This can be a wrong assumption. Before any sub trades steps on a job site, forms have to be submitted to WSIB. Once WSIB reviews, they will advise if the sub trade is truly an independent contractor.

Unfortunately most don’t know this process or cannot wait for approval to start working on the job. Once they come on your job site, they
immediately become your employee and you become liable to pay
their WSIB premium rates. This situation is not widely known and these premiums normally go unpaid to WSIB. Again it may take years before this situation comes to light and this can happen in two ways.

The first way is a WSIB audit. This occurs either when the sub contractor you hired gets audited, or when someone you subbed work from in the past gets audited. WSIB normally then filters down to everyone involved with that person and in turn, they normally get audited.

The second way WSIB catches contractors, is when injuries occurs to these trades on the job sites. When this occurs and they go to the emergency department at the hospitals for care, the hospital under law has to report this directly to WSIB.

WSIB then traces it back to you the contractor who hired the sub trade and its inevitable WSIB will now audit you.

Audits will show all money paid to sub trades over the years, and where no premiums were submitted to WSIB. These outstanding back premiums will accrue, and include fines & interest This owed amount to WSIB could add up and cause financial hardship or even sink a person and their business.

These rules and regulation make it very difficult for self employed contractors to operate a business in.
E&EO