Ontario: use your own WSIB rate when preparing construction costs for 2027

What was announced on 22 October?

The provincial announcement puts the average premium at CAD 1.18 per CAD 100 of insurable payroll from 1 January 2027, compared with CAD 1.23 in 2026. It says more than 80 per cent of premium-paying businesses will receive a reduction. Individual 2027 rate statements are expected through WSIB online services from November. This is an announcement about the coming year, not a reason to alter a 2026 reporting period.

Do not promise a customer a saving calculated from that average. Your team, business activity and applicable account rate may produce a different result. Place a review task in the budget calendar, assign it to the person responsible for payroll and retain the statement used when the costing file is updated.

Government of Ontario — WSIB 2027 average premium announcement, 22 October 2026

The average is not the rate on your account

WSIB explains that an individual rate reflects the risk of businesses in the relevant class and the business’s own claims history compared with that class. That makes a published provincial average useful context, but not a quotation input for a particular contractor. Check the actual rate and relevant classification before approving an estimate.

A roofing business and a business installing interior partitions may have different work patterns and classifications. Even two firms describing themselves with the same everyday trade name should not exchange rates as though they were universal. Use the actual account information and obtain clarification from WSIB when a business activity or classification is uncertain.

WSIB — premiums and payment

Use the earnings base as carefully as the rate

The basic premium calculation is insurable earnings multiplied by the applicable rate, divided by 100. WSIB requires separate calculations where more than one NAICS code applies. Construction has specific earnings rules, including circumstances involving independent operators, proprietors, partners, executive officers and contractors treated as workers. The customer’s total invoice is not automatically the right earnings base.

Before adjusting the costing model, identify where its payroll assumptions came from. Reconcile the time estimate with the people expected to do the work and the earnings included in the business’s calculation. Keep materials, hired equipment, transport and labour identifiable in the commercial records. This helps the responsible person review the cost base without treating every invoice component as wages.

WSIB — calculating premiums and insurable earnings

WSIB — Insurable Earnings, Construction

A fictional calculation to test the spreadsheet

Suppose a purely illustrative budget uses CAD 80,000 of insurable earnings and an assumed individual rate of CAD 2.50 per CAD 100. The calculation is 80,000 × 2.50 ÷ 100 = CAD 2,000. If an independently confirmed replacement assumption were CAD 2.40, the same earnings would produce CAD 1,920. The CAD 80 difference is an example of arithmetic, not a published construction rate or a forecast for your firm.

A useful sensitivity check changes one input at a time. First hold earnings constant to see the effect of the rate. Then update the planned workload to see whether more labour offsets any rate reduction. Keep the old and new versions so that you can explain why the budget changed. Do not enter the illustrative figures from this article into your actual WSIB account.

WSIB — calculating premiums and insurable earnings

Update future quotations with evidence

For work planned in 2027, record whether the labour-cost estimate still uses a provisional rate or a confirmed statement. Revisit the assumption once the document is available. A quotation already accepted by a customer does not automatically acquire a new price because one internal cost changes; manage any variation through the agreed commercial process.

For example, a fictional contractor is preparing several renovation offers before the new rate statement arrives. It can keep its current documented costing method, mark the pending review internally and avoid advertising a guaranteed reduction. Once the actual information is received, it can update the model used for future offers and preserve the basis of earlier accepted work.

Keep coverage, clearance and pricing questions separate

The announcement of a lower average premium does not establish an exemption from coverage, a clearance for a subcontractor or the correct treatment of every person on a site. Construction-specific cases should be checked against WSIB guidance and the business’s own circumstances. Do not treat a new budget percentage as evidence that those separate obligations have been satisfied.

Prepare a small evidence pack for the person reviewing the budget: current rate statement, proposed staffing, relevant activity codes, earnings calculations and unresolved questions. Store personal payroll information securely. The customer normally needs an understandable price and scope, not the workers’ personal earnings records.

WSIB — Insurable Earnings, Construction

WSIB — online services for businesses

Make the customer document easier to review

A clear quotation identifies the work, quantities, exclusions and conditions. Your internal cost calculation supports that price but does not need to become a confusing line-by-line tax explanation for the customer. Keep a traceable link between the accepted scope and the cost model used at the time.

Vocalys can help you dictate the work and prepare quotation and invoice lines. Check the documents before sending and keep payroll, insurance and reporting decisions with the responsible people. Want to spend less time rewriting job descriptions and administrative documents? Discover Vocalys at vocalys.pro.

Reusable job sheet

• Confirm the business is in Ontario
• Retrieve the individual 2027 rate statement when available
• Use the correct year and activity classification
• Verify insurable earnings for construction
• Test the calculation separately from the selling price
• Keep the basis of accepted quotations
• Review coverage and clearance questions separately

Budget year: […]
WSIB statement and individual rate: […]
Activity classification: […]
Insurable earnings assumption: […]
Calculation and reviewer: […]
Quotations affected: […]
Unresolved question: […]

Prepare the review now, then use the business’s own confirmed figures. A lower provincial average is useful news; it is not a universal discount on construction labour.