--- Independent study points out inefficiencies and costliness of Quebec workplace safety regime

Jordan Gowling

The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), the government organization responsible for workplace safety regulation in Quebec, has received a negative review from an independent report released by the Morneau Shepell company. The January 13 report entitled “Projet de Loi 59: Loi modifiant le régime de santé et de sécurité du travail,” provides recommendations on how to improve the occupational safety regime in Quebec.

The report is in response to the announcement of Bill 59, An Act to modernize the occupational health and safety regime, tabled in the National Assembly by Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet on October 27. The legislation is intended to upgrade occupational safety regulations to include the risks associated with COVID-19 and other diseases, in addition to making the regulations more efficient.

The findings provided by Morneau Shepell ranks the Quebec occupational safety regime as the most expensive, costing businesses 43 per cent more compared to Ontario and 33 per cent more compared to Alberta. In addition, the study reports that Quebec has the highest amount of unresolved lost-time cases after a 30-day period. There are still 46.5 per cent of cases still active in Quebec compared to just 29.6 per cent in Ontario. After a 180-day period, the percentage of lost-time cases that remain active stands at 18.7 per cent in Quebec, compared to 10.7 per cent in Ontario. 

The study recommends that Quebec should follow a back to work regime adopted by Ontario in 2015, that puts emphasis on a collaboration between the worker and employer. Under this regime the employer has an obligation to coordinate with the worker, to provide solutions and to minimize safety risks for that worker. The regime also allows the workplace safety boards to focus on readaptation of workers, which can account for Ontario’s success in keeping their number of active lost-time cases so low.

Additional recommendations include equitable distribution of funding for the CNESST plan between the private and public sectors, the elimination of minimum compensation for cases of short duration and rigorous monitoring by the CNESST of job search periods. In line with the Quebec government, the report also recommends that prevention should be the main focus of the CNESST, so that the costs associated with cases that pay out indemnities to workers can decrease. 

The province’s Committee on Labour and the Economy met by videoconference between January 19 and January 22 to conduct consultations and public hearings on Bill 59.