sentence)Open
Published dataWhere 2 credible Canadian sources disagree, both are shown and the discrepancy is flagged rather than averaged away. Where a board publishes a different measure than its neighbour, the charts say so instead of implying a like for like comparison.

Now put your own numbers next to these.

National data tells you what the risk looks like. An assessment tells you what your risk looks like.

A clinician briefing a supervisor over an aggregate report