The average assessment rate, or average rate, is what you would pay if every employer paid the same WCB rate. The total expected costs for the coming year (claims costs in the current year, potential future costs of current claims, and administrative costs) are divided among all covered employers in Manitoba. The average rate is a baseline – we use it to set rates for each classification group.

When the total cost of injuries for all covered employers in Manitoba decreases, the average rate decreases, and this decreases the baseline rate for all employers. If the average rate increases, the baseline rate for all employers increases.

Manitoba employers have maintained one of the lowest average rates in Canada at an all-time low of $0.95.

There are approximately 175 industry classifications in Manitoba. When you register with the WCB, your business is assigned to an industry classification based on the overall kind of work you do.

An industry classification is made up of a group of employers who operate in a similar industry with a similar level of risk. Each industry classification is assigned a risk category that describes their level of risk (cost of injuries) compared to the system average.

Each year, we monitor industry classification experience rates to ensure that employers are placed in the proper risk category.  There are eighteen risk categories. As your industry's experience evolves, it may move a risk category to shift towards the experience reflected by costs and experience of the industry classification. Classifications and their risk categories are based on four years of historical data that tell us how likely employers are – in comparison to the average of all employers – to have claims and claims-related costs. Risk categories are expressed as a percentage of that likelihood in relation to the base rate.

For example, an industry classification that has injury costs that are only 25 per cent of the average of all employers is put into the 25 per cent risk category. A classification in the 200 per cent risk category is expected to have twice the claims costs as the average of all employers. When an employer registers with the WCB, they are assigned the classification base rate of their risk category. Over time, their rate will be adjusted up or down within an established range of rates for that risk category depending on their actual claims costs.

Within each classification, employers pay more or less than the classification base rate based on their past claims costs. The range – how much more or less than the classification base rate it is possible to pay – is based on employer size. Small and medium employers have a narrower rate range than large employers. Small and medium employers tend to have bigger changes in claims costs from year to year than larger employers (for instance, a small or medium employer could have several years claims-free followed by a year with a single high-cost claim with costs that last for several years). A narrower rate range protects small and medium employers against sharp changes in their rate caused by sharp changes in their claims costs.

An employers' experience carries different weight based on their size. A large employer's individual costs have a greater impact on the premiums they pay, whereas for small and medium employers, the industry classification they are in has a greater impact on what they pay.

Generally, an employer who invests in safety and prevention and makes every effort to return injured workers back to health and safe and suitable work will have lower claim costs and pay a lower rate.

The cost of injuries at your workplace directly affects your risk. Those who have more costs typically pay a higher premium.

As part of the rate calculation, we compare your injury costs to an average employer of similar size and risk. If your rate has gone up, it means that either your costs are higher, or your industry classification’s performance has declined. If your costs are lower, you'll likely see a decrease in what you pay. When we set rates, we use the claims costs from the last three calendar years of claims.

For 2024, the calculation of rates considers costs paid from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022 on claims that occurred during the same time frame.

If you're a new employer in Manitoba, you don't have any previous claims cost experience with the WCB to establish your rate. Your premium will be determined by a new employer rate assigned to your industry classification.

Manitoba has many industry-based safety programs in partnership with SAFE Work Manitoba. They are designed to support employers in establishing an effective safety and health program, to assist in identifying work place hazards and to keep workers safe on the job.

Through these safety programs, employers can work together to reduce their individual and classification-wide injuries and resulting costs.

These programs are funded in part by all employers within the corresponding levied classification codes. The WCB collects and distributes these program fees (called a safety levy) through employers' premiums as a percentage of their rate.

Employers who are represented by an industry-based safety program and who embrace workplace injury prevention can reduce the number and cost of injuries in their workplace and, as a result, benefit from lower rates.

Learn more about industry-based safety programs

Rate Increase/Decrease Limits

Your WCB Premium

Your Rate Notification Can Tell You a Lot

Did Your Rate Change in 2024? This May Be Why

Industry-Based Safety Programs and How They Help Your Business

Improve Business Performance and Reduce Costs

Contact Assessment Services