April 2024

On March 13, 2024, Sunterra Horticulture (Canada) Inc. pleaded guilty in Yorkton Provincial Court to one violation of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020.

The company was fined for contravening clause 3-1 (a) of the regulations (being an employer at a place of employment, fail to provide and maintain plant, systems of work and working environments that ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of the employer’s workers, resulting in the serious injury of a worker). As a result, the Court imposed a fine of $50,000 with a surcharge of $20,000, for a total amount of $70,000.

One additional charge was withdrawn.

The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred on September 16, 2021, near Hyas, Sask., where a worker was seriously injured while attempting to dislodge a pallet and bale of peat moss.

The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), alongside their member RMs, emphasizes both highlights and concerns regarding rural communities across the province in this year’s provincial budget.

“Today’s budget includes many priorities that our members have been asking for, although not perfect, we feel items in this budget go a long way to support our RMs and the people who live in rural Saskatchewan,” said Ray Orb, SARM president.

SARM is pleased with the increase, recognizing that RMs are a key component in driving Saskatchewan’s economy.

“More funding is always welcome, RMs have a major responsibility to provide a level of service and infrastructure expected by the major sectors driving Saskatchewan’s economy,” said Orb.

The municipal revenue sharing model is unique to Saskatchewan and SARM is pleased with the increased dollars being invested by the province. This funding goes a long way to supporting RMs in the future.

Agriculture is the backbone of rural Saskatchewan and SARM is pleased with the record investment in the Ministry of Agriculture this year. Key asks from SARM, such as increased Business Risk Management program funding, increased investment in weather stations for data collection and the commitment to irrigation are all being addressed. SARM supports the direction the province is taking in these critical areas.

As stated in the lead up to SARM’s annual convention, SARM has been advocating for the launch of the water management infrastructure known as the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation Project. This project has been in the making for a long time and will positively impact RMs into the future, increasing crop diversity and farm profitability through irrigation.

SARM is appreciative of the province’s investment of $20 million and commends their commitment to this transformational project. 

“We appreciate the government’s recognition of the importance of this project,” said Orb. “Irrigation is a key component to economic growth in rural Saskatchewan and this project will go far in supporting that.”

The competition to attract and retain qualified medical professionals is particularly fierce. As the pressure on urban health care facilities increases, there is an equally dire need to support, maintain, and grow rural health care programs.

It will take a collaborative partnership with the government, along with health care partners, to create a wholesome, informed and triaged approach to ensure the people living in rural Saskatchewan receive the health service and care they deserve.

The funding towards rural recruitment and nurse practitioners is something that SARM members have been asking for. These steps in the budget are encouraging in the path towards proper rural health care.

Funding for rural road and bridge infrastructure is imperative for RMs to continue to provide key economic sectors with a strategic transportation network that is effective and well maintained.

While there is a modest increase in Rural Integrated Roads for Growth funding, the challenges and expenses of maintaining critical rural infrastructure continue to rise and there are concerns regarding the level of investment in vital services such as roads and infrastructure. With the current inflation and the vast inventory of rural infrastructure, RMs will require stronger support going forward. SARM will continue to ask for more funding to allow RMs to renew and maintain rural roads.

“While we recognize the challenges in balancing various priorities within budget constraints, we urge the government to ensure RMs have sufficient funding to maintain critical rural infrastructure across the province,” Orb said. 

Moreover, SARM emphasizes the need for continued collaboration between the provincial government and RMs to address ongoing issues such as agricultural sustainability, health care, rural policing and rural infrastructure investments.

The Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) released the 2023 provincial workplace injury statistics in mid-March. The total injury rate for 2023 was 3.95 per 100 workers, an almost nine per cent decrease from 2022. From 2009 to 2023, the WCB’s Total injury rate has decreased by 57.62 per cent. The 2023 Total injury rate is the lowest in the province’s recorded history. 

“Through the WorkSafe Saskatchewan partnership with the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, as a province, we are on the right track as we see our total and Time Loss injury rates continue to come down,” said Gord Dobrowolsky, chair of the WCB. “This is thanks to the combined efforts of workers, employers, our safety associations, safety leaders across the province and labour, including the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and the Saskatchewan Building Trades. But even one injury is too many, so there is still much to do to ensure that every worker in Saskatchewan is able to come home safely at the end of the day.” 

For the fourth year in a row, 90 per cent of Saskatchewan workplaces had zero fatalities and zero injuries last year. In addition to the total injury rate decrease in 2023, the Time Loss injury rate also dropped to 1.78 per 100 workers. This represents a decrease of 12.75 per cent from the 2022 rate of 2.04 per 100 workers. 

“An almost 13 per cent decrease in the Time Loss injury rate is certainly significant for 2023,” said WCB CEO Phillip Germain. “While we are moving in a positive direction, we all need to continue prioritizing workplace safety to drive our rates even lower.” 

Saskatchewan’s Time Loss injury rate is fourth among Canadian provinces. 

“We believe every workplace incident is preventable, and serious injuries represent approximately 11 to 14 per cent of our total claims,” said Germain. “Serious injuries account for more than 80 per cent of our claim costs in the province’s compensation system each year. We will not rest until Saskatchewan records no workplace fatalities and the lowest serious injury rate in Canada. We believe we are on the right track to get there.” 

Last year, WorkSafe Saskatchewan, a partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, launched the 2023-2028 Fatalities and Serious Injuries Strategy. Building on the success of the first strategy, this document lays out a new approach to fatalities and serious injuries in Saskatchewan’s workplaces. The strategy is a multi-year plan that uses customer feedback and engagement, as well as claim and injury data. It outlines two key streams of work from the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety to reduce serious injuries and fatalities – a regulatory and enforcement stream, and a prevention and learning stream. 

“The WorkSafe Saskatchewan partnership is committed to continuing to bring our injury and fatalities rates down and keeping all workers safe on the job,” said Germain. 

In 2023: 

• Total claims accepted decreased by 6.80 per cent to 16,143 from 17,321 in 2022. The total number of workers covered increased to 409,158 in 2023 from 400,392 the previous year. 
• Accepted No Time Loss claims decreased to 8,870 in 2023 from 9,156 in 2022. 
• Accepted Time Loss claims (excluding current-year fatalities) decreased to 7,256 from 8,148 in 2022. 

There were 29 workplace fatalities in 2023 compared to 39 in 2022. This is a decrease of 25.64 per cent. These deaths occurred in a variety of Saskatchewan industries. Of the 29 fatalities in 2023, 10 fatalities were due to occupational disease (five of which resulted from exposure to asbestos)), and nine fatalities were due to motor vehicle collisions. The remaining 10 fatalities resulted from medical complications due to workplace injuries, and from heart attacks and traumatic events. 

“Each of these fatalities represent spouses, children, families, workplaces and communities who have been tragically impacted by these losses,” said Dobrowolsky. “We need to remember the 29 workers in our province who lost their lives because of a work-related injury last year. To honour their memories, we all must intensify our efforts to make every workplace safe from injuries and fatalities.” 

Learn more about the strategy at worksafesask.ca/fatalities-and-serious-injuries.