Document name

Coverage – Directors

Document number

POL 14/2014

Director, also referred to as an executive officer in The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 (the “Act”), means a person chosen to control or govern the affairs of a limited company or corporation and who is registered as a director of that corporation.

Carried on the Payroll means the employer is reporting employment income and taxable allowances or benefits on the Canada Revenue Agency T4 income tax slip.

1. Under Section 2(1)(ii) of the Act, “an executive officer of an employer, if that executive officer is carried on the employer’s payroll,” is considered a worker.
2. Section 32 of the Act states an employer is deemed to be a worker where the employer carries themselves on the payroll, reports themselves as a worker on the payroll statement mentioned in Section 122 of the Act, and includes their estimated wages.
3. Under Section 14(1) of The Workers’ Compensation General Regulations, 1985 (the “General Regulations”), “every executive officer of a corporation who is not on the company’s pay-roll... may make application to the board for elective personal coverage.”
4. Section 14(2) of the General Regulations states, “every executive officer of a corporation who is not on the corporation’s pay-roll is deemed to be a worker when under contract to a principal and the earnings in respect of their services, as the board may determine, are assessable on the principal’s account unless ordered otherwise by the board.”

1. A director of a limited company or corporation who is carried on the payroll is considered a worker under the scope of the Act.
2. The employer is required to report to the WCB the assessable earnings for all directors carried on the payroll up to the maximum assessable per calendar year being reported.
3. Where a director of a limited company or corporation is not carried on the payroll, they may apply for personal coverage.
4. A director who is not active in the business is not considered a worker in the scope of the Act and coverage is not required. An inactive director is someone who does not perform any duties relating to the day-to-day operations of the corporation.