WCB Grants Program

The mission of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) is to ensure and support safe and healthy work and workplaces. We put workers and employers at the center of all we do, and provide them with valued services for injury prevention, compensation, and return to health and work while maintaining system integrity.

Working with our partners, the WCB promotes safe and healthy workplaces while facilitating recovery and return to work.

The WCB Grants Program supports projects aimed at improving workplace health and safety, reducing the impact of workplace injuries and illness and enhancing the effectiveness of the workers’ compensation system in Manitoba.

The WCB Grants Program’s main objectives are:

Advance the knowledge of workplace injuries and illnesses, and workers’ compensation.
Develop collaborative research partnerships.
Promote practical solutions with potential to reduce the impact of injuries and illness and improve return to work outcomes.
Evaluate interventions, inform policy development and support innovation.

WCB Grants Program call for Letters of Intent (LOI)

The WCB Grants program has recently been updated. It now has a two-stage annual grants process. Applicants must submit an LOI, which is screened by a WCB review panel.

Following this review, applicants may be invited to submit full proposals, which are subject to a comprehensive evaluation to determine whether to approve grant funding.

Letter of Intent (LOI)

Proponents interested in grant opportunities should use the online LOI submission form to submit an LOI to the WCB during its annual grant process.

An LOI is an expression of interest in a topic that is aligned with the Grants Program objectives and a formal request for WCB grant funding.

An LOI is meant to be concise. It should contain a brief description of the project, including problem statement, approach/methodology, and expected impact, a list of team members and their expertise and a budget. Please see the LOI and full proposal user guide for further details.

Proponents are encouraged to discuss project ideas informally with the WCB Grants Program Coordinator at grants@wcb.mb.ca.

Submission deadlines

The WCB Grants program will start accepting LOIs for 2027 funding on October 1, 2026.

To be considered for funding, all Letters of Intent must be received by the WCB by 4PM CST on November 20, 2026.

After a review of the Letter of Intent submissions, the following deadlines are:

LOI full proposal invitation: January 25, 2027
Closing date to submit full proposals: March 8, 2027
Internal review of applications: March to May 2027
Applicants notified of funding decision: June 2027

Full proposal submission

The LOIs shortlisted by the review panel will be invited to submit a full proposal. The WCB Grants Program Coordinator will provide the proposal document. The deadline to submit full proposals is March 8, 2027.

Funding priorities

The program supports high-quality projects related to work-related illness and injury and workers’ compensation. Funding priorities can change over time, but projects typically given priority are those that address the most pressing issues facing the workers’ compensation system in Manitoba at any given time.

Broad funding priorities include:

Efficacy, fairness and responsiveness of the workers’ compensation system.
The future of work and the changing nature of claims.
Return to work.
Reducing the impact of injury and illness (includes prevention).

Funding

There is no maximum, but generally amounts would not exceed $200,000. Projects are typically funded for 12 to 24 months.

Proponents can apply for partial funding and reapply in subsequent grant years based on the same project plan, but the WCB is not obligated to fund subsequent years or additional project costs.

Important documents

Online Letter of Intent submission form (coming soon)

Grants Program Guide

LOI and Full Proposal User Guide

Report on projects

To read about the projects funded by this initiative, view the annual reports linked below: