If you operate a farm or a ranch, legislation may impact your workplace insurance requirements as an employer:
- Coverage for large employers: Employers with six or more employees are required to ensure their waged workers are covered either through WCB or private insurance.
- Coverage for small employers: Employers are not required to have workplace insurance if they have five or fewer employees, or hire workers for less than six consecutive months. If a small employer chooses to take out coverage, they can do so through WCB or private insurance.
Coverage for family members and non-waged workers remains optional.
*Note: Under the legislation, workers' compensation requirements for greenhouses, nurseries, mushroom and sod farms remain mandatory.
Farm workers: learn more about what these changes mean for you.
How does workers’ compensation coverage benefit you and your workers?
There are several unique aspects of WCB coverage to consider when comparing insurance providers.
- WCB protects workers and employers against financial loss in the event of a work-related injury or death through no-fault disability insurance. This means that regardless of who may be at fault for an accident, WCB assumes the liability for a workplace injury or fatality, and parties covered by WCB are provided immunity against lawsuits.
- There are also no preset limits to the benefits that are provided to injured workers. An injured worker will continue to receive coverage for wage loss, medical treatment, prescriptions and more for as long as there is any remaining disability.
- Proprietors, partnerships and/or directors of incorporated farms also may take out optional personal coverage for themselves. Personal coverage will provide them with benefits if injured at work, as well as provide them with personal immunity from lawsuit for workplace injuries. Without this coverage in place, they are not entitled to benefits and may be subject to lawsuit.
If you do not currently have an account and would like to open one, you can register for an account today.
If you have any questions to help you make an informed decision about the workplace insurance you choose or if you choose to close or reopen your account, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-866-922-9221 or email us at farmandranch@wcb.ab.ca.
2024 Farming industry classifications and premium rates
We have developed industry classifications for farming operations to make sure we're grouping businesses together that have similar operations and risks. Below are the industry classifications as well as each industry's premium rate for 2024.
| Industry Description |
2024 Rate (per $100 of assessable earnings) |
|---|---|
| Agri-tourism farms, greenhouses/market gardens, mushroom producers/bait farms | $2.06 |
| Apiaries, fishing/fish or fur farms, goat/sheep producers, hog producers, poultry/egg producers | $2.13 |
| Forage & peat moss processing, hay/grain/crop farming, harvesting/baling-custom | $2.73 |
| Beef producers, dairy farms, elk/bison producers, feed lots, livestock auctions/stockyards, llama/alpaca producers, riding academies/horse stables | $3.61 |
Resources
- More information about coverage for farms and ranches
- Find out how claims affect your premiums.
- Find out what to do if your worker is injured.
