FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 August 2026
QUEEN’S PARK, ON — Today, John Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, issued the following statement in response to the loss of hundreds of WSIB jobs in Northern Ontario:
This week, 238 WSIB workers in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Timmins learned their jobs are being cut. WSIB offices across Northern Ontario are closing, and any remaining jobs are moving south.
These jobs aren’t being taken away by Donald Trump. They’re being taken away by Doug Ford.
Communities across the North have already been hit by tariffs, plant closures and layoffs, while unemployment is near historic highs. These are good, stable jobs that support families, local businesses and regional economies.
Northern Ontario is different. Workers can live hundreds of kilometres from services, healthcare is harder to access, and industries like mining and forestry have unique workplace challenges. WSIB needs people in the North who understand those realities.
Instead, an organization already struggling to serve injured workers is losing experienced staff. That will mean more pressure, more delays and more difficulty getting the income support, treatment and help returning to work that injured workers rely on.
How is any of this protecting workers? Ontario Liberals have always understood government’s role in building the Northern economy. David Peterson’s government deliberately moved provincial jobs north to create jobs and opportunity.
Northern Ontario should be at the centre of Ontario’s economic future. We should be fighting to keep good jobs in the North and finding reasons to bring more of them there.
Doug Ford can reverse these cuts and keep these jobs in Northern Ontario. He should do it today.