Canada's Building Trades Unions Statement for the 2025 Day of Mourning

Cision Canada

28-04-2025

OTTAWA, ON, /CNW/ - Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada's Building Trades Unions, is calling on workers and employers across the construction industry to take a moment this Day of Mourning to honour workers who have been injured, fallen ill, or lost their lives on the job—and to renew our shared commitment to building safer workplaces for all.
The 2025 Day of Mourning is Monday, April 28th.
"On the National Day of Mourning, Canada's Building Trades Unions stand shoulder to shoulder with workers across the country to remember those we've lost to workplace accidents and occupational illness," said Executive Director Sean Strickland. "This year, we're putting a spotlight on trenching safety—because no one should face life-threatening risks doing the job they're trained for. Our focus is, and always will be, on making sure every worker gets home safe at the end of the day."
Trenching accidents—some of the most preventable yet devastating incidents in construction—have been a tragic and recurring concern across skilled trades in recent years. Strickland added: "No one should lose their life in a preventable trench collapse. Raising awareness, improving training, and enforcing safety standards must be a top priority."
According to the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada, 1,057 workers lost their lives due to workplace incidents in 2023—the most recent year for which complete data is available.
"Despite the progress we've made, construction remains the fourth highest occupation group for workplace fatalities, at a rate of 20.2 deaths per 100,000 workers," said Robert Kucheran, Chair of the Canadian Executive Board of Canada's Building Trades Unions. "We cannot accept these numbers as inevitable."
"We must remember the dead and continue to fight for the living," says Strickland. "One life lost on the job is one too many—and it's on all of us to make sure no worker ever has to face that risk alone."
About Canada's Building Trades Unions
For more information, go to www.buildingtrades.ca
Canada's Building Trades Unions are an organization representing 14 international unions in the construction, maintenance and fabrication industries that collectively represent 600,000 skilled trades workers in Canada who work in more than 60 different trades and occupations and generate six per cent of Canada's GDP. CBTU's mission is to advocate for public policy and work opportunities that benefit our members and improves the living and working conditions for construction workers across Canada.