CIWA’s vision is to help injured and ill workers live their best lives.                                                         

Our Mission is to:

• Raise awareness, conduct and participate in research, provide and develop knowledge and  education toward justice and solutions for issues of concern to injured workers, their families and survivors of workplace fatalities.
• Work with organizations that strive to improve the occupational health and safety of workers in prevention and safe return to work in Canada.
• Help develop and support capacity of injured workers groups and organizations to achieve common goals of dignity, justice and accessibility.
• Forefront the lived experiences of injured and ill workers.

Local, Provincial, and Territorial Groups

CIWA continues to follow its mandate to work with injured workers and injured workers groups to form provincial and territorial organizations in all provinces and territories in Canada.

We know that many of the injured workers workers groups that were active 30 to 40 years ago no longer exist but  the need for organized groups is evident when you realize the number of injured and ill workers across Canada who are alone and without the support found within injured workers groups.  CIWA would like to assist with building these local groups within the provinces and territories and then to form one organization to represent injured workers, lobby governments and undertake activities on behalf of all injured workers in their province or territory. Strength in unity is the only way the voices of injured workers will be heard by government officials. Strength in unity is also the only way we will make changes to workers compensation systems that keep thousands of injured workers in poverty.

Workers compensation systems in all jurisdictions in Canada are broken; injured workers must join forces and forge partnerships to make changes. Injured workers united must work with community organizations, labour partners and allies who not only see injustice, but are prepared to stand with them in the fight for change.

Local injured workers groups should not think that by forming a provincial or territorial organization, they will lose their autonomy – in fact the opposite is true. Forming a provincial body not only allows local injured workers groups to retain their autonomy, but it increases their ability to show local injured workers that their voices will be heard across the province or territory.

More than one million workplace injuries occur every year in Canada, and more than one thousand workers die because of workplace causes.

Being Part of CIWA

Each Provincial Injured Workers Group can select their own representative(s) to be appointed to the CIWA Governing Body and CIWA Board of Directors. Being part of CIWA means that the fight for respect and dignity for injured workers takes on a National perspective, as the issues in each province and territory are tragically similar.

CIWA will assist in the formation of Provincial and Territorial Injured Workers Organizations by providing resources and assistance in coordinating provincial meetings of Local Inured Workers Groups.

YOUR INJURY ISN’T ENOUGH…HOW STIGMA HURTS INJURED WORKERS

Stigma is a major challenge for injured and ill workers and the effects of it are felt in most aspects of their lives. CIWA is currently engaged in a stigma research project through a partnership development grant with Lakehead University, Thunder Bay through SSHRC.

Combined research and the stigma document, “The facts about injured worker stigma”, will be used for both public and specific education to raise awareness of the negative effects of stigma and the harm that it causes to injured and ill workers.  Watch for updates late spring.

A previous project with the WSIB and RAACWI produced a stigma document.     The facts about injured worker stigma