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OHS Fines Scorecard (June 15 to July 15)

OHS enforcement revenues were booming in mid-June through mid-July with nearly $4.1 million in total fines reported, which is by far the highest 4-week total of 2025, easily surpassing the $3.689 million reported in the January/February period.  

Fines volume was almost as impressive. The 18 significant OHS fines reported this month was the second most for the year, as was the fine average of $226,722. This is only the second time that average fine amounts for a 4-week period topped $200,000. The other was the outlier mid-February to mid-March period in which there were only 9 significant OHS fines reported and 2 of them were above $700,000. Here’s a period-by-period breakdown of reported OHS fine totals for the first 7 months of 2025.   

Table 1. OHS Fines in 2025 At A Glance

Period Total Reported Fines Reported 6-Figure Fines Total Fines Value (in millions of dollars)  Average Fine Amount 
To mid-Jan 7 1 $0.684  $97,714 
Mid-Jan to mid-Feb 20 14 $3.689  $184,450 
Mid-Feb to mid-March 9 5 $2.361  $263,300 
Mid-March to mid-April  12 5 $2.029  $169,083 
Mid-April to mid-May  20 6 $2,918 $145,900
Mid-May to mid-June  13 6 $1.565  $120,385 
Mid-June to mid-July  18 13 $4, 081 $226, 722
Total 99 50 $17, 324 $173,241 

Source: Bongarde

6-Figure OHS Fines  

Of the 18 significant OHS fines reported during the period, 13 were in the 6-figure range. This is an upward deviation from long-term norms where roughly 45% of the OHS fines reported are for $100,000 or more. Thanks to the July surge, 50 of the year’s 99 reported OHS fines are 6-figure fines. But that ratio is likely to dip by the end of the year to somewhere in the range of 45%.  

Three of the period’s reported OHS fines cracked our Top 11 list for the entire year, including the $783,063 administrative monetary penalty (AMP), the biggest fine of 2025 so far, imposed on a BC health authority for a series of asbestos violations. Curiously, this is the third time this year that BC has issued a $783,063 AMP. This quirky and coincidental total isn’t the product of random luck but the reflection of the specific guidelines that WorkSafeBC inspectors use to calculate AMP amounts. 

The $600,000 penalty imposed this month against a construction firm for a crane violation resulting in a worker’s death was the highest fine reported by Ontario this year and number 5 on the Top 11. The period’s third biggest OHS fine–$467,496 against a residential services provider for using an unlicensed contractor for asbestos abatement work, also came from BC and sits at number 9 on the Top 11.   

 As shown by Table 2 below, BC has accounted for the most of the Top 11 fines with 5, followed closely by Alberta with 4. Ontario and Saskatchewan are the only other provinces represented with one apiece.   

Table 2. Top 10 OHS Fines of 2025 (through June 15) 

Fine Amount Province Type of Company/Incident Result
1  $783,068  British Columbia Long-term care facility fined for high-risk asbestos violations, including failure to implement an exposure control plan.  No fatality or injury. 
1 $783,068  British Columbia Provincial Government/High-Risk violations for using untrained and unqualified traffic controllers at music festival site.  No fatality or injury. 
1 $783,068  British Columbia Multiple storage rack violations at 2 Walmart stores.  No fatality or injury. 
4 $710,000  British Columbia Electrical, lockout, and machine guarding violations at mining company sites.  2 subcontractor workers seriously injured. 
5 $600,000  Ontario  Construction contractor fined for allowing workers to use dangerous and improper crane procedures.  Fatality.
6 $575,000  Saskatchewan  Machine guarding violation by steel parts manufacturer.  Serious injury to 1 worker. 
7 $500,000  Alberta  Hot work and OHS program violations by prime contractor resulting in welding explosion at energy site.  2 workers killed. 
8 $495,000  Alberta  Crane rigging violation by energy company.*  Fatality. 
9 $467,496  British Columbia Residential services provider fined for letting unlicensed firm perform asbestos abatement work.  No fatality or injury. 
10 $374,000  Alberta Hazard assessment violation by mining equipment company.*  Fatality. 
10 $374,000  Alberta Unspecified violation by crane company.*   Fatality. 

*Fine is for company’s role in same incident involving a crane fatality. 

Source: Bongarde 

Ontario had the most 6-figure reported OHS fines in mid-June to mid-July with 5, followed by BC with 4 and Alberta with 3. The other 6-figure fine came from Saskatchewan. Ontario continues to lead Canada in reported 6-figure fines for the entire year with 21, while Alberta and BC remain neck to neck for second place.  

Table 3. 6-Figures OHS Fines in 2025 By Jurisdiction (through July 15)  

Jurisdiction Reported 6-Figure Fines in 2025
1 Ontario 21
2 Alberta 14
3 British Columbia 13
4 Saskatchewan 2

Source: Bongarde

Overall OHS Fines 

As usual, Ontario had the highest OHS fines volume accounting for 8 of the period’s 18 reported significant OHS fines. Here’s a breakdown of all the fines reported during the period.  

Table 3. OHS Fines Reported May 15, to June 15, 2025* (over $25,000) 

Jurisdiction Fine Company What Happened Violation(s)
BC $783,068  Interior Health Authority  WorkSafeBC inspects long-term care facility in response to reports of disturbances of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) during telecommunications installation work involving drilling into drywall near areas used by staff.  Failure to implement exposure control program before work involving risk of disturbing ACMs and other high-risk asbestos violations. 
ON**  $600,000  Limen Group Const. (2019) Ltd.  Construction worker is killed after being hit by heavy waste concrete blocks that fell from a crane while being hoisted in a dangerous manner.  Failure to ensure that: 

  • The waste concrete was hoisted using attachment points suitable for the use.  
  • Workers were adequately trained and supervised on hazards of using embedded rebar for hoisting. 
BC  $467,496  Axis Family Resources Ltd.  WorkSafeBC issues a stop-work order after finding that a contractor without a valid asbestos abatement licence had done renovation work on walls of residential social services facility.  Series of high-risk asbestos violations. 
AB $350,000  Delta Land Co. Inc.  Maintenance worker gets caught between the lower excavator arm and a grounded excavator bucket and is crushed to death.  Permitting a worker to remain in range of a hazardous load, cab, counterweight or any other part of powered mobile equipment. 
AB $330,000  Sofina Foods Inc.  Food plant superintendent gets trapped inside a smokehouse and is cooked to death.  Failure to ensure safety of worker entering hazardous confined space. 
ON $275,000  General Motors of Canada Company  Machine that was in Auto mode when it should have been in Safe unexpectedly moves and kills worker performing maintenance inside.  Failure to ensure that the lockout procedure specifically identified how workers were supposed to ensure that the machine was in safe mode. 
ON**  $225,000  New Leaf  Personal support worker who can’t swim assigned to guard a very large, dangerous and mentally unstable resident without help is found drowned in facility indoor swimming pool.   Failure to ensure that: 

  • The worker was a competent swimmer
  • There was a second guard to help the worker
    (supervisor fined $30,000 in same case – see below).   
ON  $220,000  Brunner Manufacturing & Sales Ltd.  Worker is killed after getting hit by a 2,750-pound diaphragm piston assembly that unexpectedly swung while being suspended in the air for servicing operation.  Failure to warn workers of the dangers of not following instructions in a machine’s operating manual while removing a metal spacer from a press.  
BC  $175,783  City of Cranbrook  WorkSafeBC inspectors find that dirt from a race trackway used during a motorsport event held by a city was taken from a wastewater treatment plant without being tested for hazardous substances contamination.  Failure to: 

  • Remedy hazardous workplace conditions. 
  • Do a walkthrough survey to assess risks of overexposure to hazardous substances. 
  • Assess the work area for risks of exposure to harmful levels of exhaust from mobile equipment. 
  • Implement exposure control plan. 
BC  $144,729  Pagnotta Inc.  Formwork for a concrete pour collapses and injures a worker.  Failure to ensure:  

  • Formwork erected in accordance with certified worksite-specific plans.  
  • Regular inspections were made to prevent development of unsafe working conditions. 
  • Each building and temporary or permanent structure was capable of withstanding any stresses likely to be imposed on it. 
AB $126,000  TAQA Drilling Solutions Inc.  Oilfield worker disassembling a piece of drilling equipment suffered serious injury after getting hit by a projectile.  Failure to provide safeguards to protect a worker from accidental contact with debris, material, or objects thrown from machinery or equipment. 
ON  $120,000  Allied Tooling Technologies Inc.  Auto plant worker is killed while operating a CNC lathe machine.  Failure to ensure the machine was equipped with a guard preventing access to an exposed moving part. 
SK  $120,000  Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.  Worker is struck by a metal crane rail that was being dragged along the ground by a telehandler.  Permitting or requiring a worker to remain within range of powered mobile equipment’s swinging load or part resulting in serious injury to a worker. 
ON $100,000  Alugard Ltd.  Worker using compressed air to fix a machine used for making aluminum window jambs disables the safety device causing the machine to start up and inflict serious injuries.  Failure to ensure that precautions were taken to prevent a machine from starting and endangering a worker while undergoing maintenance (the company also obstructed the investigation and disobeyed an MOL order). 
ON  $75,000  Aarkel Tool and Die Inc.  Worker is critically injured after a lower carrier assembly tips and falls.  Failure to provide worker adequate safety information, instruction and supervision.  
ON**  $65,000  Bellai Alliance Floor Finishing Ltd.  Worker is injured by a swinging peri box that was rigged to a tower crane.  Failure to use guide ropes or tag lines to prevent the rotation or uncontrolled motion of a load being hoisted by a crane or other hoisting device. 
ON  $50,000  Cachet Homes Corp.  Worker suffers critical injuries after falling from the second floor of a home under construction.  Failure, as a constructor, to ensure that a wooden guardrail system was securely fastened.  
BC  $43,574  Regehr Contracting Ltd./Regehr Excavating  Excavator at road widening construction site digs too deep and hits and damages an underground water main.    Failure to ensure powered equipment used for excavating was operated to avoid damage to underground utility services, a repeat violation. 
ON**  $30,000  Colin Lang  Personal support worker who can’t swim assigned to guard a very large, dangerous and mentally unstable resident without help is found drowned in facility indoor swimming pool.  Failure, as a supervisor, to ensure the worker was a competent swimmer (employer fined $225,000 in same case – see above).   

*BC OHS fines get reported a month late but are included in the most recent period to ensure continuity and consistency for comparison purposes across all provinces. 

**Penalties imposed after a trial rather than a guilty plea or as an Administrative Monetary Penalty. 

Source: Bongarde