We will prevent workplace injury.

We will support healthy, safe, timely return to work.

We will deliver exceptional service.

We will enable our employees.

We will honour diversity and inclusion, in the organization we are, and in how we do business.

We will proudly continue our outreach and engagement.

We will be defined by end-to-end efficiency.

Nova Scotians will understand the value WCB Nova Scotia provides.

Nova Scotia will gradually continue to reform the workers’ compensation system.

In Halifax, a line cook in a busy restaurant amputates a fingertip with a knife

A nurse in Yarmouth is injured after a patient lashes out

In Whitney Pier, a paramedic cannot revive a young victim in a car accident

WCB Nova Scotia’s new Strategic Plan sets a bold path to protect more Nova Scotians from injuries like these, and when they do, from their human and financial impact.
It’s our call to action to protect more.

Protect more

Our 2024-2030 Strategic Plan is a vision for a Nova Scotia where our people are more protected from workplace injury than they 
are today.

With a more sustainable funding environment than ever before, there is incredible opportunity for all of us to make a difference in the lives of the workers and employers we serve.  



Protecting against more kinds of workplace injury, especially psychological injury. Protecting more employers, who will choose to work with us. Protecting more Nova Scotians, earlier and better, from the often devastating human and financial impact of workplace injury and illness, in all of its forms.

Captured within the annual operational plan for each year of the Strategic Plan, our new service level agreements underscore this commitment and ensures we are meeting higher standards.

It is an ambitious, optimistic, and inspiring plan for change.


And it starts now.

What we will do

Preventing injury, supporting workers in returning to work, and providing exceptional service. These are the pillars of our Strategic Plan. But that's only part of the story. Empowering and enabling our journey forward are guiding principles about how we'll do it.

Where will that exceptional service come from?

What makes it real?

Four key principles will apply to all we do. They're in the background, enabling our progress toward our goals.

We will prevent workplace injury.

The face of workplace injury is changing. And by 2030, it will change even more. The days of safety meaning hard hats and work boots are gone.

Today the hazards are different. The risks are psychological, not just physical. They are often human, too: People we’re caring for, or things people say, or violent attacks.

Enabled by better data and improved technology, our approaches to workplace injury prevention will become much more targeted, grounded in the voice of those we serve. And our outcomes will continue to improve.

In all we do, we are driven by a vision for a Nova Scotia where no one dies at work, or because of their work.

We will support healthy, safe, timely return to work.

Every day, people get hurt on the job. From a sprain or a strain injury to a deep psychological scar, when Nova Scotians experience this type of impact on their lives, we are there to help.

And it’s our job – our responsibility – to help, wherever we can. It’s our job to support Nova Scotians in protecting the safe, healthy, important role that work plays, in the lives of the people Nova Scotians are.

Empowered by exceptional service, we are driven to protect Nova Scotians from workplace injury’s impact through better outcomes in return to work, where work is, almost always, part of the recovery process.

We will deliver exceptional service.

Strategic Plan Goal: 80 percent of workers and employers believe the WCB provides exceptional service.

It is time to re-think service at WCB Nova Scotia. We help people, every single day. We protect them from workplace injury’s impact – from supporting a physio provider to helping someone stay at work following an injury, to lifelong impact of more severe workplace injuries. In these cases, we’re there for Nova Scotians.

By 2030, we will be there, even better. We will protect more of the “whole people” Nova Scotians are through service that suits their lifestyles, their communications preferences, and their overall well-being.

We will be easier to do business with. We will engage early, and communicate often. We will be reachable, accessible, human, open and authentic. Always.

What we will do.

Preventing injury, supporting workers in returning to work. These are the pillars of our Strategic Plan. But that’s only part of the story. Empowering and enabling our journey forward are guiding principles about how we’ll do it.

Where will that exceptional service come from?

What makes it real?

Four key principles will apply to all we do. They’re in the background, enabling our progress toward our goals.

We will enable our employees.

In 2030, our employees will be even more empowered, supported, and inspired than they are today.

  • They will have clear expectations, with performance management tools and processes that are grounded in our key performance indicators.
  • They will be provided with the right tools, and the right training, from the day they begin their service with us.
  • They will be doing the right work, in the right roles for them, in an efficient and effective way, driven by the overall principle of exceptional service.
  • They will work in an environment defined by connectivity, connection and collaboration, where technology enables and informs their work – not make it more complicated.

We will honour diversity and inclusion, in the organization we are, and in how we do business.

Nova Scotia is a diverse, beautiful province, and people. Our service and our organization will change to better reflect that. We will recognize diversity in the communities we serve and in our own organization, becoming more inclusive in all we do.

We will proudly continue our outreach and engagement.

In 2030, the WCB will be a trusted, respected partner to more employers, labour unions, worker support organizations, and all levels of government.

We will be defined by end-to-end efficiency.

We recognize our service to employers and workers can be less than efficient. Sometimes, we create steps where there don’t need to be steps. Wait for things we don’t need to wait for. Do things manually that could be automated. By 2030, we’ll be different. Across our business, we will be much more efficient in how we deliver service, leveraging technology and processes to do what we do today, but better.

Nova Scotia will gradually continue to reform the workers’ compensation system.

We believe there is great opportunity to improve the workers’ compensation system in our province.

Informed by the first review in 20 years, we will continue to improve the things we can control.

And as we deliver on this Strategic Plan, we hope to do so against an evolving backdrop of progress, where benefits improve for workers, and where rates can be reduced, in a financially sustainable way.

Nova Scotians will understand the value WCB Nova Scotia provides.

Sometimes, you don’t notice how much you value something until it’s gone. Work is one of those things.

As we deliver on this Strategic Plan, we will inspire and engage Nova Scotians, who will come to understand just how important the work we do is in protecting the incredible value of safe, healthy work.

LOOKING FORWARD

When we get there

In 2030, we know that the impact of workplace injury will look different than it does today.

We also know we’ll be there, to protect more Nova Scotians from its deep and lasting hurt.

We will be there for nurse, who will receive physiotherapy, and be back on the job the next week. Instead of their usual work tending to patients, they are helping with scheduling, while their shoulder fully recovers after the patient violently yanked on their arm. On their phone, they get a notification by SMS for their next appointment.

We will be there for the cook, taking care of health care appointments, and calling them to see how reattachment surgery went. We’ll encourage their employer to stay in touch for the few days they need to ensure infection doesn’t set in. And when they are ready, we’ll be there to guide them, and their employer, about what they can do – because it turns out, while they can’t chop garlic for a few days, they can help scope out what’s on the menu, by visiting local farms… who, incidentally, are also covered, as are all workplaces in the province.

And we will be there for the Cape Breton paramedic, who needs some time, but with the right help and support, can gradually go back to work. They have PTSD, but working with our team and the right service provider, they’re able to manage it. And before long, they’re able to get connected to the work again, starting with light calls but working their way back to full duties.

All of their employers are paying less for coverage.

And all of them are receiving improved benefits, in a revamped system that has heard from Nova Scotians about improvements, and has listened.

Are you covered?

Ask your employer if your workplace has WCB coverage. Learn more about its value.

We will be there for the nurse, who will receive physiotherapy, and be back on the job the next week. Instead of their usual work tending to patients, they are helping with scheduling, while their shoulder fully recovers after the patient violently yanked on their arm. On their phone, they get a notification by text for their next appointment.

We will be there for the cook, taking care of health care appointments, and calling them to see how reattachment surgery went. We’ll encourage their employer to stay in touch for the few days they need to ensure an infection doesn’t set in. And when they are ready, we’ll be there to guide them, and their employer, about what they can do – because it turns out, while they can’t chop garlic for a few days, they can help scope out what’s on the menu, by visiting local farms… who, incidentally, are also covered, as are all workplaces in the province.

And we will be there for the Cape Breton paramedic, who needs some time, but with the right help and support, can gradually go back to work. They have PTSD, but working with our team and the right service provider, they’re able to manage it. And before long, they’re able to get connected to the work again, starting with light calls but working their way back to full duties.

Annual Plans

In the first year of our new Strategic Plan, our change-related work will focus on the three pillars: Prevention, Return to Work, and Service Excellence, aligning our investment of resources to tackle our most important business problems.

Download our 2024 plan.

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