Your union (if you are a union member)
Office of the Worker Adviser (OWA)
The OWA provides free and confidential education, advice, and representation services to non-union workers who have been injured at work (and their survivors).
For more information about the OWA, please contact them directly:
Legal Aid and Community Legal Clinics
Legal Aid Ontario, an independent agency funded largely by the Province of Ontario, is responsible for the delivery of legal aid services to low-income individuals throughout Ontario.
Legal Aid Ontario funds Community Legal Clinics across the province. To receive services from a legal clinic, you must live in the area it services and qualify financially. Some of these clinics provide assistance in workplace insurance matters. Their services include providing summary advice, providing assistance with appeals, and providing full representation at WSIAT hearings.
For information about Legal Aid and Community Legal Clinics, please contact Legal Aid directly:
Lawyers and Paralegals
For a fee, a lawyer or licensed paralegal can assist you in preparing for or presenting your WSIAT appeal. The Law Society of Ontario (LSO) regulates Ontario lawyers and paralegal licensees. To find a lawyer certified as a specialist in workplace safety and insurance law, to find a licensed paralegal, or for information on the Law Society Referral Service, please contact LSO directly:
Your Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
Your MPP’s office may be able to provide general information about the workplace safety and insurance system or refer you to another agency or community service that may be able assist you.
A friend or a family member
As the WSIAT is the final level of appeal, you are strongly encouraged to find a representative who is knowledgeable and has experience with workplace safety matters. If, however, you have difficulty finding a representative, you may ask a friend or family member to help you with your appeal.
In order to be able to represent you, your friend or family member must:
- not be charging you any fee for his or her services, and
- not have appeared as a representative at any government agency (including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and the WSIAT) more than 3 times in the last 12 months.
The Vice-Chair or Panel at your hearing may choose to question your friend or family member to make sure that he or she meets these requirements.
Representatives who appear before the WSIAT must be licensed by the Law Society of Ontario or authorized to provide legal services in accordance with the Law Society Act and its regulations and by-laws. If the status of your representative is unclear, additional information from the representative may be requested, and a determination regarding the status of the representative may need to be made by a Vice-Chair or Panel. For more information, please see the WSIAT Practice Direction: Representatives.
All representatives must abide by the WSIAT Code of Conduct. For more information please see the WSIAT Practice Direction: WSIAT Code of Conduct for Representatives.
If you would like a paper version of the documents referenced above, please contact the WSIAT at 416-314-8800, 1-888-618-8846 (toll-free within Ontario), or 416-314-1787 (TTY).