2026 premium rates
WorkSafeBC announces that the average base premium rate for 2026 is $1.55 per $100 of assessable payroll. Our strong financial results have enabled us to keep the average rate flat for 2026.
Together with worker and employer stakeholders, we're working to reduce serious injuries and enhance return-to-work opportunities. In doing this, we can collectively help to prevent injuries, improve return-to-work outcomes, and ultimately lower insurance rates.
- Find your rate
- How the rates are set
- Resources
- See also
COVID-19 claims costs and your insurance rate
Learn more about the approach taken by WorkSafeBC.
Find your rate
Our classification unit, industry, and rate search engine contains information on the premium rates for 2026, as well as information from previous years.
Find my classification unit, industry, or rate
You can learn more about changes to our classification structure by downloading the 2026 classification unit changes.
How the rates are set
The Workers Compensation Act requires WorkSafeBC to set premium rates annually for employers in order to pay for the workers’ compensation system.
Employers are placed in one of 512 classification units with other similar businesses. These classification units are then placed into one of 55 insurance pools we refer to as rate groups.
Employers in each rate group pay the costs of injuries and diseases that occur to the workers within the group, with the intent that each rate group be self-sufficient with regard to compensation costs. This limits cross-subsidization between industries, maintains relatively stable insurance rates, and limits growth of unfunded liabilities in the rate groups.
Each year, costs in some rate groups go up, some go down and others stay the same. In 2026, 39 percent of employers in B.C. will experience a decrease in their industry base rate, 47 percent will see their industry base rate increase, and 14 percent will see no change.
Examples of industries with rate decreases include: Restaurants, Pubs, Pre-hospital Emergency Health Care, Log Hauling, Vegetable Greenhouse, Floral Greenhouse, Sawmill, Framing or Residential Forming, Forest Fire Fighting, Road Construction, Dairy Farming, Steep Slope Roofing, Performing Arts, Retirement Home or Seniors’ Home, Vegetable Farming, Berry Farming, and Wholesale.
Examples of industries with rate increases include: Highway Maintenance, Coffee Shops and Ice Cream Parlours, Overnight and Short-term Accommodation, Residential Social Service Facility, First Nations Operations, Pilot Car or Auto Delivery Services, Community Health Support Services, Large Retail Store, General Wharf Operations, Stevedoring, Limousine or Chauffeur Services, Taxi Service and Ride-hailing service, Public School District, Ferry Service, Supermarket.
Examples of industries with little to no change to their rates include: Aircraft, Automobile, or Truck Assembly, Drywalling, Water Taxi or Crew Transport, Law Enforcement, Cemetery or Crematorium, Custom Brokerage, Law Office, Marine Ship Agency, Insulation Work, General Trucking.
More information
- Average published base rate trend information for 2026 (in table or chart form)
- Maximum Assessable Earnings (Compensation-Related Maximum Wage Rates)
Resources
2026 Classification and Rate List
This booklet lists the base rates for all industries in British Columbia for 2026.
Title
Changes to classification units for 2026
Each year when we set premium rates for the next year, we review the current classification structure to ensure we continue to provide fair insurance rates. This document outlines the classification...
Title
Classification and rate setting structure changes
Each year when we set premium rates for the next year, we review the way we classify firms and industries. This document outlines the classification units to be expired, renamed, or moved in 2026.