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OHS Fines Scorecard (December 15 to 31, 2025)

There were 175 significant reported OHS fines in Canada in 2025 totaling $28.166 million, as opposed to just 136 fines in 2024. The average fine amount for the year was $160,952. Here's the final Scorecard of 2025. 

Late December OHS Fines 

The final period of 2025 was a busy one with 17 significant OHS fines of $25,000 or more reported across Canada from mid- to the end of December. That's the fourth highest fine total of the year even though the period was only 2 weeks, as compared to the other reporting periods that ran 4 weeks (the other exception was the first period which also ran just 2 weeks). Unlike the previous period from mid-November to mid-December where only 8 significant OHS fines were reported, this most recent period does include fines from British Columbia.  

Fine amounts were just as impressive. At $3.43 million, the abbreviated end-of-December reported fines total was the third highest of the entire year. The average fine amount of $201,747 was also the third highest 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
Mid-July to mid-August  14  7  $1,986 $141,864
Mid-Aug to mid-Sept  8 2 $1,170 $146,293
Mid-Sept to mid-Oct  15 6 $1.594  $106,240 
Mid-Oct to mid-Nov  14 5 $1.834  $130,964 
Mid-Nov to mid-Dec  8 4 $0.825  $103,125 
Mid-Dec to end Dec  17 8 $3.430  $201,747 
YTD Total  175 82  $28.166  $160,952 

Source: Bongarde

6-Figure OHS Fines  

Of the 17 significant OHS fines reported in the final 2 weeks of December, 8 were above $100,000. That's in line with the year-long pattern. The now complete 2025 Scorecard includes 175 significant OHS fines, 82 of which were in the 6-figure range. By contrast, there were only 136 significant OHS fines reported in the 2024 Scorecard, 60 of them in 6 figures. 

Two of the reported fines during the recent period made the 2025 Top 10 list. Both of those fines came from British Columbia, including the year's highest fine of $788,867 against a mining company for a combustible dust explosion. The $688,589 administrative monetary penalty against a prime contractor for crane violations was the seventh highest fine of the year. While OHS fines were up year over year, none of this year's fines topped 2024's year-high fine of $840,000 imposed by Saskatchewan.  

Remarkably, the 8 biggest OHS fines of 2025 all came from British Columbia. While British Columbia also had the most Top 10 fines in 2024, it accounted for only 4 of those fines. Numbers 9 and 10 of this year's Top 10 came from Ontario and Saskatchewan, respectively. Alberta, which imposes more 6-figure fines than any province except BC and Ontario, and accounted for 3 of last year's Top 10, didn't even crack the list this year.  

Table 2. Top 10 OHS Fines of 2025

Fine Amount Province Type of Company/Incident Result
1 $788,867  British Columbia   Mining company fined for smelting operation combustible dust explosion.  Serious injury to 1 worker. 
2 $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. 
2 $783,068  British Columbia  Provincial Government/High-Risk violations for using untrained and unqualified traffic controllers at music festival site.  No fatality or injury. 
2 $783,068  British Columbia  Multiple storage rack violations at 2 Walmart stores.  No fatality or injury. 
5 $759,368  British Columbia  Provincial Government/High-Risk violations related to separate wildfire fighting response incidents.  One fatality and at least one serious injury. 
6 $710,000  British Columbia  Electrical, lockout, and machine guarding violations at mining company sites.  2 subcontractor workers seriously injured. 
7 $688,589  British Columbia  Prime contractor fined for high-risk crane violations leading to incidents at separate sites.  Not specified. 
8 $674,445  British Columbia  Cement plant didn’t get professional engineer to certify safety of equipment that had been dismantled and refitted .  Fatality. 
9 $600,000  Ontario  Construction contractor fined for allowing workers to use dangerous and improper crane procedures.  Fatality. 
10 $575,000  Saskatchewan  Machine guarding violation by steel parts manufacturer.  Serious injury to 1 worker. 

Source: Bongarde 

Seven of the 8 reported 6-figure OHS fines during the most recent period came from British Columbia; the other was reported by the federal government. Year-wide, as in most years, Ontario reported the most 6-figure fines in 2025 with 29. BC was close behind with 26, followed by Alberta with 21. This is the same order as last year. Saskatchewan and the federal government were the only other jurisdictions to impose multiple 6-figure OHS fines in 2025.     

Table 3. 6-Figures OHS Fines in 2025 By Jurisdiction   

Jurisdiction Reported 6-Figure Fines in 2025
1 Ontario  29
2 British Columbia  26
3 Alberta 21
4 Saskatchewan  3
5 Federal 2
6 Nova Scotia 1

Source: Bongarde

Overall OHS Fines 

All but 6 of the significant OHS fines reported in the late-December period came from British Columbia. Alberta reported 3 fines. Due to reporting cycles, Ontario reported only one. The other fines were from Saskatchewan and the federal government.  

Caveat: Keep in mind that not all provinces publicly report their OHS fines the way Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba do. Accordingly, these totals don’t account for all jurisdictions, some of which we know have vigorous enforcement regimes like Québec or the federal government, where the only source of fine data is reported court cases.   

Table 4. OHS Fines Reported December 15 to 31, 2025* ($25,000 or more) 

Jurisdiction Fine Company What Happened Violation(s) (all defendants found liable as an employer, unless otherwise indicated) 
BC  $788,867  Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.  During a smelting operation, flame from an enclosed manganese hopper creates enough pressure to displace a lid to a nearby platform injuring a worker operating an alloy system.  Failure to ensure its workplace was planned, constructed, used, and maintained to protect workers from combustible dust hazards. 
BC  $688,589  EllisDon Corporation/EllisDon Westpro Construction Ltd.  2 high-risk crane incidents occur at separate sites run by the same prime contractor.  Failure as prime contractor to:  

  • Develop an adequate lifting plan for handling multi-connected formwork panels. 
  • Implement a system for inspecting rigging work. 
BC   $514,831  EllisDon Corporation/EllisDon Westpro Construction Ltd.  A concrete forming subcontractor worker at a highrise construction site is killed by a falling tower crane being used to lift a flytable from one floor to another.  Failure as prime contractor to: 

  • Ensure coordination of all safety measures at the site. 
  • Regularly review subcontractors’ safe work procedures. 
  • Confirm that a risk assessment had been conducted. 
  • Identify the lift as a critical lift. 
  • Ensure control of the exclusion zone on the ground. 
  • Verify that procedures and communication for spotters on the ground were consistent. 
  • Ensure regular inspections were conducted. 
FED  $300,000  Logistec Stevedoring (Ontario) Inc.  A longshore worker is killed after getting struck by a Cary-Lift 254 vehicle transporting steel pipes.  Failure to: 

  • Assess the hazards of operating the vehicle. 
  • Ensure the safe operation of the vehicle.  
  • Provide workers with safe means of entry to and exit from the workplace. 
BC  $248,095  Dawson Road Maintenance Ltd.  OHS inspectors observe 2 traffic control persons (TPCs) using automated flagger assistant devices to control traffic from dangerous positions unprotected from traffic flow.  Failure to ensure that: 

  • TPCs were not positioned in an intersection open to the travelled portion of a roadway. 
  • Traffic control met OHS requirements. 
  • Its traffic control plan included all required elements and was regularly updated.  
BC  $150,000  New Age Drilling Solutions Inc.  A mine worker without training to use a utility terrain vehicle is killed while operating the vehicle.  Failure to provide adequate safety training. 
AB  $116,000  Canlin Resources Partnership  An oil and gas site worker using a torch to cut a wellhead casing for removal suffers serious injury after being struck by the wellhead after it dislodged.  Failure to ensure, as prime contractor, that employers at the site were informed of its hazards (employer and supervisor fined for same incident—see below). 
BC  $112,624  Newway Concrete Forming Ltd.  A concrete forming subcontractor worker at a highrise construction site is killed by a falling tower crane being used to lift a flytable from one floor to another.  Failure to ensure that: 

  • Ensure a written lift plan was prepared for critical lifts. 
  • Ensure the adequacy of drawings and supplementary instructions for flyforms.  
  • Arrange work to prevent passing a load over any person. 
  • Ensure equipment was capable of performing its functions. 
  • Ensure a qualified supervisor supervised erection of formwork. 
  • Give workers safety  information, instruction, training, and supervision. 
BC  $84,428  1706811 Alberta Ltd./Visions Electronics Limited Partnership  A worker using a table saw to cut fibreboard suffers serious injury when the material kicks back causing the worker to make contact with the saw.   Failure to ensure that:  

  • Machinery had adequate safeguards to prevent workers from accessing hazardous points of operation. 
  • Circular saws had devices or safeguards to prevent kickback. 
BC  $80,500  Nirmal Singh Takhar  A concrete pouring contractor orders workers to go into an area where a concrete ramp had collapsed to perform cleanup work in defiance of a stop-work order. 
  • Failure to ensure proper site-specific planning for formwork and falsework. 
  • Failure to obtain professional engineering certification before concrete placement. 
  • Failure to comply with a stop-work order.  
  • Disturbing the scene of a reportable workplace accident. 
AB  $75,000  Ulysses Engineering Inc.  An oil and gas site worker using a torch to cut a wellhead casing for removal suffers serious injury after being struck by the wellhead after it dislodged.  Failure to notify workers of hazards (prime contractor and supervisor fined for same incident). 
ON  $65,000  Larkin Storage and Retail Equipment Inc.  A worker is injured while operating a punch press.  Failure to ensure the machine was equipped with a guard to prevent access to an exposed moving part. 
BC  $64,169  Homan Roofing Ltd.   WorkSafeBC inspectors observe a worker leaning over the leading edge of a warehouse roof who’s wearing a fall protection harness isn’t connected to a lifeline and another worker with too much slack in the lifeline who’s connected to an improper anchor.  Failure to: 

  • Ensure proper use of fall protection. 
  • Provide workers with necessary safety information, training, instruction, and supervision. 
SK   $40,000  Sleek Advertising Ltd.  A worker removing glass panels from a shipping crate gets pinned to the ground by the panels and suffers serious injury.  Failure to provide workers with safety information, instruction, training and supervision. 
BC  $40,000  1357640 B.C. Ltd.  The owner of a motel undergoing renovation provides WorkSafeBC a clearance letter falsely stating that all asbestos-containing materials had been safely removed. 
  • Knowingly providing false information to a WorkSafeBC officer. 
  • Failure to comply with OHS asbestos requirements. 
  • Failure to comply with an OHS order. 
BC  $36,593  Top Notch Roofing Inc.  WorkSafeBC inspectors observe 4 workers on the sloped roof of a 2-storey house with no fall protection.   Failure to ensure use of fall protection.  
AB  $25,000  Matthew Morris  An oil and gas site worker using a torch to cut a wellhead casing for removal suffers serious injury after being struck by the wellhead after it dislodged.  Failure, as supervisor, to protect a worker under his charge (prime contractor and employer fined for same incident—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.