New paper shows differences in work disability duration for immigrants and Canadian-born workers

November 2021: PWHS postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sonja Senthanar and colleagues examined differences in disability duration after a work injury among immigrants compared to Canadian-born workers in BC. Published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the study categorized immigrants as economic, family member or refugee/other classification upon arrival to Canada and linked immigration records with workers’ compensation claims for work-related back strain, connective tissue, concussion, and fracture injuries requiring at least one paid day of work disability benefits between 2009 to 2015. With a few exceptions, immigrants experienced greater predicted disability days compared to Canadian-born workers within the same injury cohort. The largest differences were observed for family and refugee/other immigrant classification workers, and, in particular, for women within these classifications. These findings, based on an innovative use of Canadian linked administrative data, have important implications for creating a fair and equitable workers’ compensation system and in ensuring that immigrants to Canada have successful working lives.

Read the article here.

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