Each year in Canada, the costs of disability arising from work-related causes – including workers’ compensation and health-care costs – exceed $6.7 billion. Despite the significant financial and social impacts of worker injury and illness, only a small fraction of Canadian researchers are dedicated to examining work disability prevention issues.
An innovative program that attracts international students, the Work Disability Prevention Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategic Training Program, aims to build research capacity in young researchers and to create a strong network that examines these complex issues.