1. Find out what to do if you miss the 6-month deadline
Question & Answer
How and when must I report a workplace injury or illness?If you missed the 6-month deadline, you should still your claim with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). Explain why you did not file it earlier.
If you missed the deadline or the WSIB will not let you file your claim because it's late, get legal help right away.
Extending the deadline
The WSIB can extend the deadline for filing your claim if:
- a law changed and now you might be able to get a benefit that you could not get in the past
- you made a claim for benefits in another province by mistake
The WSIB can also extend the deadline if:
- your employer did not file an Employer's Report of Injury/Disease (Form 7), and
- you did not report your injury or illness because you did not feel safe doing that. For example, your boss asked you not to tell the WSIB. Or your employer did not say it directly, but you have a strong feeling that they do not want people reporting to the WSIB.
As well, the WSIB can extend the deadline if you're not physically or mentally able to:
- fill out the Worker's Report of Injury/Disease (Form 6), and
- give the health professionals who treat you permission to report on your abilities to your employer and the WSIB.
Extending the deadline for “exceptional circumstances”
The WSIB can also extend the deadline for filing if something exceptional happens in your life, for example:
- you or a close family member have an accident or serious health problems
- you had to leave the province because a family member was sick or died
- you did not understand that there were deadlines or what would happen if you did not meet them
- you told your employer, a health-care professional, or a co-worker about your accident, but did not know that you also had to report it to the WSIB
The WSIB's Appeals Services Division has more information about extending deadlines. See page 7 of their booklet Practices and Procedures.
Giving the WSIB a good reason
The reasons listed above are just examples of when the WSIB might extend the deadline.
The WSIB can consider other reasons. But, you need to give them a good reason why you did not file your claim on time.
