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2026 OHS Fines Scorecard (May 15 to June 15)

While overall Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) fine volume and amounts are still lagging on a year-to-basis, May 15 to June 15 was the biggest month of 2026 with 17 significant fines of $25,000 or more reported across Canada. The previous high for the year was 12 during the first reporting period. The 2026 OHS fines total stands at 55, as compared to 81 at this time last year.

Fine amounts for the period were up even more. At $2,296,200, total fine dollars was the highest for any month, blowing away the previous monthly high of $1.540 million. The average fine amount for the period was $135,070, which was also a high for 2026. Five months into 2026, the average reported OHS fine is $114,873. By way of comparison, at this same point in 2025, total fine dollars stood at $13.243 million, and the average reported fine was $163,494.

Table 1. OHS Fines in 2026 At A Glance (through April 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
YTD Total 55 27 $6.318 $114,873

Source: Bongarde

The Alberta Factor

After consistently trending up over so many years, the 2026 year-to-year decline in OHS fines is somewhat surprising. Are companies getting better at compliance? Or are enforcers going easy on companies given the tough economic situation?

Neither of the above. The source of what has been this year’s statistical disparity is clear: For whatever reason, Alberta isn’t reporting as many OHS fines as it usually does. At least that wasn’t the case for the first four months of the year. But this month, Alberta reverted to normal with five fines reported, all of them in the six-figure range. We’ll talk more about this below.

Six-Figure OHS Fines

Of the 17 significant OHS fines reported from mid-May to mid-June, 12 were for at least $100,000 or more. That’s the highest ratio of 2026 by far. Year to date, 27 of the 55 reported fines are in the six figures, a ratio that’s more in line with historic patterns.

Alberta and Ontario tied for the most six-figure OHS fines during the period with five apiece. These were the first reported six-figure fines reported out of Alberta in 2026, and they included the third and fourth biggest fines of the year, respectively, $355,000 against Weyerhaeuser for a machine accident that killed a timber worker, and $350,000 against a kitchen counter manufacturer for a forklift fatality. Ontario also cracked the Top 10 with a $175,000 fine—the seventh highest of the year—for an excavation fatality. British Columbia accounted for the period’s other reported six-figure fines.

British Columbia continues to hand out the biggest OHS fines in Canada, accounting for five of the year’s biggest 11, including numbers 1 and 2 on the list. Next comes Ontario with four, followed by Alberta with two.

Table 2. Top OHS Fines of 2026

Fine Amount Province Type of Company/Incident Result
1 $521,694 British Columbia Retailer fined for storage rack violations. No fatality or injury.
2 $460,000 British Columbia Excavation contractor fined for criminal negligence resulting in collapse of retaining wall into a trench. Fatal injury to one worker killed and serious injury to another.
3 $355,000 Alberta Timber company fined for failing to guard a Canter 4 machine. Fatal injury to one worker.
4 $350,000 Alberta Building materials maker fined for failing to ensure marble slabs being moved by a forklift were adequately secured. Fatality to one worker.
5 $185,000 Ontario Tool manufacturer fined for failing to lockout automated machine before it was repaired. Fatal injury to one worker.
6 $182,282 British Columbia Petroleum refiner fined for fuel line unblocking operation hot oil spill. Serious injury to one worker.
7 $175,000 Ontario Construction contractor fined for excavation flood. Fatality to one worker.
8 $169,632 British Columbia Municipality fined as prime contractor for confined space lifting incident. Serious injury to one worker.
9 $164,189 British Columbia Crane supplier and operator firm fined for not equipping crane with required safety device. No fatality or injury.
10 $140,000 Ontario Construction contractor fined for excavations violation. Critical injury to one worker.

Source: Bongarde

Consistent with historic patterns, Ontario has generated the most six-figure fines of any province, accounting for 14 of the 27 reported in 2026. British Columbia has handed out nine such fines. As noted above, Alberta finally got on the board this month by reporting a pair of fines in the six figures. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are the only other provinces that have reported an OHS fine of at least $100,000 in 2026 with one apiece.

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

Jurisdiction Reported 6-Figure OHS Fines in 2026
Ontario 14
British Columbia 9
Alberta 2
Manitoba 1
Saskatchewan 1

Source: Bongarde

Overall OHS Fines

Only three jurisdictions reported OHS fines of $25,000 or more this month. As usual, Ontario reported the most during the period with eight. Alberta awoke from its year-long dormancy with five reported OHS fines and British Columbia reported four.

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 $355,000 Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd. A timber worker is killed while using a pike pole to clear a blocked photo eye in a Canter 4 machine when the pole contacts the energized rotating side heads, causing it to hurtle toward the worker. Failure to ensure the health and safety of a worker.
AB $350,000 LX Hausys Canada Inc. Marble slabs being moved by a forklift unexpectedly dislodge and fatally crush the forklift operator. Failure to prevent unsafe movement of a forklift load, including via enforcing safe procedures for moving a load.
ON $175,000 Aecon Utilities Inc. Heavy rainfall enters a residential construction site trench and mixes with silt to form a slurry that fatally engulfs a worker installing utility lines inside. Failure to ensure that equipment isn’t used under weather conditions likely to endanger a worker.
BC $169,632 Metro Vancouver Regional District A worker inside a chamber (a confined space) using pry bars to help a crane truck lift gearboxes suffers serious injury when the gearbox releases and lifts forcefully upward. Failure, as prime contractor to:

* Ensure OHS activities were coordinated.

*Develop written procedures to minimize confined space hazards.

* Ensure an adequately trained supervisor was in place before workers entered a confined space.

*Ensure workers were adequately trained in confined space hazards.
ON $130,000 GFL Environmental Services Inc. Four workers offloading flammable solvents from a vacuum truck suffer injuries in a flash fire ignited by the idling truck’s air intake. Failure to ensure that processes likely to produce a gas, vapour, dust, or fume capable of forming an explosive mixture with air are done in an area with no potential sources of ignition.
ON $130,000 1838107 Ontario Ltd., operating as Agro Acres A warehouse worker gets killed after being run over by a front-end loader moving in reverse while the operator’s view is obstructed. Failure to ensure that a signaler was used—a worker is also fined $15,000 for the same incident.
AB $125,000 Excel G.P Ltd. A worker installing forms for a foundation at a residential construction site is seriously injured after getting hit by a panel that falls when the cage holding the panels buckles. Failure, as constructor, to ensure that workers were adequately trained to perform the work safely (victim’s employer also fined for the incident—see below).
AB $125,000 Benchmark Cribbing, Inc. A worker installing forms for a foundation at a residential construction site is seriously injured after getting hit by a panel that falls when the cage holding the panels buckles. Failure, as employer, to ensure that racks used to store materials or equipment were placed on firm foundations that could support the load (constructor also fined for incident—see above).
AB $115,000 Marigold Infrastructure Partners Inc. A worker completing temporary post-tensioning of a segment of the Valley West LRT Line Expansion project gets hit by a jack and suffers serious injuries. Failure to take all reasonable steps to ensure that a hydraulic jack was contained, restrained, or protected to eliminate potential danger to workers if it was moved or dislodged.
BC $110,855 West Fraser Mills Ltd./Eurocan Pulp & Paper A worker performing pressure washing inside a silo (a confined space) is killed when a fire breaks out inside the space. Failure to ensure that:

* An adequately trained person administered the confined space entry program and supervised the entry.

*A qualified person did a hazard assessment and created written confined space entry procedures.

*Pre-entry testing was done.

*Persons assigned rescue duties were properly equipped and adequately trained.
ON $110,000 Angus Gold Inc. A foreperson at a mining exploration site who gets tangled in the fiber ropes used to secure cargo to a helicopter falls from the aircraft after being freed from the ropes and doesn’t survive the fall. Failure, as employer in control of the work, to conduct a risk assessment for drilling operations involving helicopter use (drilling company also fined—see below).
ON $100,000 G4 Drilling Ltd. A foreperson at a mining exploration site who gets tangled in the fiber ropes used to secure cargo to a helicopter falls from the aircraft after being freed from the ropes and doesn’t survive the fall. Failure, as drilling company, to provide effective radio communication equipment to workers (company in charge of the work also fined—see above).
ON $90,000 AlumaPower Corporation Hydrogen gas accumulates inside an enclosed space being used for testing a generator prototype explodes injuring three workers who were trying to detect its source. Failure to ensure that a process capable of producing an explosive mixture with air was carried out safely.
ON $80,000 BRC Business Enterprises Ltd. A trainee reaches into an edge bending machine to clean debris and is injured by the blades. Failure to acquaint the worker with the cutting hazard associated with maintenance and cleaning of the machine.
ON $55,000 K.K. Penner Tires Centers (Dryden) Inc. A worker inflating a skidder wheel assembly suffers critical injury after the wheel assembly explodes. Failure to develop a safe procedure for servicing a skidder wheel assembly.
BC $45,209 Domcor Traffic Control International Inc. WorkSafeBC inspectors observe a traffic control person step into the active portion of the roadway to stop traffic at a mixed-use building construction site. Failure to ensure that:

*It conducted a proper risk assessment before letting workers engage in traffic control.

*Traffic control devices were positioned and used as specified in the traffic control plan.
BC $30,535 Northern Legendary Construction Ltd. WorkSafeBC inspectors observe scaffolding that’s too close to the edge of an excavation and notice the walls were vertical in some sections. Failure to ensure that:

*An excavation was sloped, shored, or otherwise supported before workers enter it.

*Excavation work was done in accordance with a qualified registered professional’s written instructions when a structure is adjacent to the excavation.