Bill 105: WSIB “Lock-In” Removal (Ontario), 2026
📋 What This Guide Covers
Bill 105 (Ontario) proposes to remove the 72-month “lock-in” period under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA). The lock-in currently caps how long WSIB can review and suspend or reduce benefits after a claim is approved.
Status: 🔴 Active political moment — currently before the Ontario Legislature. Track @NAFTELWORLD, @samoosterhoff and injured-worker advocates for updates.
Why it matters for injured workers:
- Removes the statutory deadline that protects workers from decades-later benefit suspension
- After the lock-in expires, WSIB could revisit and cut benefits years or decades after the injury
- Advocates warn this undermines long-term financial security for permanently injured workers
🎯 The Core Issue: “Lock-In” Explained
| Term | Meaning | Impact if Removed |
|---|---|---|
| Lock-in period (72 months) | Window during which WSIB may review/suspend benefits post-approval | Currently a hard protective deadline |
| Post-lock-in review | After 72 months, reviews are sharply limited | Bill 105 would allow review/suspension indefinitely |
| Permanently injured workers | Those with life-long WSIB entitlements | Most exposed to retroactive suspension |
📊 Evidence Base (from 3mpwrApp CanLII Research)
Our analysis of 99,036 WSIAT decisions (2020–2026) shows the systemic patterns Bill 105 interacts with:
- Termination after claim filing: 71+ WSIAT cases flagged (conservative keyword minimum)
- Benefit reductions decades later: multiple redetermination rulings show WSIB revisiting long-closed files
- Precedent: Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled WSIB cannot criminalize a worker’s recovery from injury — a key check on overreach
The removal of the lock-in removes one of the few remaining time-based shields for injured workers.
✊ Advocacy Views (What Each Source Says)
1. CBC News — advocates warn (Sep 10–11, 2026)
Key point: Removing the lock-in strips away financial certainty for permanently injured workers. Union reps say it “opens up a lot more appeals, adjudication, fights and surveillance.” Workers go from “real finality” to a “constant state of probation.” CBC notes Bill 105 also bumps LOE from 85%→90% of pre-injury earnings (up to $121,700) and allows some benefits past age 65 — but advocates say those gains are “taken away” by losing the lock-in. The province did not respond to CBC’s question on why the lock-in is being removed. 🔗 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bill-105-wsib-injured-workers-lock-in-9.7337854
2. Injured Workers Online — “indefinite oversight” (Aug 2026)
Key point: Under lock-in, workers get “stable benefits without constant Board scrutiny and employer appeals” and “don’t have to repeatedly revisit traumatic experiences to re-justify entitlement” — critical for mental-stress/PTSD workers. The bill goes “some way to addressing concerns long raised” (coverage, benefit rates, age discrimination) but not at the cost of losing the lock-in. The province again offered no explanation for removal. (Also links the ONIWG Lobby Kit + IWC submissions.) 🔗 https://injuredworkersonline.org/bill-105-could-see-indefinite-oversight-for-workers-with-long-term-or-permanent-injuries/
3. ONIWG Lobby Kit (Jul 2026)
Key point: Organize-and-advocacy toolkit for injured-worker groups — templates for contacting MPPs, framing the lock-in removal as “perpetual probation,” and demanding public hearings. (The lobby kit is the organizing backbone behind the advocacy views above.) 🔗 https://share.google/eQCvOjr3eaTHA3PAb
4. OPSEU/SEFPO — The Good, the Bad, the Ugly (Jun 10, 2026)
Key point: The Ugly. The most controversial proposal: “eliminate the 72-month lock-in for permanently disabled workers.” Currently they get a final review at 72 months → long-term stability. Bill 105 removes it entirely so they face “ongoing and intrusive reviews, surveillance, and repeated demands to re-prove their disabilities.” OPSEU also opposes the bill allowing WSIB benefits to be reduced based on other income (CPP, pensions, housing, child benefits) — calling these “earned or social benefits… must not be used to claw back WSIB support.” OPSEU framing: the $1.5B+ returned to employers in rebates vs. cuts to workers = “It is time to put injured workers first.” 🔗 https://opseu.org/wsib-changes-in-the-proposed-bill-105-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/
5. Ontario NDP (Lise Vaugeois) — May 14, 2026
Key point (quoted): “This government is trying to dress up Bill 105 as support for injured workers, but buried inside is a dangerous attack on workers with permanent injuries… removing the 72-month lock-in protection that gave injured workers some financial certainty. That means workers living with permanent, life-altering injuries could face endless reviews, constant surveillance, and the ongoing threat of having their benefits clawed back decades later.” Vaugeois (Thunder Bay–Superior North) frames it as “treating injured workers like liabilities to be monitored for the rest of their lives.” 🔗 https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/vaugeois-injured-workers-deserve-stability-and-dignity
6. CBC News video — PTSD/mental stress focus
Key point: A Toronto Police Services officer with 5 years of WSIB PTSD benefits says removing the lock-in leaves him in “perpetual purgatory of being poked and prodded.” He describes the “weekly calls from case managers” and having to “re-justify myself to the WSIB, specialty clinics, the appeal board, then go through it again and again.” The lock-in, once achieved, was “one really good foundation” for recovery. (Video is the human-impact companion to the CBC article above.) 🔗 https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7341523
7. TBNewsWatch — Injured Workers Day flag-raising (May 29, 2026)
Key point: Janet Paterson (Ontario Network of Injured Worker Groups) at the Thunder Bay flag-raising: “Justice does not come 30 years later,” and “It is so detrimental to so many people.” She warns: “If we don’t keep fighting, then there won’t be a compensation system.” The event also flagged Lakehead’s Family Impact Project — workplace injury doesn’t just affect the worker, it “affects their family and their relationships,” which families silently absorb. A Bill 105 protest is scheduled for May 30 at MPP Kevin Holland’s office. (Thunder Bay angle → directly relevant to TBDIWSG sessions.) 🔗 https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/it-isnt-an-easy-road-injured-workers-day-marked-with-flag-raising-12348887
8. UFCW 175 & 633 — “Stand up for Injured Workers” (May 1, 2026)
Key point: Bill 105 is “called the Protecting Ontario’s Workers and Economic Resilience Act, 2026, and while the Bill has a great name, it’s hiding a definite anti-worker agenda.” It “would end the 72-month lock-in on benefits… stripping away income stability for injured workers who are already in a precarious economic position. Workers with permanent disabilities and other marginalized workers will bear the brun.” UFCW’s call-to-action message to MPPs: “It would introduce endless WSIB reviews, endless appeals and endless insecurity… It would hurt permanently injured workers and take away the stability of compensation, replacing it with endless assessments.” 🔗 https://ufcw175.com/bill-105-stand-up-for-injured-workers/
9. Injured Workers Online — “A call for closer scrutiny”
Key point: Advocates argue Bill 105’s coverage/benefit-rate/age-discrimination gains should NOT come at the cost of losing the lock-in, and the province has offered NO justification for removal. The piece is a direct argument that the bill is “dressed up” as support but is fundamentally a weakening. (Pairs with the lobby kit for organizing.) 🔗 https://injuredworkersonline.org/a-call-for-closer-scrutiny-of-bill-105s-changes-to-workers-compensation/
10. Injured Workers Online — Submission to Standing Committee on Finance (Schedule 9)
Key point: Formal written submission (May 14, 2026) to the Ontario legislature’s finance committee setting out the injured-worker position on Bill 105’s Schedule 9 (the WSIB changes). This is the policy-level document behind the advocacy views — use it for the detailed statutory arguments and proposed amendments. 🔗 https://injuredworkersonline.org/documents/submission-to-the-standing-committee-on-finance-and-economic-affairs-re-bill-105-schedule-9-2/
🔗 Related
- Bill 86: Meredith Act (what comprehensive reform looked like)
- CanLII WSIB Precedents & Redetermination Rulings
- Injured Workers Online: https://injuredworkersonline.org
📚 Advocacy Action (quick links)
- ONIWG Lobby Kit: https://share.google/eQCvOjr3eaTHA3PAb
- UFCW e-action (tell your MPP): https://ufcw175.com/bill-105-stand-up-for-injured-workers/
- IWC Submissions on Schedule 9: https://injuredworkersonline.org/documents/iwc-submissions-to-the-minister-re-bill-105-schedule-9/
- Bill 105 text (OLA): https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-44/session-1/bill-105
Last updated: 2026-09-12 — monitored by Athena Research (S0vryn9). Sources: CanLII, injuredworkersonline.org, OPSEU/SEFPO, Ontario NDP, CBC News, UFCW 175&633, TBNewsWatch.
Other systems that may apply to you
This guide covers WSIB/WCB. Depending on your situation, one or more of these may also apply — and applying to one does not decide the others.
- Which System Applies to Me?
- 🎖️ Veterans — VAC benefits — if you also served, a VAC claim is separate from WSIB
- Disability programs when the injury wasn’t work-related — ODSP, CPP, the Canada Disability Benefit, EI, the Disability Tax Credit
- Family and caregiver supports — if someone is caring for you