Geographic differences

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With a few exceptions, the rate of occupational injury generally did not vary across the provinces and territories.  However, in Saskatchewan, the proportion of workers injured (5%) was significantly high relative to Canada overall (4%), and in Ontario and the Northwest Territories, proportions were low.  To some extent, these findings reflect the degree to which workers are exposed to hazardous occupational conditions, which varies with the types of work that predominate in each region. 

Compared with Canada as a whole, a significantly higher proportion (56%) of workers in Saskatchewan were in "blue-collar" occupations — in which work injury is relatively frequent (data not shown).  In Ontario and the Northwest Territories, the proportions of "white-collar" workers were relatively high, consistent with the lower rates of injury in those jurisdictions.

At the local level, those residing in areas that were weakly or not at all influenced by an urban area were more likely to be injured at work, compared with those living in urban areas or in areas of moderate urban influence.  A difference in the risk of work injury by degree of urban influence emerged for men but not women (data not shown).