As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the introduction of Presumptive PTSD legislation in the Ontario workers’ compensation sphere, the WSIB has announced significant and at least somewhat controversial changes to WSIB Policy 15-03-13, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in First Responders and Other Designated Workers (the Presumptive PTSD Policy), which will impact employers across the Province. The new Policy applies to all decisions made on or after February 4, 2026.
While there is no dispute that the WSIB was required to acknowledge the legislated change in 2025 which expanded coverage to include additional professions, it went on to make substantive changes to other sections of the Policy detailing the process for allowing for the rebuttal of work-relatedness of PTSD in First Responders and the date of injury without interpretation of various parameters of entitlement flowing from the initial entitlement determination.
Expanded Coverage
Legislative changes arising from the Working for Workers Five Act expanded the scope of coverage of the Presumptive PTSD Policy to include two new designations: Wildland Firefighters and Wildland Fire Investigators. Effective immediately, workers employed in either of these two fields for at least one day on or after October 28, 2022 who have been diagnosed with PTSD by a Psychologist or Psychiatrist, will be presumed to have developed PTSD in the course of their employment. Time limits and transitional rules apply, as does the new rebuttal and date of accident/injury criteria relating to work-relatedness.
Rebutting the Presumption
Perhaps the greatest impact on the employer community at large (and most significantly, the self-insured Schedule 2 employers i.e. public sector) is the amendments to the Presumptive PTSD Policy which set out the WSIB’s interpretation of the criteria for the rebuttal of work-relatedness of a worker’s PTSD diagnosis. Notable changes include:
- Limiting the situation in which the presumption of work-relatedness will be rebutted “only” to scenarios in which evidence establishes that the worker’s employment is not “a” significant contributing factor;
- Requiring a worker’s PTSD to be “solely” caused by non-work factors (such as a pre-existing diagnosis of PTSD or a personal traumatic event) with “no” contribution from their employment in order for the presumption to be rebutted;
- Allowing for the rebuttal of the presumption of work-relatedness in scenarios in which a worker’s work-related duties would not involve traumatic exposures “capable” of significantly contributing to the development of PTSD;
- Requiring a “genuine” basis for challenging the presumption of work-relatedness in order to undertake any review of an employer’s objection to work-relatedness (note – no guidance is provided regarding what constitutes a “genuine” basis for challenge but conceivably enshrines an anti-employer animus); and
- Allowing for WSIB adjudicators to review a worker’s entire employment history (including employment with prior employers) to determine whether they may have been exposed to traumatic events in prior employment(s) in order to adjudicate initial entitlement under the Presumptive PTSD Policy (note – there are complicated time limit/transition implications that are not elaborated upon).
Date of Diagnosis vs. Date of Injury
Included in the amendments to the Presumptive PTSD Policy are changes to the date of injury language. Specifically, the amendments now state that the date of diagnosis of a worker’s PTSD will be used for determining whether or not a worker has met the minimum Policy requirements for entitlement (which is consistent with the spirit and intent of the law) prior to the WSIB determining the worker’s date of injury (which may then be used for determining compliance with legislative time limits for filing a claim).
These dates may be different from one another (i.e. the date of injury is anticipated to be earlier than the date of diagnosis), but no further guidance is provided with respect to the interplay between conflicting dates under either heading.
Conclusions and Takeaways
The amendments to this Policy were announced without any identifiable consultation with employer associations, employer-side advocates, or representatives or even the WSIB’s own Chiefs’ Advisory Councils (CAC). The CAC, previously known as the Chair’s Advisory Council, was disbanded by the current leadership which took over in 2021. This was followed by a change to long-standing Policy development and change protocols which required any/all new policies or Policy changes to go before the Board of Directors and be signed off (i.e. documented with detailed meeting minutes). The new process only requires WSIB Policy changes to be approved by the President/CEO, which is what appears to have occurred in this instance.
Not only does this now-mandated consideration raise claim filing time limits complications, it also has the capacity to infringe on legislated and intended transition provisions. More importantly, at least for publicly-funded Schedule 2 employers (municipalities and others), is that the changes to the date of injury provisions in the Presumptive PTSD Policy serve to grant retroactive benefits/services to workers and also shortens the 72-month lock-in period (which effectively eliminates the opportunity for return to work opportunities and related mitigation of loss of earnings prior to lock-in).
While the full extent of the impact of the adjudicative directives regarding rebuttal of presumption and date of injury/accident are unknown at this point, immediate concerns arise regarding the restrictive nature of the new rebuttal language as well as with the gate-keeping nature of the new provisions, which significantly restrict an employer’s ability to pursue a rebuttal argument.
We will continue to monitor the implementation of the Presumptive PTSD Policy on claims moving forward, and will provide further updates and insights as they become available.
Should you have any questions regarding this Bulletin and/or the impact of the changes to this Policy on your workplace, please do not hesitate to contact the team at CompClaim.
