“I Earn More Than WSIB Covers!” | What Is the WSIB Maximum for 2026? The Ceiling and the Most You Can Be Paid

A man in a navy hoodie works out figures with a pencil and notepad beside a calculator and a mug of tea at his kitchen table.

When the pay cheques stop, the first number most people look for is the ceiling. Here it is, with what it means for you each week.

The WSIB maximum for 2026 is $121,700 a year, which is $2,340 a week before deductions. It is the most of your earnings the WSIB will count for an injury in 2026. At that ceiling, the highest weekly payment is $1,455.51 at the basic tax claim code, which is 85% of the $1,712.37 the WSIB counts as your take-home pay.

What are the 2026 WSIB figures?

Most earnings counted, per year $121,700
Most earnings counted, per week $2,340
Take-home pay at the cap, per week, as the WSIB counts it $1,712.37
Highest weekly payment, basic tax claim code $1,455.51
Highest payment over a full year $75,686.52
Minimum for a full loss of earnings, per year $29,249.48
Minimum for a full loss of earnings, per week $562.49

Want your own number? Our 2026 WSIB calculator works it out from your hourly, weekly or yearly pay, using the same figures.

Is the maximum the most WSIB will pay you?

No. The maximum is a cap on the earnings the WSIB counts, not on the payment itself. The WSIB takes your earnings up to the cap, works out your take-home pay after income tax, CPP and EI, and pays 85% of that. Its policy on calculating net average earnings explains how the take-home figure is set.

So the most anyone can receive for a full loss of earnings in 2026 is $1,455.51 a week at the basic tax claim code. Your claim codes come from the TD1 forms you gave your employer. A higher code means less tax was taken off, so the take-home figure and the payment rise slightly.

Tax claim code Take-home at the cap Highest weekly payment
1 $1,712.37 $1,455.51
2 $1,718.31 $1,460.56
3 $1,730.16 $1,470.64
4 $1,742.03 $1,480.73
5 $1,753.90 $1,490.82
6 $1,765.76 $1,500.90
7 $1,777.38 $1,510.77
8 $1,788.27 $1,520.03
9 $1,799.16 $1,529.29
10 $1,810.05 $1,538.54

These are worked out from the WSIB's 2026 table of deductions, where your federal and Ontario codes are the same. Most people are code 1.

Which year's maximum applies to you?

The one for the year you were injured. The WSIB sets a maximum for each year of injury in its benefit dollar amounts, so someone hurt in 2024 has their payment worked out on the 2024 figure, even when the money arrives in 2026.

Year of injury Most earnings counted
2026 $121,700
2025 $119,300
2024 $117,700
2023 $120,200

Payments already under way are not frozen at that level. The WSIB indexes ongoing loss of earnings benefits on 1 January each year, and the indexing factor for 2026 is 2.0%.

What if you earn more than $121,700?

Anything above the cap is not counted. A worker earning $150,000 is paid as though they earned $121,700, and the difference cannot be recovered through the WSIB.

If that is you, check whether you have long-term disability coverage through work or a private policy, and how it treats WSIB payments. Many policies reduce what they pay by what the WSIB pays, so ask for the wording in writing.

Earnings from more than one job covered by the WSIB can be added together, and the cap applies to the total.

Is there a WSIB minimum?

Yes. For a full loss of earnings in 2026, the minimum is $29,249.48 a year, about $562.49 a week. When 85% of your take-home pay comes to less than that, the WSIB pays the minimum or your full take-home pay, whichever is lower.

In practice, a worker whose take-home pay was $500 a week is paid $500, not $425.

There is a separate minimum of $22,424.48 a year for a partial loss of earnings, when you are back at work but earning less than before.

When does the 2027 maximum come out?

A new figure takes effect on 1 January each year. The WSIB sets it at 175% of Ontario's average industrial wage, using Statistics Canada data from the year before. The 2026 figure came from an average wage of $69,545.01.

If you were injured in 2026, the 2027 figure does not change your ceiling. It applies to injuries from 1 January 2027.

What should you keep while you are on benefits?

  • Your pay stubs from before the injury. They are the evidence behind the figure the WSIB counts.
  • Your TD1 claim codes. A wrong code changes your take-home figure and your payment.
  • Every job you held. Earnings from each covered job can be added together.
  • Every decision letter, with its date. You have six months from the date on most decisions to object, including how your earnings were worked out.

Why use Hurt Square?

Because the cap is fixed, but what the WSIB counts below it depends on your records. Overtime, shift premiums, a second job and the right tax claim code can each change your weekly payment, and you are the one who has to show them. Hurt Square guides give you one place to keep that record while you recover.

  • The facts behind your number. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide has structured space for time away from work, wage loss and modified duties, alongside your appointments, symptoms and every conversation with your employer and the WSIB.
  • The Ontario rules, in plain words. The Ontario Workplace Injury Companion Guide explains how the WSIB calculates loss of earnings, the six-month Form 6 deadline, Forms 6, 7 and 8, and how to object, through to the Appeals Tribunal.
  • Ready if a figure is wrong. You have six months to object to most decisions. With your pay stubs, hours and dates already together, that time goes into your objection, not into searching for paperwork.
  • Made for hard days. 123 pages and more than 1,200 fillable fields that work on your phone, tablet or computer, in plain language. When your union representative, worker adviser or lawyer asks for something, it is already there.

Both guides, $39 until 22 November. The National Workplace Injury Recovery Guide and the Ontario Workplace Injury Companion Guide, with the discount applied at checkout. Bought separately: $63.99.

Get both guides

Who can help?

The Office of the Worker Adviser, if you are not in a union. It is an independent agency of the Ontario government, and its service to non-unionized injured workers is free. Its number for English service is 1-800-435-8980. If you are in a union, start with your union representative. A community legal clinic is another free route.

Read next

Every figure in this article comes from a named source. How we check
Last verified: October 2026.
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