On April 28—the National Day of Mourning—workers across Canada come together to remember those killed, injured or made ill from incidents in the world of work, and to recommit to fighting for all workers’ safety and wellbeing. This year, we are shining a light on the growing toll of workplace stress, burnout, and psychological injuries, and honouring those we have lost by suicide and other means, including workers whose lives were taken by work-related psychological harm. In Canada, psychological health and illness are now the number one cause of disability.

“Workers are already bearing the weight of the ongoing affordability crisis, a trade war that no one asked for and mounting geopolitical instability. The news cycle reminds us daily of the pressure workers are feeling: rent is unaffordable, groceries cost too much, public services are stretched thin, and job security is increasingly fragile,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Going to work should not add significant stress to workers’ lives, and yet almost half of workers report that their job is the most stressful part of their day. This is completely unacceptable. This is not about individual resilience; it is about workplace conditions and the fundamental responsibility of employers to ensure the health and safety of workers.”

The reality facing workers is urgent. Indeed, nearly half of workers say their job is the most stressful part of their day. In 2023 alone, more than 8,500 workplace mental health injury claims were accepted by compensation boards, but the true number is far higher, as many cases go unreported.

The most affected sectors include health care, education, public services, and the skilled trades: sectors where workers are under increasing pressure due to understaffing, high workloads, and exposure to violence and harassment.

“Every worker in Canada has the right to safe work—both physically and psychologically,” said Bruske. “We know how to control physical hazards in the workplace. We must treat psychosocial hazards with the same seriousness as any other workplace hazard; no different than working at heights or exposure to toxic substances. Every workplace should have a plan to identify risks, prevent harm, and protect workers’ psychological health and safety.”

Psychological health and safety is already recognized in law across Canada, and Canada has ratified ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment at work. Canada’s unions are calling on all levels of government to act: to treat psychological health with the same urgency as physical health in occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation systems; to implement a national approach to preventing psychosocial hazards based on CSA Z1003; to require proactive risk assessments and prevention plans; and to ensure strong enforcement through inspections.

“Workers are being asked to carry more and more, while supports fall behind,” said Bruske. “Work should not make people sick. No one should have to sacrifice their mental health to earn a living. Employers have a responsibility to make work safe, for both body and mind.”

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This year, Canada’s unions are calling for urgent action to address not only visible workplace hazards, but also those that can’t be seen. The mental health toll of unsafe, under-resourced, or stressful work environments is real. The effects of exposure to hazardous substances and poor indoor air quality can also have lifelong impacts. Just because an injury or condition doesn’t leave physical scars, doesn’t mean they’re any less life-altering.  

In 2023 alone, Canada saw 1,057 accepted workplace fatalities and over 274,000 accepted lost-time injury claims. These are not just numbers: they represent people whose lives were cut short or permanently altered. And these numbers only scratch the surface. Many more injuries and illnesses go unreported, unrecognized, and unsupported—especially when they are invisible. 

“This isn’t just about accidents—it’s about systemic failures,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “When corners are cut, when regulations are ignored or under-enforced, and when profits are prioritized over people, workers pay the price. The Westray Law exists to hold employers criminally accountable for workplace deaths caused by negligence. But without consistent enforcement, its power is limited. A worker’s life is not a business expense.” 

Young workers are especially vulnerable. Many are entering the workforce unaware of the risks that aren’t obvious; risks that can lead to lasting harm. Every worker has the right to know what they’re being exposed to, and every employer has the duty to provide a safe, healthy work environment. That includes protecting workers from invisible hazards and recognizing mental health injuries as valid and compensable. 

This year’s National Day of Mourning coincides with the federal election. Canada’s unions are urging voters to keep workers’ wellbeing in mind as they head to the polls.  

“Workplace injuries and illnesses are preventable; they are not just part of the job. Every worker deserves to return home safe and healthy at the end of their shift,” said Bruske. “So today, we mourn, but we also fight. We fight for the living. We fight for justice. And we fight for a future where no one risks their life or their wellbeing for a paycheque.” 

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“Too many workers are still dying, getting injured or getting sick from work and year in and year out, these numbers are not going down. That is unacceptable because every death and injury is preventable. Employers and our governments are not doing enough to keep workers safe on the job. Workers and their loved ones can’t afford to wait for action,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “When you know better, you do better. It’s been twenty years since the Westray Law was brought into effect. It’s past time for Canada to do better to keep everyone safe.”

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Westray Law. Following the Westray mine disaster, Canada’s unions – led by the United Steelworkers – lobbied for change, so that employers could be convicted of criminal negligence. In 2004, the Westray sections of the Criminal Code of Canada were brought into effect, allowing for corporations to be held criminally liable for workplace deaths and injuries.

However, since its inception, only a handful of criminal charges have been laid due to inconsistent and insufficient enforcement of the law. Most of these cases resulted in fines, which major corporations can easily pay. Political leaders also still defer to business interests by weakening health and safety legislation, both provincially and federally.

Across Canada, in 2022 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – there were 993 accepted workplace fatalities and 348,747 accepted lost time claims.

“We know these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Many injuries, illnesses, and even cases of death from work are not included in these numbers. But did you know that you’re fifty percent more likely to die from a workplace incident than by homicide? And when a person dies by homicide, someone is held criminally responsible. So why are so many workers still dying on the job while potentially negligent employers are moving on as if nothing happened? A simple slap on the wrist doesn’t deter negligent bosses from putting profits over people. Paying a measly fine is not an acceptable consequence to costing someone their life, or their health,” said Bruske.

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In Canada, over 1,000 workplace deaths are reported every year; hundreds of thousands more are injured or get sick as a result of their job. Worldwide, more than nine million people have died due to workplace incidents or exposures in the past three years alone. Marginalized workers are at even greater risk of harm.

“The pandemic has raised the profile of workplace health and safety, and has shown the responsibility that employers bear in keeping workers safe. Many safety measures aren’t onerous or difficult to implement, but they do require employers to prioritize prevention. It’s absolutely unacceptable that every year, over 1,000 workers don’t get to go home at the end of their workday. Many more face potentially lifelong battles with injury and illness, through no fault of their own, because their employer cut corners and put profits over people,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

The ILO must adopt occupational safety and health as a fundamental principle and right at work at its upcoming conference, in June of this year. This will help hold member states – including Canada – accountable and encourage them to prioritize occupational health and safety.

In the meantime, the Canadian federal government can take important steps to keep workers safe here at home. These include:

• Ratify and implement core ILO health and safety conventions;
• Ratify and implement all sectoral and hazard-specific conventions;
• Ratify ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment to ensure workers have the right to work free of violence and harassment;
• Require occupational health services for all, including workers in the gig economy and proper compensation when they are injured or made sick as a result of their work; and
• Ensure that the government inspectorate has the resources needed to provide robust health and safety enforcement.

2022 also marks the 30th anniversary of the Westray mine disaster. On May 9, 1992, an explosion caused by a fatal buildup of methane gas and coal dust at the Westray Mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia killed all 26 miners working underground. This lead to the Westray Law, which made it possible to prosecute corporate criminal negligence.

However, the law is rarely enforced and workplace accidents are seldom investigated for employer negligence. Canada’s unions have long fought for workplace incidents that cause death, injury or illness to be investigated thoroughly in order to determine if employer negligence was a contributing factor. When a worker is seriously injured or killed as a result of employer negligence, that employer must feel the full weight of Canadian law, including potentially facing time in jail for their crime. We will not accept a thousand or more workers dying every year, and thousands more experiencing life altering injuries or illness. Surely those employers who are serious about their duty to protect workers and invest in proven prevention measures would agree.

“We remember these miners and we honour their memory by continuing to fight for workers’ safety. It’s not enough for an employer to cause harm to workers through negligence and simply pay a fine. What is the price of a worker’s life? Employers must be held accountable when a worker is killed, injured or made sick. We must strive for the highest standards for health and safety in all workplaces to ensure that workers go home safely at the end of each day,” said Bruske.

Day of Mourning events are happening across the country. Find an event near you: https://canadianlabour.ca/events/day-of-mourning-ceremonies-2022/

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For over a year, the world has faced unprecedented upheaval due to COVID-19. The virus and its variants have wrought havoc on our society and laid bare a troubling lack of protection for workers.

“Every year on the Day of Mourning, we mourn the dead and re-commit to fighting for the living,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the CLC. “Over the last year, we have witnessed how vulnerable we all are. This pandemic has shone a light on egregious gaps in workplace protections and exposed employers who choose to put profits over people.”

Evidence from across the country shows that the virus is spreading at work, not only in health care settings but also in factories, meat works, warehouses, schools, offices, transportation and other sectors. Workers have had to fight for access to appropriate, effective protective equipment, COVID-safe practices at work, paid sick leave and respect for their basic health and safety rights.

However, these problems existed before the pandemic and have resulted in millions of deaths each year from work-related injuries and diseases. Every year, approximately 1000 Canadian workers and more than 2.7 million workers around the world die because of an injury or an exposure that happens at work.

“Over the past year, Canadian workers have kept food on our tables, essential goods in our cupboards, taught our children, cared for our loved ones and kept critical institutions running,” said Yussuff. “They have done all of this, at serious risk and sometimes great cost to their own health and safety. The failure of governments to prioritize paid sick leave for workers in all jurisdictions puts everyone at risk, and is undoubtedly prolonging and deepening the impacts of the pandemic.”

Without access to protected, paid sick days, workers have been forced to choose between going to work sick, or not getting paid, and in some cases losing their jobs. An estimated 58 percent of Canadian workers don’t have access to paid sick leave through their employers, according to a report by the Decent Work and Health Network. That number rises to 70 percent among people making less than $25,000 a year.

Canada’s unions call on all governments to immediately introduce or expand paid sick leave to ensure workers aren’t required to go to work sick.

Read more about how Canada’s unions are fighting to protect the living by calling on all governments to disaster-proof our country.

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“As communities mourn workers we’ve lost this year, including many in recent weeks, we must remember that we owe it to them to do everything we can to protect all those who are still working in the midst of this crisis,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “The best way to honour them is to fight for the living. Every person should be able to go to work without the fear of being infected, or of bringing this virus home to their loved ones.”

The theme for the annual memorial this year is “Stop the pandemic at work.” Across Canada, 4.9 million workers have been deemed essential, meaning they have to keep reporting to work. They are risking their lives every day, keeping the rest of us safe and supplied. Many of these workers are paid minimum wage and receive no benefits. Workplace injuries and deaths are preventable, even in a pandemic. All workers, in every sector, deserve to come home safe at the end of their shift.

“Canada’s unions are calling for paid sick leave and adequate personal protective equipment for every essential worker on the front lines right now,” said Yussuff. “This pandemic has demonstrated who the essential workers really are. It is up to us to ensure society never undervalues essential workers again. That means fair compensation, benefits and all manner of necessary protections.”

In Canada, workers have three basic health and safety rights at work: the right to know about what could harm them in their workplace, the right to participate in decisions that affect their health and safety, and the right to refuse unsafe work. Canada’s unions are working to ensure that all essential workers know their rights and are able to exercise them as we all do our part to fight the pandemic.

This year, to respect public health guidelines, mourners will be gathering virtually to hold vigils for those who have lost their lives or had their lives changed forever because of an incident in the workplace.

To join the CLC’s call for a uniform policy of 14 paid, job-protected sick days for all workers, sign our petition here.

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“One workplace death is already too many. Workers deserve to arrive home safely at the end of their workday. No one should die for their job,” said Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Hassan Yussuff. “Yet, there were almost one thousand reported workplace deaths in Canada in 2017, and recent research shows us that these statistics on workplace injuries, accidents and illnesses are just the tip of the iceberg,” Yussuff continued. Official numbers only take into account approved compensation claims, leaving out illnesses and deaths that go unreported or claims that are denied, or workers not covered by compensation systems at all.

Workers need better enforcement of existing occupational health and safety legislation, and the Westray sections of the Criminal Code of Canada. Employers need to invest in proven prevention tools, including empowered, well-trained health and safety committees.

Unfortunately, provincial governments across the country – like Ontario and Manitoba –have been weakening health and safety provisions when they should be working to strengthen them. Ontario announced a change in its requirement for basic health and safety certification from the current standard three days of instructor-led, in-class training to a one-day on-line course. And Manitoba introduced changes to its Workplace Safety and Health legislation, eliminating the Chief Prevention Officer position and adding a six-month deadline for workers to report complaints. It also provided new authority for a labour director to dismiss complaints without first starting an investigation.

“The previous federal government weakened the definition of danger in the labour code without any consultation. The right to refuse dangerous work is often a worker’s last line of defence,” said Yussuff. “This government must reinstate the previous definition, that was developed in consultation with workers and employers.”

Canada’s unions have also called on the federal government to better protect workers. This means reinstating the pre-2014 definition of danger in the Canada Labour Code Part II to once again include the right to refuse dangerous work, hiring and training more federal health and safety officers, and enforcing the laws we have including legislated occupational health and safety requirements and the Westray Law.

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It’s not listed among the top tourist destinations in Ottawa, but if you are visiting the National Capital Region this summer (as many Canadians do), you may wish to pay your respects to the nine workers who went to work that day and never got to go home, and the other 55 whose lives were forever changed.

An official inquest into the disaster laid blame on the engineers, the use of green lumber and the lack of diagonal bracing on the wooden support forms, which caused them to collapse as concrete was being poured to form the bridge deck.

The consequences for those responsible – the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario suspended two of its members, reprimanded a third, and the construction company, O.J. Gaffney Limited of Stratford, Ontario, was fined $5,000 (the maximum penalty under the Construction Safety Act).

Ontario’s construction safety standards were rewritten following this incident.

In 1987, the Canadian Labour Congress placed its National Monument to Workers Killed and Injured Each Year at Work in Ottawa’s Vincent Massey Park, within sight of the bridge. It is here that the Canadian Labour Congress, the Ottawa & District Labour Council, and local unions hold their ceremony each year on April 28 to mark the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.

Occupational “accidents” and work-related diseases kill more than 2.3 million workers around the world each year. According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:

“The most recent statistics from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) tell us that in 2016, 904 workplace deaths were recorded in Canada. Among those dead were 5 young workers aged fifteen to nineteen years; and another 20 workers aged twenty to twenty-four years.

Add to these fatalities the 240,682 claims accepted for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease, including 7,562 from young workers aged fifteen to nineteen, and the fact that these statistics only include what is reported and accepted by the compensation boards, and it is safe to say that the total number of workers impacted is even higher.

What these numbers don’t show is just how many people are directly affected by these workplace tragedies. Each workers death impacts the loved ones, families, friends and coworkers they leave behind, changing all of their lives forever.”

Archives

Archives

Resources:

Ottawa Citizen:
The Ottawa bridge collapse that shocked the world

Collapse recalled on eve of Heron Road bridge renaming

Reporter Bruce Deachman on the Heron Road Bridge collapse

Picture of human error emerges from inquest into collapse of bridge (1966)

CBC-Ottawa:
‘Never be forgotten’: Heron Road Bridge renamed 50 years after deadly collapse

Families remember Heron Road Bridge disaster

Today in Ottawa’s History:
The Heron Road Bridge Disaster

Other Resources:

Canadian Labour Congress:

Health & Safety

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety

The National Day of Mourning – April 28

Huffington Post:

National Day Of Mourning: This Is How Many Canadians Die At Work

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Early in the morning beneath the small town of Plymouth, Nova Scotia, a methane gas leak into the Westray mine shaft from the Foord coal seam mixed with coal dust and caused in an explosion. The sky lit up with a blue flash and homes more than a kilometer away shook with the force of blast. Within seconds 26 miners working underground on that shift were killed.

In little over an hour a team of men was down the mine on foot to attempt a rescue. They were soon joined by rescue teams from mines in Cape Breton, Pugwash and Bathurst as is the tradition of miners rushing in to help their fellow miners. But there were no survivors of this explosion.

When the explosion happened, the Westray mine was the only working underground coal mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia’s coalfield. The coal seam there had been mined for 200 years with a long history of explosions. The nearby Allan mine, which closed in 1951, experienced eight methane explosions in its 40-years of operations.

The Westray death toll was Canada’s worst mining disaster since the 1958 “bump” in the Springhill coal mine that claimed the lives of 75 miners. Coal mining has always been dangerous work. Between 1838 and 1950, 246 Pictou County miners were killed in similar methane and coal-dust explosions. Many of them were mining the Foord seam that the Westray mine was working. Between 1866 and 1972, another 330 miners were killed in other mine related accidents. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics a worker in the coal mining industry is six times more likely to die of a job-related issue than in any other private industry on earth.

Despite these dangers, it turns out the Westray mine was an accident waiting to happen. Before the mine opened, concerns had been raised about its safety. During its construction, in July 1991, a letter was sent to the provincial Labour Minister from MLA Bernie Boudreau warning that the new coal mine “is potentially one of the most dangerous in the world.” The promise of new jobs, rich profits and political reward left those warnings and others unheeded.

Following the disaster, a provincial inquiry lead by Justice Peter Richard found “The Westray story is a complex mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity and neglect.”  (The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster.) Yet, all attempts to prosecute the company and its officials for actions that lead to the deaths of 26 men failed.

Canada’s unions responded with a campaign to change the Criminal Code so corporate managers and directors who fail to take steps to protect the lives of their employees could be held criminally liable in the event of workplace deaths. Private members’ bills were introduced in Parliament only to fail until, on the fifth attempt, in 2003, the federal government enacted what would come to be known as the “Westray Bill” that provided a new framework for corporate liability in Canada.

The Westray mine site was razed in 1998 and the mine shaft sealed entombing the bodies of 11 miners. A memorial was built in a park in nearby New Glasgow approximately at the location above ground where the remaining miners were trapped. The memorial’s central monument, engraved with the names and ages of the twenty-six men who lost their lives in the disaster, states, “Their light shall always shine.”  The memorial lands were protected by the Nova Scotia government and further mineral exploration is prohibited within the park.

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Every April 28, Canada’s unions join workers and their families to mourn those who have been injured or killed on the job. Workplace violence and harassment have also led to worker deaths, as well as significant mental and physical injuries. Yet they are often less frequently talked about.

“Workplace harassment and violence are often overlooked hazards of the job,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “In the era of #metoo and #timesup, we need to talk about the negative, even deadly, impacts these hazards can have in the workplace.”

Canada has strong violence prevention regulations that were developed by unions, employers and the federal government working together in a tripartite process. Federal Bill C-65 promises to finally recognize sexual harassment as a workplace hazard.

However, workers are also calling for new measures:

• First, to make it safe for workers to report harassment and violence by implementing anti-reprisal measures, including whistleblower protection;
• Second, to ensure federal health and safety officers can be as effective as possible by hiring more officers and ensuring they receive the robust training they need;
• And finally, to recognize domestic violence as a workplace hazard. This will raise awareness around the need for employers to conduct workplace risk assessments, training and safety planning, and to ensure supports are in place for workers experiencing domestic violence.

“We encourage the federal government to take meaningful steps to further protect workers from harassment and violence,” said Yussuff. “This impacts every sector.”

Supporters are encouraged to add their voice to this campaign at dayofmourning.ca. To find Day of Mourning events happening across Canada, visit the CLC website here.

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Working conditions on today’s construction sites and factory floors, in schools, office buildings, warehouses, restaurants – any workplace, really – are often taken for granted. We see fire extinguishers and sprinklers, first aid stations and emergency exits. We see the safety barriers, the hard hats, and the labels that warn of explosives, poisons and burns. We know they are there to keep us safe, but forget how they got there in the first place.

In 1960, work on the Hogg’s Hollow water main was in full swing. Built under the Don River to connect a pumping station with the water distribution on the other side, the work was done mostly by hand, in cramped and confined quarters 10 meters underground. It was also nearly a year behind schedule, the result of a failed contractor, faulty equipment and other delays. Pressure to finish the work resulted in corners being cut with disastrous consequences.

The underground workers that build tunnels for city water works and subways are known as “sandhogs”, and their working conditions were often more reminiscent of the 19th century than a modern, post-war Canadian city.

Workers later testified that the tunnels lacked fire extinguishers and resuscitators, the timber supports were not strong enough, grout was not used on the floor of the tunnel to keep out sand and silt, and there were no extra air compressors. They didn’t even have flashlights. In spite of these issues, the site had been deemed to meet the safety standards of the day.

Late on Thursday March 17, hours after work should have stopped, a dozen workers were still underground welding steel plating in a compression chamber west of Yonge Street when a fire started and smoke began to fill the main tunnel. A valve that would have allowed the smoke to blow out of the tunnel would not open.

Firefighters arrived quickly, but were told to wait at least 30 minutes before watering the tunnel for fear it would collapse. While half of the workers had managed to escape down the tunnel to the east, the rest were trapped inside with riding temperatures, toxic smoke and rising levels of sand, silt and water. Two workers tried to get down to the trapped men and thought they heard at least three voices moaning, but were forced back by the intense heat. The next day Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Carriglio, Giovanni Fusillo, and brothers Alessandro and Guido Mantella were dead – poisoned by carbon monoxide and drowned.

A coroner’s jury later ruled that the deaths were preventable, “the inevitable result of the failure to implement and enforce regulations.” The resulting media coverage, community outrage and demands from unions forced the Ontario government to call a Royal Commission, which led to new regulations on fire protection, worker safety in tunnels and the first overhaul of the province’s labour laws in nearly 40 years. It also spurred the organization of more construction workers and more immigrant workers into unions, so they could stand up for their rights, health and safety.

Disasters like the tragedy at Hogg’s Hollow, the Heron Road Bridge collapse in Ottawa, and the Westray Mine cave in years later all changed workplace health and safety laws by shining a light on the unsafe and, in the case of the five immigrant workers killed at Hogg’s Hollow, unfair conditions faced too often by many working people. In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress established a National Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job to keep pressure on employers and politicians.

Today, unions continue to stand up for fairness, safety and the health of workers with winning campaigns to ban asbestos, prevent workplace harassment and violence, win supports for workers experiencing domestic violence, and help working people struggling with mental illness.

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