Former Simcoe migrant farm worker relieved at WSIB's revamped compensation for injured workers

Capleton Tomlinson's life hasn't been the same since 2015 when he suffered a significant injury while working as a boat driver at a farm in Simcoe, Ont.

The injury left the migrant worker from Jamaica unable to work and have to return home, and the lack of appropriate compensation from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has forced Tomlinson and his family into poverty, he told CBC News. 

Tomlinson hopes he's one of the migrant workers eligible for retroactive compensation from WSIB, after the board announced Wednesday that it will change how it compensates foreign agriculture workers injured on the job who can't go back to their role.

"There's days where we have to go to bed without having a proper meal. It's embarrassing to say but that's our reality. There are times when bills come up that I can't pay for. It's stressful, but that's the reality of getting injured in Canada, it's a disaster," said Tomlinson from his home in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica.

"It's been a struggle for us. Being injured is like a disease and when the disease comes with poor treatment from the people responsible, it makes our life tormented, so I'm happy to know there are changes."

WSIB said it's reviewing 50 claims dating back to 2007 and will likely pay out millions in retroactive compensation. Currently, workers are paid 85 per cent of their salary if they're hurt on the job and unable to return for 12 weeks, but WSIB takes back money earned from other jobs. 

WSIB's president Jeff Lang acknowledged the practice is unfair because workers usually earn less in their home countries than they would in the same job in Ontario. He apologized to workers and promised change. 

"These are some of the most vulnerable people working in Ontario today and we owe it to them if they get hurt on the job. These are people who come to work our farms, grow our food, and contribute to our economy. If they get hurt while they do it, our responsibility does not end when they return to their home country," said Lang in a statement.  

"I can't say to an injured farm worker who was sent back to Jamaica that we are deducting the equivalent of an Ontario salary that is impossible for them to get. It's not fair. I know that's what was happening and I'm sorry it did. We're fixing it." 

In September, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal ruled that WSIB was wrong to assume seasonal migrant workers were eligible for a maximum of 12 weeks of income-loss compensation, and didn't consider workers'