WSIAT Expands the Scope of Entitlement for Traumatic Mental Stress

A recent decision of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (‘the Tribunal’) has significantly expanded the scope of entitlement for workplace events that cause traumatic mental stress.

Traditionally, traumatic mental stress benefits were only granted when a claimant experienced a traumatic event which presented a real or implied threat to a person’s physical well being. In Decision 483/11, the Tribunal held that a threat to a person’s physical welfare is not required for a finding of entitlement to benefits based on traumatic mental stress.

By Charlotte Willson of Heenan Blaikie