Summary
On July 16, 2026, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) announced that it has discontinued the Second Injury and Enhancement Fund (“SIEF”) relief retroactive to June 16, 2026. This decision will have a significant financial impact on Schedule 1 employers who previously relied on SIEF relief to manage the cost of claims involving pre-existing conditions.
The Facts
The WSIB has long recognized that employers should not be required to bear the full financial burden of a workplace injury claim where a worker’s pre-existing medical condition contributed to the severity of their workplace injury or prolonged the recovery period. To do so, the WSIB believed, would disproportionately affect the employer’s insurance premiums based on factors unrelated to the workplace incidents themselves.
To address this issue, in 1945, the WSIB established the SIEF. The corresponding WSIB Operational Policy provided cost relief to eligible claims where a pre-existing condition enhanced or prolonged a work-related disability. Depending on the circumstances, eligible employers could receive cost relief ranging from 25% to 100% applied to the cost of the specific claim. The SIEF also supported the WSIB’s broader policy objective of reducing potential disincentives to hiring and retaining workers with pre-existing disabilities.
However, on July 16, 2026, the WSIB published a revised version of OPM Document No. 14-05-03, “Second Injury and Enhancement Fund” which contained the WSIB’s decision to discontinue the SIEF program. The revised SIEF policy also introduces “SIEF wind-down” provisions which set out the transitional procedures for SIEF requests. Most importantly, the new provisions provide that:
- Cost relief will not be provided in claims unless previously granted, requested prior to June 16, 2026, or as a result of an appeal.
- The amount of cost relief already provided in a claim will not be adjusted, unless requested prior to June 16, 2026, or as a result of an appeal.
- The WSIB will continue to adjudicate SIEF requests, and adjustment requests to the amount of cost relief provided, for all requests received prior to June 16, 2026, or as a result of an appeal.
- Cost relief provided, or adjusted, as a result of requests received prior to June 16, 2026, will continue to impact employers’ risk-adjusted premium rates.
The Policy does not currently contain any language to suggest that exceptions will be granted to requests filed following the June 16, 2026 cut off date but prior to the publication date of July 16, 2026. The WSIB has stated that the change was brought on by a value-for-money audit which concluded that the SIEF no longer met its intended objective of reducing barriers to employment for workers with disabilities. The audit further found that the SIEF program no longer provided meaningful or equitable cost relief to employers.
Takeaways
The discontinuation of the SIEF is a significant setback for Schedule 1 employers who greatly benefited from the cost saving opportunities afforded by SIEF. Without a comparable replacement program, employers are likely to face significant increases in their overall claim costs.
As a result, the proper and diligent management of claims will become increasingly important for employers. Early intervention, return-to-work efforts, and careful monitoring of claim entitlement decisions will play a more prominent role in the reduction of claim costs, as employers will no longer be able to rely on the SIEF to provide cost relief
Need More Information?
For more information or assistance with managing WSIB claims, please contact Carissa Tanzola, Hossein Moghtaderi or your regular lawyer at the firm.