REGINA, Sask. – The Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board has announced that the 2027 preliminary average employer premium rate will remain unchanged from the 2026 rate at $1.22 per hundred dollars of assessable payroll.
This leads to the start of a 30-day consultation process period for Saskatchewan WCB customers to provide feedback on the proposed rate.
The announcement was made at the WCB’s public preliminary rate information meeting with Saskatchewan employers, workers and partners.
“Each year, we use our rate model to calculate the rates for the following year. For 2027, we are forecasting that increasing claim costs will be offset by rising employer payroll and strong financial investment returns,” said the WCB’s chair Gord Dobrowolsky.
The WCB’s sufficiency policy provides guidelines for maintaining a fully funded status and sets an injury fund target range of between 100 and 140 per cent. The WCB remains within this target range, according to a press release.
“As board members, we have a legislative responsibility to ensure the long-term viability of our compensation system. This responsibility also requires us to act as effective and prudent financial stewards on behalf of the employers who fund the system,” said Dobrowolsky. “Our goal is to maintain a balance between stable rates that support fairness, transparency, collective liability and predictability, while ensuring a fully funded compensation system.”
The WCB holds this public consultation meeting to announce the following year’s preliminary average premium rate and to provide an overview of the rate setting process, the board states. This includes reviewing the experience rating program and the key factors that influence premium rates. The WCB then provides a 30-day public consultation period for employers to offer feedback on the preliminary premium rates.
Workers’ compensation is a no-fault insurance system based on collective liability, where all employers share responsibility for workplace injury insurance. Employers are grouped together to form an industry rate code. Premium rates are set for each rate code based on the collective claims experience of employers within each industry rate code. All employers within an industry rate code start with the same industry premium rate. The experience rating program allows employers to influence their premium rates either up or down depending on their performance.
With the 2027 preliminary rate proposal:
- The WCB remains within the sufficiency policy target range of between 100 and 140 per cent.
- The overall 2027 proposed average preliminary premium rate remains at $1.22 per hundred dollars of payroll.
- Industry premium rates for approximately 44 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in 20 rate codes covered by the WCB will see a decrease for 2027.
- Industry premium rates for approximately 39 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in 25 rate codes covered by the WCB will see an increase for 2027.
- Industry premium rates for approximately 17 per cent of Saskatchewan’s employers in eight rate codes covered by the WCB will see no change to their 2027 preliminary industry premium rate.
- The premium rate of $1.22 includes a discount of $0.06, which saves employers more than $19 million in premiums.
In 2025, 89 per cent of employers in Saskatchewan reported zero injuries and zero fatalities in their workplaces. While this reflects the success of ongoing prevention efforts, serious injuries continue to have a significant impact on the compensation system, says the WCB. Each year, serious injuries account for approximately 11 to 15 per cent of total claims but more than 80 per cent of claim costs.
Through WorkSafe Saskatchewan, the partnership between the WCB and the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, efforts to reduce serious injuries and fatalities continue under the 2023-2028 Fatalities and Serious Injuries Strategy. The strategy focuses on supporting employers and workers in industries with the highest injury rates through targeted programs, training and collaboration aimed at making Saskatchewan workplaces safer, according to the WCB.
