Ontario Opposition Demands Auditor General Review of WSIB Regional Office Consolidations

TORONTO, ON — Lawmakers from the Ontario New Democratic Party officially petitioned the provincial Auditor General Wednesday evening, requesting an urgent value-for-money audit into the planned closure and consolidation of regional Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) service centres.

Administrative Consolidation and Worker Concerns

The formal complaint follows WSIB management directives announcing the closure of regional intake and claims adjudication offices in St. Catharines, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay as part of a modernization initiative shifting operations toward centralized digital platforms. Labor unions and injured worker advocates argue that closing physical intake centres will severely delay claim adjudications and restrict access to in-person medical appeals for vulnerable industrial workers.

Opposition critic Jennie Stevens stressed that the closures threaten local employment in regional hubs while cutting essential frontline support services for injured employees.

Government Position and Modernization Rationale

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development defended the agency's reorganization, asserting that modernizing digital claim processing will reduce average adjudication turnaround times by 22 percent and redirect administrative overhead into injured worker compensation funds.

Provincial officials emphasized that specialized mobile field teams will remain deployed across Northern and Southern Ontario to handle complex in-person workplace injury investigations.

Auditor Review and Legislative Petitions

The Office of the Auditor General of Ontario confirmed receipt of the audit petition and will determine within 30 days whether to include the WSIB operational review in its upcoming special reports docket.