A National Scan of Employment Standards, Occupational Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation Resources for New Immigrants to Canada (Mixed Research) (Report‪)‬

The burden of work injuries in Canada is a serious public health concern. Nearly one million Canadian workers experienced nonfatal injuries that led to time off work in 2005. (1) Rates of injury are not, however, evenly distributed among population groups. Certain groups of workers--for example, new employees (2) and recent immigrants (3)--are more likely to experience a work-related injury. Data from the 2006 Canadian Census reports that one in five Canadian workers is an immigrant. (4) However, little is known about the sort of preparation that newcomers receive as they enter the Canadian labour market. Are there resources aimed at newcomers that speak to their rights at work, injury prevention and safety at work? Are there materials available for newcomers to inform them of what to do in the event of an injury or how to successfully return to work if injured on the job? Are these translated and if so into what languages? Are resources centred mainly in jurisdictions such as British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario that have historically been common destinations for new immigrants?