Workers' compensation in Canada: a case for greater public accountability

Abstract: In this article, the authors argue that workers' compensation policies in Canada should be made more accountable to elected governments. The changing nature of occupational risks has created a range of workplace injuries against which current workers' compensation programs do not adequately insure. The existence of workers' compensation alongside the other components of the social-safety net may have created significant numbers of individuals who are either not receiving compensation when they should be or are receiving compensation when they should not be. The implication is that other programs bear some of the costs that should be borne by workers' compensation and, conversely, that some of the costs borne by workers' compensation should be borne by other social programs. These “gaps and overlaps” indicate that workers' compensation should be better integrated with the rest of the programs that make up the Canadian social-safety net. The article concludes with a menu of reforms, including the establishment, through legislation, of a formal reporting relationship; changes to the composition and size of governance structures; the introduction of strategic planning; and the establishment of performance measurement processes. Sommaire: Selon les auteurs de cet article, les politiques concernant les accidents du travail au Canada devraient relever davantage des gouvernements elus. L'evolution des risques professionnels a Cree toute une gamme d'accidents du travail pour lesquels l'assurance des regimes actuels d'indemnisation est inadequate. L'existence des regimes d'assurance contre les accidents du travail parallelement aux autres elements de securite sociale aurait pour effet de multiplier le nombre de personnes quisoit ne recoivent pas de prestations lorsqu'elles devraient en recevoir, soit l'inverse. Par consequent, d'autres programmes defraient certains des couts qui incombent au regime des accidents du travail, tandis que ce dernier defraie des couts imputables a d'autres programmes sociaux. Ces lacunes et chevauchements indiquent que le regime d'assurance contre les accidents du travail devrait etre mieux integre au reste des programmes qui constituent le filet de securite sociale au Canada. L'article propose une serie de reformes, dont l'adoption legiferee d'une relation formelle de compte rendu, la modification de la composition et de la taille des structures de gouvernance, l'adoption de la planification strategique, et l'etablissement de processus de mesure du rendement.