Injured Workers and Advocates Denounce Discriminatory WSIB Age Cut-Off

Call for Immediate Legislative Reform

TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a report released today, entitled Rights Don’t Retire, injured workers, legal advocates, and community organizations are calling on the Ontario government to end a discriminatory provision in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) that cuts off injured workers’ benefit payments arbitrarily when they turn 65.

The current laws allows the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to end an injured worker’s benefits when they reach 65 years of age, or two years after the injury if the injury occurs after age 63.

Advocates argue this age-based rule is outdated, harmful, and inconsistent with modern labour trends, which show older workers are increasingly working past the age of 65 and 70. In 2024, more than 421,000 people over the age of 65 were employed, with just under 164,000 of those workers being over the age of 70.

“This law punishes people simply for being older,” says John McKinnon, Executive Director of Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic. “The WSIB assumes a one-size-fits-all approach, which is unfair, arbitrary, and we believe it violates workers’ equality rights under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Many older workers today do not retire at 65 for a variety of reasons, including financial necessity during a cost of living crisis and/or personal choice. For a growing number of workers, the cut-off from compensation can have serious consequences, especially for those who may have limited income sources, while still being unable to work.

“Ontario’s workers’ compensation system was built on a promise: if you’re hurt at work, you will be supported. But that promise disappears at 65,” said Wayne Harris, Executive Vice- President of ONIWG and an injured worker who will be impacted by the cut-off. “We are asking the government to fix this injustice so older workers can live with dignity and security.”

Advocates are urging the Ontario government to:

• End age discrimination at the WSIB by amending the legislation to reflect the following principles:
  • Introduce an Ontario-made approach that reflects the province’s modern workforce realities, including the fact that more workers are staying employed beyond age 65 and 70.
  • Incorporate provisions that allow for the assessment of individual workers’ actual intentions around retirement rather than relying on arbitrary age thresholds, and
  • Provide for retroactivity to at least the end of mandatory retirement in Ontario in 2006.

Injured workers’ groups, legal clinics, and labour organizations are united in calling for immediate legislative action to bring Ontario’s workers’ compensation system in line with workforce realities and to uphold the dignity of all workers.

The full report is available online at: https://injuredworkersonline.org/RightsDontRetire

Media Contacts

Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic • Tebasum Durrani,
Phone: 416-461-2411 ext.28; Email: tebasum.durrani@iwc.clcj.ca

Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups • Wayne Harris
Phone: Wayne Harris: 289-830-2103

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