2026 OHS Fines Scorecard (July 15 to August 15)

After two active months, reported Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) fine totals for the month dipped a bit. While the gap has shrunk a bit, 2026 fine volume and dollar amounts are still well below 2025 levels due to the abnormally low totals reported during the first five months of the year. There were 12 significant OHS fines, that is, fines of $25,000 or more, across Canada in the most recent reporting period of July 15 to August 15, which is right on average for 2026 but also down from the 17 fines reported in each of the previous two months. Total fines for the year now stand at 84, as compared to 113 through mid-August 2025.

But while fine volume was in the middling range, dollar amounts were a bit more robust. At $1.672 million, total reported OHS fine dollars for mid-July to mid-August was the third highest of the year. Total fine dollars for the year now stand at $10.565 million. To put that number into perspective, at this time last year fine dollars totaled $19.3 million.

The average reported OHS fine during the period was $139,333, the second highest monthly average of 2026. That increased the monthly average for the entire year to $125,774. But again, that’s roughly $45,000 below the fine average of $170,885 through seven reporting periods in 2025.

The disparity in fine average is attributable not so much to distribution patterns but top-heaviness. Thus, $624,051 is the highest reported OHS fine of 2026 so far. Through the same period in 2025, there were four OHS fines exceeding that total, including three different fines of $783,000 (all from British Columbia).

Table 1. OHS Fines in 2026 At A Glance (through August 15)

Period	Total Reported Fines	Reported 6-Figure Fines	Total Fines Value (in millions of dollars)	Average Fine Amount
January to Mid-February	12	7	$1.540	$128,333
Mid-February to Mid-March	4	2	$0.358	$89,500
Mid-March to Mid-April	11	1	$0.726	$66,000
Mid-April to mid-May	11	5	$1.398	$127,100
Mid-May to mid-June	17	12	$2.296	$135,070
Mid-June to mid-July	17	10	$2.575	$151,488
Mid-July to mid-August	12	7	$1.672	$139,333
YTD Total	84	44	$10.565	$125,774

Source: Bongarde

Six-Figure OHS Fines

Of the 12 significant OHS fines reported this month, seven were in the six figures. Four of these fines came from Alberta, including the two highest of the period. After not reporting any in the first five months of the year, Alberta has now accounted for the third most six-figure fines of any province with nine. Ontario accounted for the other two fines of $100,000 this month and remains the leader in the category at 21, nearly 50% of the national total of 44. British Columbia sits in second for six-figure fines with 11, despite not reporting any this month.

The highest reported OHS fine of mid-July to mid-August was the $360,000 administrative monetary penalty (AMP) imposed on a mining company for the struck-by death of a worker during a pipe draining operation. Alberta also dished out the second highest fine of the period—an AMP of $330,000 to a plumbing firm in connection with a fatal trench collapse. These fines represent, respectively, the fourth and seventh largest of 2026.

As it did last year, British Columbia continues to hand out Canada’s most expensive OHS fines. All three of the year’s highest OHS fines have come from that province. Despite the late start, Alberta now occupies five of the Top 11 slots. Although it hands out the most six-figure OHS fines, Ontario has accounted for only two of the Top 11. The only other jurisdiction to make the list is Nunavut at number eight.

Table 2. Top OHS Fines of 2026

	Fine Amount	Province	Type of Company/Incident	Result
1	$624,051	British Columbia	Global hotel operator fined after asbestos, lead, and mould discovered at renovation site.	No fatality or injury.
2	$521,694	British Columbia	Retailer fined for storage rack violations.	No fatality or injury.
3	$460,000	British Columbia	Excavation contractor fined for criminal negligence resulting in collapse of retaining wall into a trench.	Fatal injury to one worker and serious injury to another.
4	$360,000	Alberta	Mining company fined for pipe handling violation.	Fatal injury to one worker.
5	$355,000	Alberta	Timber company fined for failing to guard a Canter 4 machine.	Fatal injury to one worker.
6	$350,000	Alberta	Building materials maker fined for failing to ensure marble slabs being moved by a forklift were adequately secured.	Fatal injury to one worker.
7	$330,000	Alberta	Plumbing company fined for trench collapse.	Fatal injury to one worker.
8	$276,000	Nunavut	Energy corporation fined for failing to de-energize emergency generator.	Fatal injury to one worker.
9	$250,000	Ontario	Recycling processor fined for failing to guard conveyor.	Fatal injury to one worker.
10	$250,000	Alberta	Construction firm fined for failing to secure storage racks.	Serious injury to one worker.
11	$185,000	Ontario	Tool manufacturer fined for failing to lockout automated machine before it was repaired.	Fatal injury to one worker.

Source: Bongarde

Following historical patterns, three provinces have accounted for 40 of the year’s 44 reported six-figure fines—Ontario, BC, and Alberta. The other three have come from Manitoba, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan.

Table 3. 6-Figures OHS Fines in 2026 By Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction	Reported 6-Figure OHS Fines in 2026
Ontario	21
British Columbia	11
Alberta	9
Nunavut	1
Manitoba	1
Saskatchewan	1

Source: Bongarde

Overall OHS Fines

Only three jurisdictions reported OHS fines of $25,000 or more from mid-July to mid-August. Surprisingly, Ontario didn’t report the most this month. Alberta garnered that distinction with five reported significant OHS fines, all of them in the six figures. Ontario reported four, including two of six figures. British Columbia had an uncharacteristically quiet month with only three significant OHS fines reported, the highest of which was only $75,000 and change.

Table 4. OHS Fines Reported March 15, to April 15, 2026 ($25,000 or more)

Jurisdiction	Fine	Company	What Happened	Violation(s) (all defendants found liable as an employer, unless otherwise indicated)
AB	$360,000	Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC	A mine worker draining excess water from a pipe dies after getting struck by an ice plug that dislodged from the pipe.	Failure to ensure a worker’s health and safety.
AB	$330,000	Mr. Mike’s Plumbing Ltd.	A construction crew was replacing sewer and waterlines from a house when the excavation caved in killing one of the workers.	Failure to ensure the worker was protected from the collapse of a wall of an excavation.
ON	$200,000	EarthFresh Farms Inc.	A loading docks worker performing safety checks on a shunt truck is critically injured after being hit by a trailer that a shunt truck was moving while operating in reverse.	Failure to ensure that all lighting connections between a shunt truck and trailer were connected before the trailer was moved.
AB	$138,000	InterPro Pipe & Steel Inc., formerly Evraz Inc.	A worker greasing a rotating screen that should have been deenergized gets caught between the screen and idler wheel and suffers serious injury.	Failure to ensure that all hazardous energy posing a hazard to the worker was isolated before work began.
AB	$132,000	Brock Canada Field Services Ltd.	A worker entering a scaffold to remove hoarding slips and falls into an open utility corridor in the ground containing hot water and suffers serious injuries.	Failure to adequately communicate the hazard of an open blow down pit or open utility corridor to workers.
ON	$130,000	1838107 Ontario Ltd., o/a Agro Acres	A worker is killed after being run over by a front-end loader moving in reverse.	Failure to ensure that a signaler helped the operator move in reverse with an obstructed view (a worker also fined $15,000 for same violation).
AB	$100,000	Par Energy Services Inc.	A worker suffers a serious injury as a result of contacting the gear inside a power tong while running casing into a horizontal well.	Failure to ensure that equipment (a power tong): Was maintained in a condition safe for use or transport. Would safely perform its intended function. *Was free from obvious defects.
BC	$75,277	Pro Builders Supply Ltd./Home Hardware	WorkSafeBC inspectors observe multiple defects with storage racks and issue a stop-use order.	Failure to ensure storage racks: Were capable of supporting items stored on them. Installed by a qualified person. *Regularly inspected for damage.
ON	$75,000	Home Hardware Stores Limited	A hardware store worker inspecting the top level of the fire management system reservoir is critically injured after falling from a ladder.	Failure to ensure that fixed stairs or an access ladder was provided where frequent access to elevated equipment was necessary.
ON	$65,000	St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton	A medical lab worker suffers serious injury after getting hit by the lid of a Megafuge (a machine used to prepare samples for testing) that fell while the machine was being loaded.	Failure to ensure that the machine was safely maintained and in good condition.
BC	$33,927	Ace Excavating Ltd.	WorkSafeBC inspectors observe a traffic control person (TCP) directing traffic from within the active lanes of the roadway.	Failure to ensure that TCPs weren’t positioned in the travelled portion of a roadway.
BC	$32,761	Ener-Spray Pacific Ltd.	WorkSafeBC inspectors observe workers applying spray foam without protective gloves and face protection as well as missing elements in the firm’s exposure control plan, such as supplied air and control zones.	Failure to: * Ensure that workers exposed to airborne contaminants generated by spray operations wore supplied-air respirators and were clean shaven where the respirator seals with the face. * Implement an exposure control plan.

Source: Bongarde