Government Cuts Prevention Spending

May 15, 2019 | COCA News, Health and Safety

An article in the May 10 th issue of the Toronto Star reported on budget cuts to the Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office. The article reported the following:
  • The Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office is funded from WSIB premiums paid by Ontario employers that are obliged by law to participate in the province’s workers compensation system; it is not funded from the general revenues of the province that are derived from the province’s taxpayers
  • The Prevention Office’s budget was cut by $16M or 13.5% from $119M in 2018 to $103M
  • Health and Safety Associations (HSAs) will see a total reduction of $12M
  • Research funding will be cut from $8.5M in 2018 to $6.8M this year
  • The government states that the cuts were made following a comprehensive review of all programs and will result in improved efficiencies and better value for money
It is our understanding that:
  • The Infrastructure Health and Safety Association, which serves the construction, utilities and transportation sectors, has a budget of approximately $23+M
  • The IHSA’s budget has been flatlined since 2009 and was subject to a 5% cut in 2015
  • The IHSA’s budget was cut by $1.3M in December 2018
  • The IHSA will be funded at 2018 level for the first half of 2019
  • The IHSA and the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS), the two largest HSAs, are believed to account for approximately $10M of the cuts
  • The IHSA has reserves derived from accumulated surpluses in previous years
  • The IHSA will be allowed to use those surpluses to maintain operations in the last half of the year so we don’t expect changes to service levels
  • What will happen to funding for next year when the IHSA’s surpluses have been used up is not known; that could be when the real crunch from these announced cuts is felt