How do I appeal a WSIB decision?
In three stages, and you cannot skip one. An objection to the decision maker who made the decision, then an Appeals Resolution Officer inside the WSIB, then the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, which is a separate institution.
Most files end at the first or second stage. The third exists because the tribunal is independent of the board.
What are the WSIB appeal deadlines?
| Stage | Who decides | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Objection | The decision maker who issued it | 30 days for return to work, work transition or re-employment. Six months for anything else |
| Appeals Services Division | An Appeals Resolution Officer | Set by the WSIB once your objection is registered |
| WSIAT | An independent tribunal | Six months from the final WSIB decision |
The first limits come from section 120 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, set out by the WSIB on its page on appeals practices and procedures.
The six months at the tribunal runs from the date of the decision issued after the internal objection stage. Not from the original decision by your case manager. Getting those two dates confused is how people lose a tribunal appeal they were entitled to bring.
What is the first stage of a WSIB appeal?
An Intent to Object form sent to the person who made the decision.
The WSIB must receive that form, or a letter of objection, before the deadline printed on your decision letter. The decision maker reviews it and reconsiders if you provide new information, which the WSIB says generally takes fourteen business days.
Send the form first and build the argument afterwards. The form is what protects the deadline.
What happens at the Appeals Resolution Officer stage?
If the decision does not change, the decision maker sends you a copy of your claim file along with an Appeal readiness form and an instruction sheet.
Two things are worth knowing about that package. The copy of your file is often the first time anybody sees what the WSIB actually holds, and the Appeal readiness form is where you say whether you want your appeal decided in writing or at an oral hearing.
An Appeals Resolution Officer then decides. That is the final decision inside the WSIB.
What is WSIAT and when does it come in?
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, after the WSIB has issued its final decision.
WSIAT is not part of the WSIB. It is an independent tribunal that hears appeals from final WSIB decisions, and it has its own six month limit running from the date of that final decision.
Who can help me with a WSIB appeal?
The Office of the Worker Adviser, free of charge, for workers who are not in a union. It is an independent agency of the Ontario government, and its guidance on appeals at the WSIB sets out the same deadlines. English service is 1-800-435-8980 and French service is 1-800-661-6365.
If you are in a union, your union representative comes first. A community legal clinic is a third route, and the WSIB lists clinics on its own site.
What makes the difference at an appeal?
The record, not the strength of the disagreement.
An appeal is decided on what is in the file. Every stage above asks the same question in a different room: what does the evidence show. A file with dated appointments, named callers, described symptoms and receipts answers that question. A file without them leaves the original decision standing, because nothing has changed.
So the work starts long before an appeal does. What you documented in week one is what stage three reads.
If your decision was a denial of entitlement, start with how to read a denial letter. If it was about the amount, the benefit rate is set out in how much does WSIB pay in Ontario.
Every figure on this page comes from a named authority. How we check
Last verified: September 2026.
