Updated on [Apr 16, 2026]

Each year on April 28, Canadians across the country observe the National Day of Mourning ; a time to remember those who have lost their lives, suffered injuries, or experienced illness due to work-related incidents.

If you need detailed fatality statistics broken down by year or by data type, please click here to access the full dataset and reports.

Click below to see how Workers' Compensation Boards/Commissions and associated stakeholders are recognizing this important day:

History

In 1984, April 28th was established as a Day of Mourning by the Canadian Labour Congress. This was a day to “mourn for the dead and fight for the living.” In 1991, the Canadian federal government passed legislation marking April 28th as a national “Day of Mourning for Persons Killed or Injured in the Workplace”. This has since become an international movement. The International Labour Organization celebrates the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28th to “promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally.”

This April 28th, please take a moment to remember those injured, killed, or afflicted with an occupational disease while on the job.

If you would like to see the latest statistics on the number of Canadians who have suffered workplace injuries and illnesses, please see Injury Statistics.

S.C. 1991, c. 15

Assented to 1991-02-01

An Act respecting a Day of Mourning for Persons Killed or Injured in the Workplace

WHEREAS it is desirable that Canadians should designate a day of mourning to remember workers killed, disabled or injured in the workplace and workers afflicted with industrial disease;

AND WHEREAS Canadians seek earnestly to set an example of their commitment to the issue of health and safety in the workplace;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

1 This Act may be cited as the Workers Mourning Day Act.

Marginal note:Day of Mourning

2 (1) Throughout Canada, in each and every year, the 28th day of April shall be known under the name of "Day of Mourning for Persons Killed or Injured in the Workplace".
Marginal note:Not a legal holiday
(2) For greater certainty, the Day of Mourning for Persons Killed or Injured in the Workplace is not a legal holiday or a non-juridical day and shall not be required to be kept or observed as such.

Elliston, Newfoundland, monument to those lost in 1914 sealing disaster.

Escuminac, New Brunswick fishermens’ monument. Saint John, New Brunswick Day of Mourning monument.

Westville, Nova Scotia, miners’ memorial. New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, monument to miners killed at the Westray Mine in 1992. Nova Scotia, Stellarton miners’ memorial.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Fishermans’ Memorial.

The National Day of Mourning Monument in PEI (Charlottetown). Estevan, Saskatchewan, gravestones of coalminers killed by RCMP, while defending workers’ right to organize in 1931.

Saskatoon Firefighters Memorial Monument.

Gravestone of one the workers shot to death during the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. Edmonton Day of Mourning monument. Calgary railway workers’ memorial.

Kahnawà:ke, memorial to workers who died in the 1907 collapse of the Quebec Bridge, and another monument for the same workers, in Lévis, Quebec.

Thetford Mines, Quebec, monument to workers who died due to work in the asbestos mines. Valleyfield, Quebec, monument to Irish workers killed by the British Army while striking for better working conditions during construction of Beauharnois Canal in 1843. Ottawa, Heron Road workers memorial bridge honours workers who died when the bridge collapsed in 1966.

Buckingham, Quebec, monument to forestry workers shot by company guards in 1906 during the fight to unionize Maclaren mills.

Ottawa, Ontario, Celtic Cross monument to Rideau Canal workers.

Kirkland Lake, Ontario, miners’ monument. Timmins, Porcupine miners’ memorial.

Elliot Lake, Ontario, miners’ memorial.

The Day of Mourning Monument in Hamilton. Sudbury, miners’ memorial monument. Simcoe Park 'workers monument', Toronto, Ontario.

Lake Cowichan, BC, forestry workers’ memorial park.

Steveston, BC, Net and Needle fishermen’s memorial. Vancouver, BC, memorial to ironworkers killed in 1958 when a section of the Second Narrows Bridge collapsed during construction.

Abbotsford, BC, Golden Tree farmworkers’ memorial. Victoria, BC, firefighters memorial. Prince Rupert, BC, monument to Pacific mariners lost at sea.

Yukon Workers' Memorial in Whitehorse.

The Brooding Soldier (St-Julien, Belgium): A 10-meter high white granite sculpture of a soldier with a bowed head. It commemorates the 18,000 Canadians who died in the Ypres Salient.

Hill 62 (Sanctuary Wood) Memorial (Zillebeke, Belgium): A block of white granite set in a circular park, marking the site where Canadians defended the Ypres Salient in 1916.

The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is the crowning achievement of Canadian sculptor Walter S. Allward. Designed between 1921 and 1936, this massive monument stands on Vimy Ridge in France to honour the 61,000 Canadians who died during the First World War.