WorkSafeBC should issue refunds due to $2 billion surplus, CFIB says
A B.C. business group is calling for WorkSafeBC's huge surplus to be refunded to the businesses who have paid into it.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says WorkSafeBC is sitting on a surplus of $2 billion, which is actually above its funding target.
The federation wants WorkSafeBC to follow the lead of ICBC and BC Hydro and return some of that surplus to ratepayers.
'We know that other provinces, such as Ontario, Manitoba, have been able to keep rates stable and return funds back to the employers that paid into it,' Kailth Nanayakkara with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses told Global News.
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'Manitoba just announced $122 million in rebates. Ontario's announced a combined $4 billion while keeping rates stable and lower than B.C.'s'
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However, WorkSafeBC says the surplus allows it to keep rates low and stable.
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'The WorkSafe board has worked very, very hard to maintain predictability and stability in the WorkSafe premiums over the last number of years,' Jennifer Whiteside, minister of labour for B.C. said.
'And in fact, those premiums haven't changed since 2018 and they are lower now than they were in 2014.'
In 2017, the B.C. Liberal government said it was planning to return those surplus funds to employers but that did not go through as the BC NDP won the provincial election.
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