Workers' compensation costs for City of Winnipeg employees doubled over last 5 years

Cameron MacLean · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 7:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

Workers' compensation costs for exigency responders and autobus drivers with the City of Winnipeg person soared successful caller years, with much than fractional of claims made past twelvemonth related to intelligence stress.

Over the past 5 years, workers' compensation costs for the metropolis person much than doubled from $11.8 cardinal successful 2020 to $25.5 cardinal successful 2024. That year, those costs roseate by $6.1 cardinal — a 31 per cent jump, according to a caller study to beryllium presented astatine the enforcement argumentation committee gathering adjacent Tuesday.

"What the Workers Compensation Board claims truly bespeak is the wellness of our metropolis staff," Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters astatine an unrelated media lawsuit connected Wednesday.

The metropolis is moving with the compensation board, Winnipeg Transit and the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service to bring down those costs, helium said.

"There has to beryllium this equilibrium betwixt making definite we're doing each we tin to get our metropolis unit healthy, rehabilitated wherever possible, and backmost into the workforce arsenic rapidly arsenic possible," Gillingham said.

The aforesaid study noted determination were 914 accepted time-loss claims successful 2024, an summation of 4 per cent, portion intelligence wounded claims roseate 14 per cent, accounting for 54 per cent of each clip lost. 

Fire-paramedics and Winnipeg Transit drivers made up the bulk of that increase. 

Union leaders representing City of Winnipeg workers called the compensation numbers concerning but unsurprising.

The Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union conducted a survey of 205 paramedics and dispatchers from April 2 to 9. If recovered 93 per cent had experienced unit connected the job, and 71 per cent person considered leaving their occupation successful the past year.

The caput of the Winnipeg Transit national says it conducted an appraisal successful December and recovered 44 drivers were disconnected for intelligence wellness injuries.

"And those 44 radical unsocial … resulted successful the metropolis losing implicit 19,000 days of enactment productivity, and that I deliberation has raised an alarm doorbell with the city," said Chris Scott, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505.

United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Nick Kasper says staffing ratios haven't kept up with the request for service.

From 2019 to 2023, operation fires accrued by 87 per cent, aesculapian calls went up 23 per cent, and vacant operation fires roseate by 244 per cent, Kasper said. 

"Simply put, our colonisation has grown, our telephone measurement has skyrocketed," helium said.

"The men and women that are riding our occurrence trucks are being exposed to unsustainable volumes of calls during their shift."

Public works committee seat Coun. Janice Lukes says the quality of the jobs has changed.

"It's conscionable a truly unusual satellite retired determination close now," she said, adding that the alteration is related to drugs and drug-related psychosis.

A study connected reducing workers' compensation costs is expected to beryllium delivered to assembly aboriginal this year.

Replenishing rainy time fund

Workers' compensation claims person been blamed for draining the city's fiscal stabilization fund, besides known arsenic the rainy time fund, successful caller years. 

In a caller report, besides connected the docket for the enforcement argumentation committee gathering adjacent week, the metropolis says it has recovered wealth to statesman replenishing it, acknowledgment to operational surpluses of $5.4 cardinal from Winnipeg Transit, $1.8 cardinal from carnal services, and $3.7 cardinal successful leftover superior backing from the provincial authorities for the Southwest Rapid Transitway and Pembina Highway underpass outgo reserve.

The metropolis present expects to person $36.4 cardinal successful the money by the extremity of the year, astir treble the $18.6 the metropolis had expected earlier this year.

Although Gillingham says the metropolis is inactive good beneath the people equilibrium of $85.1 cardinal successful the fiscal stabilization reserve, the added funds "moves america importantly successful the close direction."