WSIB to split class G1 employers
Effective January 1, 2021 the more than 26,000 employers grouped in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB’s) G1 – Building construction class will be separated along residential and non-residential lines.
Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour Training and Skills Development, announced the change during a webinar hosted by the League of Champions on June 17. He indicated that the WSIB’s board of directors voted to amend its general regulation 175/98 to allow the change. The proposal will be brought to the provincial cabinet to be enacted into law.
“The change recognizes that the residential and non-residential sectors are large enough to be their own separate classes, and for the premium rates attached to each reflect the different risk profiles for each,” said the minister.
That last point is important, says David Frame, director of government relations with the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA). When the WSIB announced its new rate framework model for setting employer premiums, it reduced the number of classes (or groups, as they were previously known) from 13 to five. The G1 class brought together the province’s residential builders and developers with its general contractors.
Since that plan was announced, the OGCA has been lobbying the board to separate the groups. Non-residential employers have consistently demonstrated better safety performances than their residential counterparts—including through initiatives such as lobbying to introduce the Certificate of Recognition program and building the League of Champions program.
Indeed, the safety performance of general contractors—as measured by the percentage of builders that pay more than the class rate—is significantly better than those of non-residential builders, however. Eighty-five percent of general contractors were at or below the class G1 premium rate in 2020, while just 2 percent of residential builders were at the same level.
“The board actually committed to this change about a year and a half ago when they were able to collect and study data that supported our claim,” says Frame. “Their policy required a certain performance gap be established [between residential and non-residential builders] and maintained for three years before any adjustment could be made.”
It’s not yet clear to what extent the shift will change employers’ premiums for 2021. Although residential employers account for 85 percent of the total number of employers in the G1 class, non-residential builders account for a slightly larger percentage (51 percent) of the total insurable earnings in the class.
The WSIB typically releases the following year’s employer premiums in September.
Funding announced for League of Champions
The WSIB change wasn’t the only announcement made by McNaughton during the webinar. He also indicated the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Developed had entered into a partnership with the OGCA to support the League of Champions program.
Under the arrangement, the government will provide $75,000 in funding to support programs and initiatives being run by the league.
Craig Lesurf, chair of the League of Champions, explained that the group has struck a steering committee to decide how to use the funding.
“We will be supporting members and the construction industry as a whole,” he said.