Rogers Fined $260,000 Following Fatal 120-Metre Tower Fall Investigation

Rogers has been ordered to pay a $260,000 fine by the Ontario Court of Justice, following a tragic incident involving a contractor at one of its worksites. The penalty comes nearly four years after an employee from Verrascend Technologies fell to their death while working on a Rogers-owned cell tower.

The incident took place on January 26, 2022. According to the government’s investigation, the worker “fell approximately 120 metres while installing the final antenna on a telecommunications tower, resulting in a fatal fall.” While Verrascend was the direct employer, the tower was located on a worksite owned by Rogers, which “grants contractors access to its site to perform work.”

Following an investigation by the Labour Program, the federal government laid charges under the Canada Labour Code. On October 29, 2025, Rogers pled guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to several safety violations (via Reddit).

The court found that Rogers was responsible for “failing to provide or put in place a fall-protection system in work performed from a structure at a height of 3 metres or more.” Additionally, the company was cited for “failing to ensure that the Verrascend employee or other persons granted access to the work place, and who were using a personal fall-protection system, wore and used a full body harness.”

The prosecution also noted that Rogers failed to ensure workers “were provided with instruction by a qualified person in the use of” protection equipment, at the site located in Minden, about 200 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

According to Global News in 2022, Haliburton Highlands OPP was called to a working site about 15 kilometres south of Minden at roughly 11:30 a.m. following reports of a tragedy on Davis Lake Road. The victim sadly was pronounced dead at the scene.