WSIB Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy for a workplace injury, funded by WSIB

If you were hurt at work in Ontario, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board pays for the treatment you need to recover and get back to your job. You do not pay for approved treatment, you do not need to wait for your claim to be finalised before you are assessed, and the sooner you start the better the outcome tends to be. All twelve of our clinics treat WSIB claims and bill WSIB directly.

This page explains how a WSIB claim funds treatment, what the eight-week program of care involves, who does what, and what to bring. If you would rather talk it through, call the clinic nearest you and say it was a work injury.

Who this is for

Workplace injuries come from three directions. The first is a single event: a fall from a ladder, a lift that went wrong, a slip on a wet floor, a hand caught in a machine. The second is repetition: the shoulder that gives out after months of overhead work, the wrist that aches from the same motion a thousand times a shift, the back that finally objects to the fortieth patient transfer. The third is the office: neck and back pain from long hours at a desk, which counts as a work injury when the job caused it.

The injuries WSIB sees most, and the ones its main treatment program is built for, are sprains and strains of the low back, neck and mid back, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand, hip, knee and ankle, plus fractures that do not need surgery. If your injury needed surgery, or involves a head injury, a serious burn or a mental health condition, WSIB has separate specialty programs and we will tell you if that applies.

How a WSIB claim funds your treatment

Three things have to happen for WSIB to pay for treatment, and they can happen in parallel.

• You report the injury to your employer as soon as it happens, even if it seems minor. Your employer must report it to WSIB within three days if you needed health care or missed time or pay.
• You file your own report with WSIB (the Worker’s Report of Injury, Form 6). You can do it online, and it is your account of what happened.
• The first health professional you see reports the injury to WSIB (the Health Professional’s Report, Form 8). If you come to us first, we complete and submit it after your assessment. If you saw a doctor or went to hospital first, they will have done this and we pick up from there.

Once WSIB has these it assigns a claim number and, usually, a case manager. Bring the claim number to us as soon as you have it. Treatment for a single area of injury can start while the claim is still pending, so do not wait for the decision to book.

The musculoskeletal program of care

For sprains, strains and non-surgical fractures, WSIB funds treatment through its musculoskeletal program of care. It is the mandatory first line of treatment for these injuries, it is delivered by regulated health professionals who are registered with WSIB at the clinic where they treat you, and it works like this:

• Eligibility: a pending or allowed claim for a single area of injury, or an allowed claim for more than one area, and treatment starting within eight weeks of the injury. You can be at work or off work. The body is divided into five zones (neck and mid back, low back and buttocks, upper limb, lower limb, and the front of the trunk) and the program is planned around the zone or zones involved.
• Structure: two blocks of four weeks, for up to eight weeks in total. The first block is pre-approved for a single zone of injury; the second and any supplementary treatment need WSIB’s approval. Your physiotherapist assesses you, sets goals with you and your employer’s return-to-work needs in mind, and treats you through the first block. A reassessment at the midpoint decides whether the second block is needed and what it should contain.
• What treatment includes: education about your injury and what you can safely do, hands-on treatment, an exercise program that progresses every week, activity modification for work and home, and pain self-management. Where a modality such as ultrasound, laser or acupuncture helps, it is added to the program, not offered instead of it.
• Reporting: we send WSIB an initial assessment report within two business days of your first visit, a midpoint report after the first block, and a discharge summary within two business days of your last visit. These are what keep the claim, and your benefits, moving. You can ask to see any of them.
• If you need more: a supplementary block is available with WSIB’s approval. If you are not recovering as expected, WSIB may refer you to a specialty program or a regional evaluation centre for a more detailed assessment, and we make that recommendation early rather than letting the weeks run out.

Return to work is part of the treatment

The point of WSIB treatment is not just to get you out of pain, it is to get you safely back to your job, or to a modified version of it while you recover. Your physiotherapist will complete a Functional Abilities Form when your employer or WSIB asks for one, setting out what you can currently do (lifting, reaching, standing, sitting) so your employer can offer suitable modified duties. Staying connected to work, even in a reduced role, is one of the strongest predictors of a full recovery, and the program is built around it.

We will also speak to your employer or WSIB case manager about your progress when you give us permission, and we are honest in both directions: with you about what you can safely do, and with them about what you cannot yet.

What WSIB does and does not cover

For an allowed claim WSIB pays the clinic directly for the assessment, the program of care, the reports and any approved supplementary treatment. It also covers prescribed devices such as a brace or a lumbar support where your physiotherapist recommends them, and travel costs to appointments in some circumstances, which you claim from WSIB yourself.

It does not pay for treatment of an injury or condition that is not part of the claim, treatment after WSIB has ended benefits in writing, or treatment at a clinic that is not registered with WSIB. If your claim is denied, you can object and ask for a review; in the meantime you can continue treatment privately or through your extended health plan, and we will tell you the cost before you decide.

Who provides it

Registered physiotherapists, regulated by the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, lead WSIB treatment at every one of our clinics. At the clinics that offer chiropractic and massage therapy, chiropractors regulated by the College of Chiropractors of Ontario and registered massage therapists regulated by the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario can be part of your program where it helps. Our reception teams handle WSIB reports and billing daily and know the case managers’ expectations.

Cost and direct billing

For approved treatment under a WSIB claim you pay nothing. We bill WSIB directly at its set rates, and there is no top-up charged to you. If you are assessed before your claim number arrives, we submit the assessment to WSIB once it does. If WSIB later denies the claim, treatment you have already had may become your responsibility at the clinic’s private rate, which is why we tell you those rates at the outset, keep the assessment to what is needed, and ask reception to explain the clinic’s policy before you start.

Questions we are asked most

Related services

WSIB treatment at our clinics is led by physiotherapy and can include chiropractic and massage therapy where the clinic offers them. Injuries in a collision that was not part of your job are funded through your auto insurance accident benefits instead.