Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
WSIB bookkeeping comes down to two jobs. You report your payroll and pay premiums on schedule, and you report a workplace injury within three business days of learning you have to. Miss that injury window and WSIB charges $250, or $1,000 once it’s more than 30 days late. Everything else you record is there to make those two jobs easy to prove.
What does WSIB actually ask you to report?
Payroll first. WSIB wants your insurable earnings, which is the pay you gave employees before tax and other deductions come off. Here’s the part that trips up new employers. You report even when payroll is zero, and even when your account shows a credit. Skip it and you’re charged a fee for a late report, then more for late payment. Premiums, plus any balance, interest and penalties, need to be paid in full to avoid extra charges.
How often you report depends on your payroll size. We couldn’t confirm the exact cut-offs on the page we read, so look at your own WSIB account for your schedule.
Then there are injuries. You must report if a worker needs health care and also misses work, earns less than regular pay, does modified work at less than regular pay, or does modified work at regular pay for more than seven calendar days. First aid alone doesn’t trigger a report.
Which injury and reporting numbers should you track?
| Item | WSIB rule |
|---|---|
| Deadline for a complete report | 3 business days after you learn of the duty |
| Modified work at regular pay | Report if it lasts more than 7 calendar days |
| Late report, up to 30 days | $250 penalty |
| Late report, over 30 days | $1,000 penalty |
| Incomplete report, wrong form, no copy to worker | Further $250 penalties can apply |
| Form to use | Form 7, an approved alternative or an approved electronic system |
Business days skip weekends and statutory holidays. A report also has to be authorized by someone who speaks for the employer, so decide in advance who that is.
What should your books hold for a claim?
WSIB doesn’t hand out a checklist of accounts, and we didn’t find one. So think about what you’d need to answer any question fast. Keep the date and place of the incident, the worker’s name and role, what happened, when you first heard about it, and the date you sent the report. Keep the copy you gave the worker, since failing to give one can cost another $250. Note any change to the worker’s pay or duties afterwards, because that decides whether the modified work rules apply.
A simple log with one row per incident does the job. Add a column for the deadline, three business days out, so nobody has to count on a calendar. Even a near miss deserves a line, because patterns show up there first.
How does payroll bookkeeping fit around WSIB?
WSIB premiums sit beside your CRA payroll duties, not inside them. Your payroll records feed both. Take one employee in Ontario paid $2,000 every two weeks. The payroll remittance calculator shows $555.05 to send the CRA each period: $398.41 held back from pay and $156.63 as your own share of CPP and EI. The full cost of that employee is $2,156.63 per period, and that figure leaves out workers compensation premiums.
To see what the employee takes home, use the take-home pay calculator. The payroll deductions calculator breaks down each line. If you also pay yourself through a corporation, the corporate tax calculator covers the other side.
Common mistakes with WSIB records
Forgetting a nil report is the classic. Next comes counting calendar days when the rule uses business days. A third is keeping injury notes in a manager’s inbox, where the payroll person never sees them.
How long should you keep it all? The CRA says six years from the end of the last tax year for tax records. We couldn’t find a WSIB retention period for employers on its public pages, so we won’t invent one. Ask WSIB directly, and keep the CRA’s six years as your floor.
Where the numbers come from
Reporting rules and penalties come from WSIB’s operational policy on employers’ initial accident reporting and its payroll reporting page, read on 30 September 2026. Record keeping comes from the CRA. The payroll example uses our 2026 data. We have no connection with WSIB or any government body, and rules can change, so check your account before you rely on a date.
Frequently asked questions
How fast must I report a workplace injury to WSIB?
WSIB must receive a complete report within three business days after you learn you have a duty to report. Business days exclude weekends and statutory holidays.
Do I report payroll if it's zero?
Yes. WSIB says you must report even if payroll is zero or your account has a credit.
What if an injury needs only first aid?
No report is required for first aid alone, or first aid plus modified work at regular pay for seven calendar days or less.
What are the late reporting penalties?
$250 for a late injury report and $1,000 once it's more than 30 days late. Extra $250 penalties can apply for incomplete reports.
How long do I keep WSIB records?
We couldn't find an employer retention period on WSIB's public pages. Keep tax records for the CRA's six years and ask WSIB about the rest.
- Self-employed taxes in Canada: income, CPP and GST
How tax works when you are self-employed in Canada: reporting income and expenses, paying both halves of CPP, instalments and when to register for GST
- Ontario income tax and sales tax in 2026
How Ontario income tax works in 2026: the five brackets, the surtax and health premium, the 13% HST, and the calculators that switch to Ontario
Information only. This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Tax-Services.ca is an independent publisher: we don't prepare or file tax returns or offer tax services, and we have no connection with the CRA, Revenu Québec, any government or any company named on this page. Check the figures that matter with an official source or a qualified professional.