An Ontario-based construction firm is being fined just over $1.2 million for safety violations relating to three crane-related incidents in Victoria and Vancouver, one of which ended in the death of a mother of two in Vancouver last year.
On Friday, Dec 12, WorkSafeBC announced they imposed three penalties against the Mississauga-based EllisDon Corporation for the incidents that occurred in 2024 and 2025.
The first two fines against the firm – a total of $688,589 – involved one site in Victoria in June 2025, and one at a site in Vancouver’s Oakridge Park in April 2025. No serious injuries were reported as a result.
One of the incidents involved a load of steel canopy components that fell from a crane, and the second involved “core box formwork” that fell from a crane.
WorkSafeBC found that in both incidents the firm did not review the lift plans before lifting.
“As prime contractor of a multiple-employer workplace, the firm failed to do everything reasonable to establish and maintain a system to ensure regulatory compliance. This was a repeated and high-risk violation,” noted WorkSafeBC.
The third fine against the firm is $514,831 relating to the death of Yuridia Flores, who was fatally struck by a flytable that fell from a crane at the Oakridge Park site in February 2024. The crane was being operated by EllisDon subcontractor Newway Concrete Forming, who was also fined $112,625.
An investigation found that EllisDon had not conducted regular reviews of the subcontractors’ safe work procedures, a necessary risk assessment was not conducted, and the lift on the day of the incident was not identified as a “critical lift.”
“The primary purpose of an administrative penalty is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty — and other employers — to comply with occupational health and safety legislation and regulation and keep their workplaces safe,” noted WorkSafeBC.