Province-wide WSIB staffing cuts will impact 131 workers in Windsor, union says

Dalson Chen · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 19, 2026 7:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: August 20

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has deemed hundreds of the agency's jobs to be redundant — and Windsor's WSIB workers will be among those badly hit with cuts, says the workers' union.

According to the Ontario Compensation Employees Union, 131 people working for the board in Windsor will be losing their jobs as a result of a province-wide review.

"They're good-paying jobs. They have reciprocal benefits for the community," said Harry Goslin, president of the OCEU.

"Windsor in particular has been very hard hit over the last number of years... To strip away 131 good-paying jobs in Windsor is devastating. Why would the provincial government allow this to happen?"

Goslin said WSIB workforces in 10 communities across Ontario will suffer job cuts. Windsor will have one of the highest number of losses. Only Sudbury (136 workers) and Waterloo (155 workers) will be face more job cuts.

In total, 466 WSIB employees have been recently notified that their jobs are redundant, Goslin said — with more notifications to come in about a year's time.

Notified workers must decide if they are willing to relocate to a WSIB position in a different community or accept an exit package, Goslin said.

According to the OCEU, the staffing cuts are the latest example of the mass elimination of "stable, family-supporting public-sector jobs in communities already facing economic instability."

The result will be worse service delivery for injured workers, increased workloads for remaining employees, and the undermining of the WSIB's mandate, the union said.

Goslin said the responsibilities of WSIB employees in Windsor include processing claims and payments, taking calls from clients and dealing with health-care benefits.

In a reply to a CBC inquiry, the WSIB stated that the agency "has made the difficult decision to consolidate claim and account management functions, and as a result, there will be some roles that relocate and adjustments to local staffing needs."

The WSIB acknowledged that this announcement is "difficult" for staff and their families. The agency said impacted employees will have access to resume writing help, job seeking services, and continued benefits including mental health support.

WATCH | WSIB cuts will impact 131 Windsor workers, union says:

The agency would not comment on the specific job loss figures shared by the OCEU.

Windsor's former WSIB office at 2845 Ouellette Ave. permanently closed in 2024. All WSIB employees in the community work remotely.

One injured worker in Windsor-Essex who runs a support group for injured workers said they are already dealing with the closure of that office and from WSIB’s recent ending of support for Injured Workers Outreach Services.

That’s left many people struggling to navigate the claim process, said Liz Garant, who is also a regional representative for the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups.

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“People are going to stop reporting their injuries,” she said. 

“This is going to force people onto [Ontario Works], [Ontario Disability Support Program], on the streets, into poverty because these people are going to give up on filling out the reports.”

Garant said the workload from the laid-off workers will be transferred onto the ones who remain, resulting in burnout for the workers left behind. 

“I'm devastated,” she said.  “I don't even know where to start.”

The Doug Ford government launched an intensive review of multiple provincial agencies in the first week of August, with the expressed goal of improving efficiency and productivity.

Along with putting the WSIB under a microscope, the review examined the workings of Legal Aid Ontario, Supply Ontario, Metrolinx, the LCBO, the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, Agricrop, and the AGCO.

Ontario finance minister and Treasury Board president Peter Bethlenfalvy said the review is about "ensuring that operations remain sustainable."

But Goslin said WSIB's current employees are "under-resourced as it is."

"We have severe workload problems. And now, this will make it even worse, and it will hurt injured workers in Ontario — the same injured workers that the government says they're here to protect."