Public consultation opens as the WCB announces 2027 preliminary average premium rate

Regina, Sask., Oct. 29, 2026 – Today, the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board announced the 2027 preliminary average employer premium rate will remain unchanged from the 2026 rate at $1.22 per hundred dollars of assessable payroll. This leads to the start of a 30-day consultation process period for Saskatchewan WCB customers to provide feedback on the proposed rate.

If approved, Saskatchewan’s proposed 2027 average premium rate would remain among the lowest average premium rates in Canada. The announcement was made at the WCB’s public preliminary rate information meeting with Saskatchewan employers, workers and partners.

“Each year, we use our rate model to calculate the rates for the following year. For 2027, we are forecasting that increasing claim costs will be offset by rising employer payroll and strong financial investment returns,” said the WCB’s chair Gord Dobrowolsky. 

The WCB’s sufficiency policy provides guidelines for maintaining a fully funded status and sets an injury fund target range of between 100 and 140 per cent. The WCB remains within this target range.

“As board members, we have a legislative responsibility to ensure the long-term viability of our compensation system. This responsibility also requires us to act as effective and prudent financial stewards on behalf of the employers who fund the system,” said Dobrowolsky. “Our goal is to maintain a balance between stable rates that support fairness, transparency, collective liability and predictability, while ensuring a fully funded compensation system.”

The WCB holds this public consultation meeting to announce the following year’s preliminary average premium rate and to provide an overview of the rate setting process. This includes reviewing the experience rating program and the key factors that influence premium rates. The WCB then provides a 30-day public consultation period for employers to offer feedback on the preliminary premium rates.

Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance system based on collective liability, where all employers share responsibility for workplace injury insurance. Employers are grouped together to form an industry rate code. Premium rates are set for each rate code based on the collective claims experience of employers within each industry rate code. All employers within an industry rate code start with the same industry premium rate. The experience rating program allows employers to influence their premium rates either up or down depending on their performance.

With the 2027 preliminary rate proposal:

• The WCB remains within the sufficiency policy target range of between 100 and 140 per cent.
• The overall 2027 proposed average preliminary premium rate remains at $1.22 per hundred dollars of payroll.
• Industry premium rates for approximately 44 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in 20 rate codes covered by the WCB will see a decrease for 2027.
• Industry premium rates for approximately 39 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in 25 rate codes covered by the WCB will see an increase for 2027.
• Industry premium rates for approximately 17 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in eight rate codes covered by the WCB will see no change to their 2027 preliminary industry premium rate.
• The premium rate of $1.22 includes a discount of $0.06, which saves employers more than $19 million in premiums.

The WCB works to uphold a balance between stable rates that ensure fairness, transparency, collective liability, predictability and a fully funded compensation system. The WCB maintains a strong funded position and has optimized its investment strategy to support long-term financial sustainability. In addition to providing feedback during the public consultation period, employers can influence their individual premium rate through effective injury prevention and return-to-work programs. By preventing injuries, reducing work disability and supporting timely and safe returns to work, employers help control system costs and contribute to the long-term sustainability of the compensation system.

“When an injury does occur, we need to have robust systems that allow us to effectively and efficiently partner with the worker, employer and health-care provider to rehabilitate the worker so they can return to work. We know this outcome is in the best interests of the worker and employer,” said the WCB’s CEO Phillip Germain. “This could help us see the pressure on premium rates reverse in the next few years as we work together to reduce serious injuries, reduce fatalities and improve return-to-work outcomes.”

In 2025, 89 per cent of employers in Saskatchewan reported zero injuries and zero fatalities in their workplaces. While this reflects the success of ongoing prevention efforts, serious injuries continue to have a significant impact on the compensation system. Each year, serious injuries account for approximately 11 to 15 per cent of total claims but more than 80 per cent of claim costs.

Through WorkSafe Saskatchewan, the partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, efforts to reduce serious injuries and fatalities continue under the 2023-2028 Fatalities and Serious Injuries Strategy. The strategy focuses on supporting employers and workers in industries with the highest injury rates through targeted programs, training and collaboration aimed at making Saskatchewan workplaces safer.

“By working closely with workers, employers and health-care providers, the WCB can identify barriers to return to work and develop safe, sustainable return-to-work plans that help prevent work disability and improve outcomes for WCB customers,” said Germain. “Improving the compensation system requires ongoing collaboration among employers, workers, employer associations, safety associations, labour organizations and the health-care community as we work to reduce injuries, fatalities and work disability.”