The Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) is an

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

of the

Government of Manitoba The powers and structure of the provincial Government of Manitoba (french: Gouvernement du Manitoba) are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867. In modern Canadian use, the term "government" referred broadly to the cabinet of the day (formally ...

that provides a system for workplace injury and

disability insurance Disability Insurance, often called DI or disability income insurance, or income protection, is a form of insurance that insures the beneficiary's earned income against the risk that a disability creates a barrier for completion of core work func ...

for workers and employers of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, paid for by employers. Established in 1917 in accordance with ''The Workers Compensation Act'',''The Workers Compensation Act'', C.C.S.M. c. W200
– via ''Manitoba Laws''. which was passed the previous year, WCB's creation was the result of a compromise: injured workers gave up the right to sue employers in exchange for

no-fault insurance In its broadest sense, no-fault insurance is any type of insurance contract under which the insured party is indemnified by their own insurance company for losses, regardless of the source of the cause of loss. In this sense, it is no different ...

in the case of work-related injuries or illness, while employers agreed to pay for the system providing they would be protected from lawsuits. One of the problems that workers' compensation was created to solve, namely, the problem of employers becoming insolvent as a result of high damage awards. The system of collective liability was created to prevent that, and thus to ensure security of compensation to the workers. Individual immunity is the necessary corollary to collective liability. WCB is run by a board of directors that consists of 10 members appointed by the Manitoba government from nominations submitted by labour, employers and the public. The

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) is a non-voting member of the board of directors. , the current chairperson of the board of directors is Michael D. Werier, and the current president and CEO is Richard Deacon. As of 2019, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba has reported to Manitoba's Minister of Finance. WCB's organizational

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

is the Fair Practices Office. SAFE Work Manitoba, a division of the Workers Compensation Board, is a

public agency In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

focused on the prevention of workplace injury and illness.

''The Workers Compensation Act''

''The Workers Compensation Act'' was passed in 1916, establishing the Workers Compensation Board the following year. Assessments under the act are levied upon employers and gathered into a common fund out of which benefits are paid to workers who are injured as a result of their employment. Administration and adjudication are carried out by the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.

Minister responsible for ''The Workers Compensation Act''

Since 1981, the

Executive Council of Manitoba The Executive Council of Manitoba (french: Conseil exécutif du Manitoba), more commonly known as the Cabinet of Manitoba, is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Manitoba. As of 2022, the current cabinet are members of the Progressive Conserv ...

has included a Minister responsible for ''The Workers Compensation Act''; however the specific ministerial designation has changed several times over the years, and the current position is not a full cabinet portfolio but rather is held by a minister with other cabinet responsibilities. For instance, most ministers responsible for the ''Workers Compensation Act'' have also been Ministers of Labour, though not necessarily. As of 2019, the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba has reported to Manitoba's Minister of Finance. The position was first held by

Jay Cowan Jay Marine Cowan (July 31, 1946 – January 23, 2022) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1990, and a cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley from 1981 to 1988 ...

, who, in addition to overseeing other portfolios in cabinet, was designated as Minister responsible for the Workers Compensation Act and Minister responsible for ''The Workplace Safety and Health Act''. In 1983, both positions were incorporated into the new cabinet portfolio of Workplace Safety and Health, the first minister for which was Gerard Lecuyer, who was also Minister of Environment. In 1991, the Workplace Safety and Health portfolio was eliminated.

List of Ministers

{, class="wikitable" !Name !Party !Title(s) !Took Office !Left Office !Concurrent roles , - ,

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NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

, * Minister responsible for administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' * Minister responsible for administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , November 30, 1981 , November 4, 1983 , *

Minister of Northern Affairs The minister of northern affairs (french: ministre des Affaires du Nord) is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The position has been held by Dan Vandal since 20 November 2019. In 1953, the role of Minister of Northern Affairs and N ...

* Minister responsible for Environmental Management; administration of Clean Environment Act, The Communities Economic Development Fund Act , - , Gerard Lecuyer , Minister of Environment and Workplace and Health , November 4, 1983 , May 9, 1988 , , - ,

Harry Harapiak Harry Myrislaw Harapiak (September 17, 1938 - November 14, 2000) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party govern ...

, Minister of Government Services & Workers Compensation Board , February 4, 1987 , May 9, 1988 , , - ,

Edward Connery Edward James Connery (born July 13, 1933 in St. Vital, Winnipeg, St. Vital, Manitoba (now Winnipeg, Manitoba), died June 14, 2019) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 1992, an ...

, rowspan="5" , PC , * Minister of Environment, Workplace Safety and Health * Minister responsible for ''Workers Compensation Act'' , May 9, 1988 , February 5, 1991 , *

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

* Minister responsible for Civil Service Act, Civil Service Superannuation Act and Public Servants Insurance Act , - ,

Darren Praznik Darren Thomas Praznik (born May 9, 1961) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Gary Filmon, and considered running for the party's leadership in 2000. Praznik was born in S ...

, Minister responsible for ''Workers Compensation Act'' , February 5, 1991 , May 9, 1995 , * Minister of Labour (1990-1995) * Minister responsible for Civil Service Act, Civil Service Superannuation Act, Civil Service Special Supplementary Severance Benefit Act, Public Servants Insurance Act (1990–1995) * Minister responsible for French Language Services (1991-1995) , - ,

Vic Toews Victor Toews (; born September 10, 1952) is a Paraguayan-Canadian politician and jurist. Toews is a judge of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba. He represented Provencher in the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 until his resignation on Ju ...

, Minister responsible for the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , May 9, 1995 , January 6, 1997 , * Minister of Labour * Minister responsible for Civil Service Act, Civil Service Superannuation Act, Civil Service Special Superannuation Service Benefit Act, and Public Servants Insurance Act , - ,

Harold Gilleshammer Harold Gilleshammer (born April 8, 1942) is a Canadian judge and former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Manitoba legislature from 1988 to 2003, and a Cabinet Minister in the government of Progressive Conservative Premier G ...

, Minister charged with the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , January 6, 1997 , February 5, 1999 , * Minister of Labour * Minister charged with the administration of the Civil Service Act, The Civil Service Superannuation Act, The Civil Service Special Supplementary Severance Benefit Act (1983), The Public Servants Insurance Act , - ,

Mike Radcliffe Michael Frederick Carrington Radcliffe (born December 16, 1944) is a lawyer and former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1995 to 1999, and was a cabinet minister in the government ...

, Minister responsible for the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , February 5, 1999 , October 5, 1999 , * Minister of Labour * Minister charged with the administration of the Civil Service Act, The Civil Service Superannuation Act, The Civil Service Special Supplementary Severance Benefit Act (1983), The Public Servants Insurance Act , - ,

Becky Barrett Becky Barrett (born May 1, 1942) is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1990 to 2003, and was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party (NDP) government of Gary Doer from 1 ...

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, Minister responsible for the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , October 5, 1999 , June 25, 2003 , * Minister of Labour * Minister responsible for the administration of The Civil Service Act, The Civil Service Superannuation Act, The Civil Service Special Supplementary Severance Benefits Act (1983), The Public Servants Insurance Act , - ,

Steve Ashton ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

, Minister charged with the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , June 25, 2003 , November 4, 2003 , * Minister of Labour and Immigration * Minister responsible for Multiculturalism , - ,

Nancy Allan Nancy Allan (born July 25, 1952, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments of premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. Allan was raised in MacGregor, Manitoba, an ...

, Minister charged with the administration of ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , November 4, 2003 , November 3, 2009 , * Minister of Labour and Immigration * Minister responsible for Multiculturalism * Minister responsible for the Status of Women , - , rowspan="2" , Jennifer Howard , rowspan="2" , Minister responsible for ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , November 3, 2009 , January 13, 2012 , * Minister of Labour and Immigration * Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities * Minister responsible for the Status of Women , - , January 13, 2012 , October 18, 2013 , * Minister of Family Services and Labour * Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities * Minister responsible for the Status of Women * Government

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

, - ,

Erna Braun Erna Braun is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislatu ...

, Minister responsible for ''The Workers Compensation Act'' , October 18, 2013 , May 3, 2016 , * Minister of Labour and Immigration , - ,

Cliff Cullen Clifford James Cullen (born November 8, 1962) is a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Spruce Woods, currently serving as the Deputy Premier of Manitoba and Minister of Economic Development, Investment and T ...

, rowspan="4" , PC , rowspan="4" , N/A , May 3, 2016 , August 17, 2017 , * Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade , - ,

Blaine Pedersen Blaine Pedersen is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2007 provincial election for the electoral division of Carman. Pederson is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. Pede ...

{{Cite web, url=https://www.wcb.mb.ca/annual-report-2017, title = Annual Report 2017 | Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba , August 17, 2017 , October 23, 2019 , * Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade , - ,

Scott Fielding Scott Bradley Fielding is a former Canadian politician. A city councillor in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from 2006 to 2014, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2016 provincial election. On September 10, 2019, Scott was ...

, August 1, 2018 , January 18, 2022 , *

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, - ,

Cameron Friesen Cameron Scott Friesen, MLA is a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Morden-Winkler, currently serving as the Manitoba Minister of Finance. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, he wa ...

, January 18, 2022 , ''incumbent'' , *Minister of Finance

References

External links

Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba
Manitoba government departments and agencies Workers' compensation