08:40 AM EST, 11/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Seven workers' compensation boards are currently holding onto nearly $5 billion in surplus funds that should be returned to small businesses, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business's (CFIB) research snapshot, published on Thursday.

Boards in British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and the Yukon are in an overfunded position, noted CFIB.

For a typical small business with five employees, rebates could total over $4,800 in New Brunswick, $3,631 in British Columbia, and $3,652 in Yukon, it pointed out.

CFIB urges governments to return rebates and to follow Ontario's precedent by legislating the return of WCB surplus funds to employers.