Background

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development keeps a record of:

  • visits to workplaces by occupational health and safety inspectors
  • events that are reported to the ministry, including fatalities, critical injuries, complaints and work refusals.

We use this data and data from sources such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to help plan health and safety compliance campaigns and initiatives.

Mining program: summary

Table 1: Events in the mining program by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities122131
Critical injuries3267797410197
Complaints213194168214199185
Work refusals11610986
Occupational illness17120817224923695

Underground mines

This includes ramp or shaft (conveyance) access mines and a variety of mining methods such as bulk or narrow-vein mining.

Table 2: Events in underground mines sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities111001
Critical injuries153541404639
Complaints856958877784
Work refusals542544
Occupational illness69909217414149

Mining plants

Mining plants include mills, blast furnaces, smelters and refineries.

Table 3: Events in mining plants sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries71416183726
Complaints796562595150
Work refusals518442
Occupational illness969669668943

Open pit mines and quarries

This covers surface operations that typically involve large scale drilling, blasting, crushing, sizing and trucking.

Table 4: Events in open pit mines and quarries sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities001020
Critical injuries459131116
Complaints282827484127
Work refusals110000
Occupational illness3102310

Sand and gravel pits

These range from small open pits to large-scale operations with hundreds of pieces of mobile equipment. Typically, these operations do not involve blasting.

Table 5: Events in sand and gravel pits sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities000010
Critical injuries463338
Complaints14171012186
Work refusals000000
Occupational illness011000

Oil and natural gas

This sector is tied to both onshore and offshore locations. Offshore locations are governed by Regulation 855  – Oil and Gas.

Table 6: Events in oil and natural gas sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries000000
Complaints000044
Work refusals000000
Occupational illness000001

Diamond drilling

Mineral exploration sites include surface operations that typically involve diamond drilling and bulk sampling to determine ore reserve potential.

Table 7: Events in diamond drilling sector by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities010100
Critical injuries145012
Complaints236122
Work refusals000000
Occupational illness021010

Not elsewhere classified/mining

Table 8: Events occurring at workplace locations falling under the mining program that are not further classified into specific subsector type by fiscal year.

Table 8: Events in other sectors by fiscal year
Event2020-20212021-20222022-20232023-20242024-20252025-2026
Fatalities000000
Critical injuries125036
Complaints41226612
Work refusals000000
Occupational illness397642

Statistical notes

  • Only critical injury events reported to the ministry are included for each sector.
  • This represents data that was reported to the ministry and may not represent what actually occurred at the workplace.
  • Some events may not have been classified under a specific subsector at the time data was downloaded for this report.
  • The critical injury numbers represent critical injuries reported to the ministry and not necessarily critical injuries as defined by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
  • Non-workers who are critically injured may also be included in the ministry's data.
  • The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development tracks and reports fatalities at workplaces covered by the OHSA. This excludes deaths from natural causes, deaths of non-workers at a workplace, suicides, deaths as a result of a criminal act or traffic accident (unless the OHSA is also implicated) and deaths from occupational exposures that occurred many years ago.
  • Data subject to change because of inspectors' updates to the database.