Document name

Permanent Functional Impairment (PFI) – General

Document number

POL 33/2024

Impairment means a significant deviation, loss, or loss of use of any body structure or function in an individual with a health condition, disorder, or disease. Impairment interferes with the normal performance of the worker’s body or mind including activities of daily living.

Permanent functional impairment (PFI) is a measurable permanent loss of physical, functional, or mental abilities or permanent disfigurement resulting from a work-related injury.

Maximum medical improvement (MMI) is the point at which a condition has stabilized and is unlikely to change (improve or worsen) substantially in the next year, with or without treatment. This may also be referred to as maximum medical recovery (MMR).

1. Section 66 of The Workers’ Compensation Act, 2013 (the “Act”) authorizes the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) to establish a rating schedule to calculate a Permanent Functional Impairment (PFI) award.
2. Subject to the legislation in effect on the date of the determination, the minimum and maximum amounts for a PFI award is directed by Section 66(2). The amount of a PFI award must be, in the case of decisions made:
   1. Before January 1, 2003, be at least $1,100 and not more than $22,600.
   2. On or after January 1, 2003 and before January 1, 2025, be at least $2,200 and not more than $45,200.
   3. On or after January 1, 2025 and before January 1, 2026, be at least $2,500 and not more than $55,200.
   4. On or after January 1, 2026 and before January 1, 2027, be at least $3,000 and not more than $65,200.
   5. On or after January 1, 2027 and before January 1, 2028, be at least $3,500 and not more than $75,200, and
   6. On or after January 1, 2028, be at least $4,000 and not more than $82,200.
3. On and after January 1, 2029, the amounts specified in Section 66(2) will be adjusted annually by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.
4. A PFI award will not be provided to a worker who suffers an immediate fatal injury (Section 66(4)). This does not exclude a worker from receiving a PFI award in situations where an occupational disease, although ultimately fatal, results in a period of permanent impairment prior to death.
5. A PFI or permanent partial disability (PPD) award established under a former Act will not be reduced except pursuant to that Act (Section 76).

1. If a work injury results in a measurable permanent functional impairment (PFI), a worker may be eligible to receive a lump sum PFI award in addition to any applicable earnings loss benefits, allowances, and health care benefits.

PFI assessment

2. A worker will be assessed for a PFI when WCB determines it is medically appropriate and the worker’s condition has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI).
3. The WCB uses The American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) to determine if the worker has a permanent impairment rating. The impairment rating is expressed as a percentage of total impairment (whole person impairment).

PFI awards

4. If a worker has been assessed to have a measurable permanent impairment rating (expressed as a percentage), a lump sum PFI award will be provided.
5. The amount of the award is determined using the PFI rating percentage and will not be less than the minimum or greater than the maximum PFI award in accordance with the established legislation at the time of the PFI assessment.
6. The PFI award is not intended to compensate the worker for loss of earnings resulting from the work-related injury.
   1. The ability or inability of the worker to engage in suitable productive employment, the loss of employment, or the loss of earnings as a result of the work-related injury are not considered when determining the level of permanent impairment.
   2. Canada Disability Plan (CDP) payments are not taken into account when determining the worker’s PFI award.
7. If the worker is diagnosed with a terminal occupational disease that has historically shown to result in less than one year of life expectancy and has resulted in any degree of functional impairment, the maximum PFI award will be provided. The maximum award amount provided will be in accordance with the established legislation at the time of the PFI assessment. Each situation will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

PFI reassessments

8. A reassessment of a PFI rating may be completed if there is a change in the worker’s original level of impairment assessed or a review or reconsideration is initiated. A review will only be conducted if there is objective medical evidence indicating a change in the condition for which the worker has an impairment.
9. The minimum and maximum PFI award amounts in effect at the time of the worker’s original PFI assessment will be applied during any reassessment. WCB will not reassess a permanent impairment simply because a different rating guide was used previously.
10. If the PFI rating increases after a reassessment (e.g., the worker’s condition has deteriorated), the worker is entitled to the difference between the new total award amount and what they previously received.
11. If the PFI rating decreases after a reassessment (e.g., the worker’s condition has improved), recovery of the prior PFI award will not be pursued. However, WCB will review the worker’s eligibility for other entitlements such as independence allowance.

PFIs for multiple injuries or multiple claims

12. If a worker suffers multiple injuries from a single incident and is assessed for a PFI, WCB will rate the impact of the injuries on the overall whole person impairment. WCB will apply the AMA Guides’ Combined Values Chart (CVC) to account for the effects of multiple impairments.
13. If a worker was previously assessed for a PFI and has a subsequent injury assessed for a PFI, the new PFI rating will be based on the effect on the whole person, using the AMA Guides CVC.
    1. The WCB will determine the PFI award using the minimum and maximum PFI award amounts in effect at the time of the worker’s new PFI assessment and will deduct the PFI award amount that was initially awarded previously.
14. The clinical impairment on a combination of injuries or claims cannot be greater than 100 per cent.

Independence allowance

15. A worker who has been assessed as having a PFI rating of 10 per cent or greater may qualify for an independence allowance. Guidelines in POL 34/2024, Independence Allowance, will apply.
16. Workers eligible for a PFI solely due to hearing loss will not be eligible for an independence allowance.