Day of Mourning

Across Canada, April 28 has been designated the Day of Mourning. Every year, we recognize and remember those who have lost their lives to work-related incidents or occupational disease. The Day of Mourning is also a time to re–new our collective commitment to creating safe workplaces.

This year, WorkSafeBC, the B.C. Federation of Labour, and the Business Council of British Columbia will co-host a public ceremony in Vancouver to honour the occasion on Tuesday, April 28, at the Vancouver Convention Centre at 10:30 a.m. Here is a list of other Lower Mainland events. In 2015, 182 workers lost their lives in British Columbia, and thousands more were injured or became ill. On April 28 we gather to mourn for the dead and fight for the living.

Over 1,000 workers are killed across Canada every year for simply trying to make a living to support their families. The number of people killed at work each year in Canada has risen for the past 15 years. This is in contrast to almost every other OECD country where the incidence of workplace fatalities is declining. In addition to workers killed at work, there are many others where the death goes unreported if they die of a disease unrecognized as an occupational disease. The federal government passed legislation in 1991 declaring each April 28th as “A Day of Remembrance for workers killed or injured at work”. CUPE proposed and adopted the canary in a cage as the internationally recognized symbol for the Day of Mourning.

In the nineteenth century, miners would take a caged canary into the mines with them (canaries are more sensitive to airborne hazards and the absence of oxygen in the air than humans).  If the canaries were overcome, it was a sign to evacuate the mine. United Way British Columbia and the Labour movement have a strong partnership and work together to advocate for living wages and safe working conditions, among other issues. On April 28 we recognize the victims of workplace accidents and as we mourn for the dead, we continue to fight for the living.