Bill SK-4 Workers Compensation Amendment Act

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Status: Introduced — 2025 Saskatchewan Legislative Session. This Bill comes into force by Order in Council.

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WHO GAINS POWER

  • The Workers' Compensation Board gains expanded authority to set regulations on out-of-province workers and appeal tribunal publication
  • Government gains new regulation-making powers over how WCB appeal decisions are published and who qualifies as an out-of-province worker

⚠️ Order in Council coming into force — government decides when this Bill takes effect; no fixed date is set in the legislation

WHO LOSES POWER

  • The WCB loses autonomy over how appeal decisions are published — the manner of publication is now set by government regulation, not the board

WHO GAINS MONEY

  • Wildland firefighters — now covered under the occupational disease presumption for cancer; previously only structural firefighters qualified
  • Out-of-province workers employed by Saskatchewan employers — now covered for injuries sustained while working outside Saskatchewan, subject to board approval
  • Health care professionals licensed in other provinces — now recognized under the Act, expanding access to treatment for injured workers
  • Injured workers whose board members' terms expire mid-hearing — members can now continue hearing a matter after their term ends, preventing delays and restarts

WHO LOSES MONEY

  • Injured workers imprisoned outside Saskatchewan — compensation can now be withheld if a worker is incarcerated in another province or country, not just Saskatchewan facilities

⚠️ No cost estimate provided — the fiscal impact of expanding coverage to wildland firefighters and out-of-province workers is not stated in the Bill

THE CATCH

⚠️ Order in Council coming into force — no fixed implementation date; government controls the timeline

⚠️ Wildland firefighter coverage is welcome but overdue — forest fires are increasingly the dominant fire hazard in Saskatchewan; the exclusion of wildland firefighters from occupational disease presumptions was a significant gap

⚠️ Compensation can be withheld from workers imprisoned anywhere in the world — not just Saskatchewan; scope of withholding is broad

⚠️ "Out-of-province worker" requires board approval — expanded coverage is not automatic; each worker must be individually approved by the WCB; who qualifies beyond that is set by government regulation, not the Bill itself

⚠️ Appeal decisions published as government directs — the manner of publishing WCB appeal decisions is set by regulation, not by the board

[Source: Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly — Bill No. 4, The Workers' Compensation Amendment Act, 2024, 30th Legislature, 1st Session, Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety]