Mandatory Industries
Under Nova Scotia law, certain industries must provide workplace insurance coverage for their workers. See a list of some required industries here. In addition, any industry not listed, but is closely related to any of the listed industries, is also required to register. The WCB looks at this on a case-by-case basis.

Non-Mandatory Industries
Under our General Regulations, some industries are not required to register.

The text of the General Regulations can be found online here. You can contact the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for a hard copy.

If you are not clear about whether your industry is included, please contact us.

Workers
We count the following as workers:

• Permanent, casual, full-time, and part-time workers

• Officers and directors of the company if they are active in the business, regardless if they are on the payroll

• Subcontractors who work in mandatory industries, and their workers

There is no age limit on who is required or can be covered by our insurance.

Note: Family members of proprietors, partners, officers, and directors of the company are counted as workers, but are not automatically covered. If a family member is to be covered by an employer, simply include that individual’s earnings payroll reported to the WCB.

The following are NOT counted as workers:

• Proprietors

• Partners in a partnership

• Officers (for example presidents, vice-presidents, secretary/treasurers) of an incorporated (limited) company who are paid solely for attending director’s meetings

Number of Workers
If you operate a business in a mandatory industry, but have fewer than 3 workers, you do not need to register. However, you must register with us within 10 days of hiring a third employee. If you are registered with us and reduce the number of workers to fewer than 3, and will stay that way for at least 12 months, you can cancel your coverage.