Injured Workers’ Monuments

June 1 is marked as Injured Workers’ Day in Ontario, celebrating the collective fight of injured workers for safe and healthy working conditions and for just compensation when injured or made ill at work. It is also an occasion to remember those who have been killed at work.

Across Ontario there are sculptures and monuments honouring workers from many different occupations; from logging, mining, fishing, construction, steelworkers, firefighters, health care and others. The Chinese railroad workers who died building the Canadian National Railway across Canada are honoured, as are the many workers who died as a result of dangerous working conditions, as well as from malaria and other diseases, in the course of building the Rideau and Welland canals. Below are photos of some of these monuments and sculptures.

The Workers Health and Safety Centre has a gallery of more than seventy plaques and monuments across the province, which can be viewed here. They encourage people to write in to add monuments not already included.

National Miners Memorial, Sudbury

Elliot Lake Miners Memorial

Kirkland Lake Miners Memorial

Blind River Loggers Memorial; Algoma Steelworkers Memorial

Port Dover Fisherman’s Memorial

Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial in Toronto

Welland Canal Workers Monument

Victims of Sarnia’s Chemical Valley

Windsor Firefighters and Day of Mourning monuments