PTSD Bill Passes Second Reading

On March 3, 2016, Bill 163, Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), 2016, passed second reading and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. As previously reported, if passed, Bill 163 will, among other things, amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to create a rebuttable statutory presumption in favour of granting workers’ compensation…

2016 Ontario Budget and Budget Bill Released

On February 25, 2016, the Ontario government tabled its 2016 Budget “Jobs for Today and Tomorrow” (“Budget”) and the corresponding Budget Bill, Bill 173, Jobs for Today and Tomorrow Act (Budget Measures), 2016 (“Bill 173”), supporting omnibus legislation designed to implement some of the proposals contained in the Budget. Our FTR Now of February 29, 2016, “Ontario Budget 2016”…

Ontario Introduces Legislation Creating Statutory Presumption of Work-Relatedness for First Responders Diagnosed with PTSD

On February 18, 2016, the Ontario government introduced Bill 163, Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) 2016, amending the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (“WSIA”) and the Ministry of Labour Act.

Ontario Introduces PTSD Legislation

On February 18, 2016, the Ontario government introduced Bill 163, Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), 2016. If passed, Bill 163 will, among other things, amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to create a rebuttable statutory presumption in favour of granting workers’ compensation benefits to certain workers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. If passed, Bill…

Ontario Tables PTSD Legislation

On February 18, 2016, the Ontario government tabled Bill 163, Supporting Ontario’s First Responders Act (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), 2016, amending the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 and the Ministry of Labour Act. If passed, Bill 163 would create a statutory presumption in favour of granting workers’ compensation benefits to first responders diagnosed with post-traumatic…

PTSD Strategy Announced by Ontario

On February 1, 2016, the Ontario government announced new initiatives designed to address post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) suffered by first responders. The initiatives build on the feedback received by the government at its Summit on Work-Related Traumatic Mental Stress, hosted by the Minister of Labour in March 2015. In this FTR Now, we review these…

An Update on WSIB Rate Framework Reform

In March, 2015, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) proposed a new Rate Framework (“Proposed Framework”) which, if adopted, would fundamentally change the way the WSIB classifies Schedule 1 employers and sets their premium rates (see our FTR Nows of April 17, 2015 “WSIB Rate Framework Reform: Stakeholder Input Invited” and August 21, 2015 “An…

Jodi Gallagher Healy Quoted in Business Insurance Article on Workers Compensation Law

Hicks Morley’s Jodi Gallagher Healy was quoted in the January 18, 2016 Business Insurance article entitled “Ontario employers could see cost hikes from new workers comp law.” The article focuses on the new workers compensation legislation in Ontario which has the potential to raise the costs for employers that participate in its workers compensation program. The…