On July 13, 2026, the Manitoba Federation of Labour released a new report, Ending Manitoba’s Workplace Violence Epidemic, shining a light on our province’s escalating workplace violence crisis.
The report includes workers’ firsthand accounts of violence in areas like healthcare, education, emergency response, security, public transit and retail. It also includes recommendations for government and employers to act in reducing the violence.
“Healthcare is the most dangerous sector in which to work in Manitoba, and violence against healthcare professionals is at an all-time high with nearly 40 per cent of all violent workplace injuries in Manitoba experienced by healthcare workers,” says Cory Szczepanski, MAHCP Labour Relations Officer and Safety & Health Specialist.
“Imagine trying to provide vital care for a patient in critical need, while you’re deeply concerned about your own safety? Imagine being regularly verbally assaulted, or having to pay attention to your surroundings to avoid being physically attacked, spit on, or even threatened with a weapon. It’s unimaginable.”
– cory szczepanski, mahcp safety & health specialist
According to the report, many factors exacerbate the risk of violence in healthcare, including inadequate resources for treating patients with mental health or addictions issues, or with cognitive conditions such as dementia. Studies have also shown that excessive wait times resulting from a shortage of staff and other resources is strongly correlated to the potential for violence. An analysis of emergency departments showed that the likelihood of a violent incident increased in direct relation to the duration of the wait.
MAHCP is calling on healthcare employers to staff up appropriately to address growing wait times. Employers also need to foster a culture of safety by building robust safety programs, increasing practical safety and security measures to mitigate known risks, properly investigating incidents of violence, and stepping up the level of support and resources they’re providing injured and victimized healthcare workers.
The report’s 10 recommendations to better protect workers are:
- Implement a provincial workplace violence prevention strategy
- Fund safe staffing levels
- Ensure safe facilities to deal with workplace violence / address overcrowding
- Ensure security personnel are highly trained to help protect workplaces experiencing high rates of violence
- Enforce the existing legal requirement for employers to train workers on workplace violence hazards and develop a formal training standard on workplace violence
- Enforce the existing legal requirement for all workplaces to carry out a violence hazard assessment, and ensure that employers with identified violence hazards develop and follow appropriate violence prevention policies
- Enforce the existing legal requirement for workplaces to have a functioning Joint Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Committee / Provide Unions with Committee records
- Enforce the existing legal requirement for all employers who require employees to work alone to do so under the terms of appropriate Working Alone Procedures
- Require effective communication systems at work to better prevent and respond to violence
- Ensure workers have available information about potentially violent environments, and that corresponding mitigation measures are taken|
The number of workplace injuries that Manitobans suffer due to violence is alarmingly high, and it more than tripled between 2015 and 2025. This increase includes a 20 per cent jump in workplace violence-related injuries in the last two years. According to one MAHCP paramedic interviewed for the report, violence has become so common, it has become normalized and is now viewed as “just part of the job.”
Unions have been working hard to raise awareness about workplace violence, to require employers to meet their health and safety responsibilities and to urge government to strengthen both enforcement and prevention strategies. We must work together to stop the current epidemic of workplace violence.