Our return-to-work strategy

One way we help Ontarians is by helping people recover and get back to work at the right time after a workplace injury or illness. This also helps employers get back to business as usual.

Our return-to-work approach puts people at the centre of everything we do. With our help:

  • 9 out of 10 people return to work within 12 months of their workplace injury or illness; and
  • 89% of completed work transition plans result in return to work and of those, 67% of people return to work with the same employer.

Latest news

  • We’ve made changes to our return-to-work program to provide people with the best possible service. As of March 2018, when you’re working with someone at the WSIB to return to work, you will be working with a Return-to-Work Specialist. We no longer use the title Work Transition Specialist. That doesn’t mean we’re no longer providing work transition services, it just means that Return-to-Work Specialists will now be responsible for both return to work and work transition.
  • We’ve received funding from the Government of Ontario’s Career Ready Fund. Learn more.

The six pillars

We want to continue to deliver the best possible service to the people we’re here to help. Our Return-to-Work Strategy is a blend of our best current practices and new approaches. It focuses on six pillars:

Provide a customer-centric experience

We provide a specialized service experience that meets our customers’ needs.

  • We’re already making changes to improve our customer experience  and make it easier for people to interact with us by:
    • getting them working with our Return-to-Work Specialists sooner;
    • offering more customized solutions; and
    • getting them decisions more quickly.

Get claims to our specialized staff at the right time

We look for the claims that might need more attention from a Return-to-Work Specialist and get them to our specialized staff at the right time. For example, people with claims for a mental stress injury or where the injured or ill person needs more language support may need to work with a Return-to-Work Specialist earlier in their claim process.

Optimize policies and processes

Our policies and processes support us to provide quality decisions and achieve the best return-to-work outcomes for people.

Offer quality services

We offer high quality products and services to facilitate safe and suitable return to work.

Invest in a specialized professional workforce

Our certified return-to-work and disability management professionals get the best return-to-work outcomes for the people we’re here to help.

Strengthen networks and partnerships

We collaborate with the research community, industry experts, government partners and other stakeholders to be the leading return-to-work organization.

We will be updating this webpage with the latest news on the Return-to-Work Strategy. Check back for updates.