Modernizing Workers' Compensation and Benefits

Summary#

• This bill updates Nova Scotia’s Workers’ Compensation Act to broaden who is covered, modernize benefits, and give the Workers’ Compensation Board (the Board) more flexibility to set rules by regulation.

• It also changes timelines for claims, appeals, and reviews, adjusts how benefits are indexed to inflation starting in 2027, and clarifies who can get survivor and death benefits.

• Most changes take effect January 1, 2026. Some firefighter-related changes apply retroactively.

• Key changes:

  • Recognizes common-law partners as spouses for benefits (living together in a marriage‑like relationship for at least one year).
  • Adds transportation costs to medical aid.
  • Expands firefighter coverage, including forest fire scenes and a special window to claim certain cancers or diseases by January 1, 2027, for some provincial firefighters.
  • Sets annual benefit indexing from 2027 to the consumer price index (CPI), capped at 3% per year (or another rate set by regulation).
  • Lets the Board share limited medical information with employers when needed to assess a worker’s fitness to return to work, with notice to the worker.
  • Allows the Board to publish details of administrative penalties, which may include personal information.
  • Simplifies and updates survivor, death, and annuity payments, including allowing a worker to name a beneficiary if there is no spouse or dependant.
  • Expands the use of regulations to set amounts and timelines, and shortens the window for the Board to revisit a decision from five years to two years.

What it means for you#

• Workers

  • Your common-law partner (after one year of living together) is treated as a spouse for benefits.
  • Travel for medical treatment can be covered as part of medical aid.
  • From 2027, long-term benefits adjust each January with inflation (CPI), up to 3% per year unless regulations change the cap.
  • The Board can review and change a benefit “at any time,” which could speed corrections but may also create uncertainty.
  • The Board can share some medical details with your employer if it is reasonably needed to decide if you are fit to return to work. The Board must tell you if it does this.
  • If someone else was at fault and the Board recovers money from them, the Board can take an administrative fee from that recovery and pay the rest to you or your family.

• Firefighters (including volunteers)

  • The definition of “firefighter” is broadened to include those employed by municipalities, the federal Department of National Defence, the provincial Department of Natural Resources, and the Office of the Fire Marshal. Volunteer firefighters are included.
  • Coverage explicitly includes forest fire scenes.
  • Firefighters employed by the Department of Natural Resources or the Office of the Fire Marshal may file claims for certain cancers or other listed diseases by January 1, 2027, even if usual time limits would bar them, if they gave notice as soon as practical.
  • Some firefighter provisions apply retroactively to late 2019 and 2020.

• Families of deceased workers

  • Death benefits can be paid to a spouse and dependants, or to a person the worker named if there is no spouse or dependant, or to the estate if no one is named.
  • A dependent spouse may receive a survivor pension.
  • Dependent children receive a monthly benefit.
  • Annuity balances after death follow the same order: spouse/dependants, then a named person, then the estate.

• Employers

  • You may receive limited medical information about a worker if the Board decides it is needed to assess fitness to return to work; the Board will inform the worker.
  • Details of administrative penalties can be published and may include your business or personal information.
  • More timelines and amounts will be set by regulation, which may change processes such as claims, re‑employment, or appeals over time.
  • The time to seek court review of a tribunal decision increases from 30 to 90 days.
  • The Appeals Tribunal must usually issue decisions within 60 days after a hearing or after receiving all submissions, unless regulations allow more time.

• Appeals and timelines

  • Many fixed timelines in law (for notices, claims, payments, and appeals) can now be changed by regulation.
  • The Board’s power to reconsider its own decisions is reduced from five years to two years.
  • Several decision and payment rules are updated so the Board can decide payment methods (not only periodic instalments).

• When changes start

  • Most changes apply on and after January 1, 2026.
  • Certain firefighter-related changes apply retroactively to late 2019/2020, and the special cancer/disease claim window runs until January 1, 2027.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

• Updates family definitions so modern households, including common‑law partners, are treated fairly for survivor and death benefits.
• Improves support for firefighters by expanding who qualifies and opening a time‑limited window to file cancer and disease claims.
• Indexes benefits to inflation (with a cap) so long-term payments hold their value over time.
• Lets the Board adapt amounts and timelines by regulation, so it can respond faster to changing needs without waiting for new laws.
• Adding transportation costs to medical aid removes a common out‑of‑pocket barrier to care.
• Clear appeal timelines and a longer window to seek court review make the system more timely and accessible.
• Publishing penalties deters non‑compliance and supports transparency and safety.

Opponents' View#

• Allowing the Board to share medical information with employers raises privacy concerns, even with notice to the worker.
• Letting many key amounts and timelines be set by regulation reduces legislative oversight and may create uncertainty for workers and employers.
• Cutting the Board’s reconsideration window from five years to two years could make it harder to fix errors discovered later.
• The new inflation cap of 3% may not keep up in years of higher inflation, reducing the real value of benefits.
• The Board’s ability to review and change benefits “at any time” could make injured workers feel their payments are less secure.
• Publishing penalty details that include personal information could unfairly harm reputations, especially if penalties are later reduced or overturned.