PCs letting unsafe bosses skirt rules, making workers pay, says OFL
TORONTO, Nov. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While the PCs work hard at distractions, court data shows they are giving a free ride to employers who skirt safety laws, says OFL president Laura Walton.
The data shows the number of charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act has dropped by almost half under the PCs. In 2019, Ministry of Labour prosecutors brought 3,156 OHSA charges to court. By 2024-25 it had fallen by 49 per cent to 1,622.
And because of PC court mismanagement, backlogs, and delays 36 per cent of the OHSA charges originally filed were later withdrawn by the Crown.
Workers ultimately pay the price. At least 305 Ontario workers died from workplace injuries or exposures in 2023, the most recent year of finalized data from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). That’s an eight per cent increase from 2015, when 283 were killed. Even one worker killed is too many.
In 2024, the construction industry saw nearly three times more No Lost-Time Injuries (14,466) as compared with Lost-Time Injuries (4,991) – suggesting that the severity of injuries is being underreported or misclassified. This masks the real hazards and increases stress for workers.
“Doug Ford lowers costs for unsafe employers, and workers are the ones left paying the price – sometimes with their lives,” said Walton.
“We know that unionization is an antidote to unsafe employers, where studies show there are significantly less lost-time injury claims on construction sites with union workers. We ensure workers have proper training, an effective Joint Health and Safety Committee, and are aware of their rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”
- Links to court data https://www.ontariocourts.ca/ocj/statistics/
- Link to Data Shows report: https://tparkin.substack.com/p/60594d6d-5fea-4329-8e7f-e11e55f73b9c
Last week the Ontario Federation of Labour and Data Shows reported the number of charges under the Employment Standards Act has plummeted by 90 per cent in the past ten years.
Media Contact:
Jenny Sellathurai
Director of Communications
Ontario Federation of Labour
jsellathurai@ofl.ca | 647 222 1296
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