Employer Costs

WSIB premiums

The WSIB maintains an insurance fund that is made up of annual premiums paid by employers. An employer’s premium payments are based on the WSIB’s classification of the employer’s business activity (which determines the premium rate) and the employer’s total insurable payroll. The annual premium paid by an employer is equal to its annual insurable earnings (payroll costs), multiplied by the premium rate, and divided by 100.

Premium = Annual Insurable Earnings x Premium Rate
100

Each fall, the WSIB sets the premium rate for each rate group, and announces the maximum insurable amount of workers’ earnings, for the following calendar year. Employers pay premiums only up to the insurable amount. The maximum insurable earnings ceiling for an individual worker in 2011 is $79,600.It will be $81,700 in 2012.