OHS Legislation in Canada: Find the Law for Your Workplace

About OHS legislation

What OHS Legislation Is and When You Need It

Occupational health and safety legislation is the set of laws that sets the minimum standard for keeping people safe at work. It spells out what employers, supervisors, workers, prime contractors, suppliers and owners must do, gives inspectors the power to enforce it and sets the penalties when it isn't followed.

Canada doesn't have one national OHS law. It has 14: one for each of the 10 provinces and 3 territories, and one for federally regulated work. Each jurisdiction writes its own Act, regulations and, in some places, a code. They share the same basic ideas, such as finding and controlling hazards, training and supervising workers and involving them in safety, but the details, the thresholds and even the terms they use differ.

That matters because the law is the baseline everything else is measured against. Your safety program, your hazard assessments, your orientation and your audit results all rest on it. When an inspector visits, when an incident is investigated or when a client asks how you meet your legal obligations, the question is always which law applies and whether you met it. Enforcement makes a difference, too: a systematic review by the Institute for Work & Health found that inspections resulting in penalties reduce work injuries, while inspections without penalties have little effect.

You'll need to look up your OHS legislation when you:

start a business or hire your first worker;
take on work in another province or territory, or send workers there;
write or review your health and safety program, policies or procedures;
introduce a new hazard, process, piece of equipment or type of work;
respond to an inspector's order, an incident or a worker's concern;
prepare for a COR or SECOR audit, or answer a client's prequalification questions.

The good news is that you don't need to read all 14. Most workplaces need one, and the rest of this page shows you how to find it, read it and keep up with it.

Who it's for

Who Needs to Know the Law

Everyone at work has duties under OHS legislation, but the level of knowledge each person needs is different.

Employers and owners. They carry the broadest duties and need to know which laws apply, what they require and how the business meets them.
Supervisors. Several jurisdictions expect supervisors to know the legislation that applies to the work they direct, because they're the ones who make sure it happens on the floor.
Workers. Workers need to know their rights and duties, including the right to know about hazards, to take part in safety and to refuse unsafe work.
The joint health and safety committee or representative. They need enough knowledge of the law to inspect, raise concerns and recommend improvements.
Prime contractors, constructors and contractors. On shared sites, they need to know who's responsible for what under the law that applies there.
Safety advisors and consultants. They help employers interpret the law, apply it to the work and keep up with changes.

Some laws make this expectation explicit. Alberta's OHS Act, for example, requires employers to make sure workers are aware of their rights and duties, that supervisors are competent and familiar with the legislation that applies to the work they direct, and that current copies of the Act, regulations and OHS Code are readily available to workers. Other jurisdictions have similar duties, and auditors check for them.

Start here

How to Work Out Which Jurisdiction Applies

Finding the right OHS legislation starts with one question: is your business federally regulated? If it isn't, the law of the province or territory where the work is done applies. That's true for the large majority of Canadian employers.

Federally Regulated Workplaces

The federal government's list of federally regulated industries and workplaces includes air transportation and airports, banks, grain elevators, marine shipping, ports and ferries, pipelines, postal and courier services, broadcasting, telecommunications, railways and road transport that cross provincial or national borders, uranium mining, most federal Crown corporations, the federal public service and certain First Nations band council activities. It also covers businesses that are vital, essential or integral to one of those sectors.

What decides it is the nature of the business, not the job a particular worker does. A trucking company that regularly hauls across provincial borders is generally federally regulated, while a company whose trucks only run within one province generally isn't. A clerk at a bank works under federal law, and a clerk at a credit union usually doesn't. If your business sits near the line, ask the federal Labour Program or your provincial regulator to confirm it, and keep their answer on file.

Provincial and Territorial Workplaces

For everyone else, the work location decides. A company based in Calgary that sends a crew to a site near Regina follows Saskatchewan's law on that site, not Alberta's. A business with locations in three provinces follows three sets of legislation, one for each location, and a worker who travels follows the law where the work is done that day.

A few situations have their own arrangements. Offshore oil and gas work off Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia falls under the federal and provincial offshore accord legislation, administered by the offshore energy regulators, as Natural Resources Canada explains. Uranium mines and mills in Saskatchewan are federally regulated, but the Saskatchewan Uranium Mines and Mills Exclusion Regulations apply Saskatchewan's OHS law to them instead of Part II of the Canada Labour Code. In the North, Yukon has its own legislation, and one commission administers the separate laws of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Which OHS legislation applies to your workplace: a decision flow from checking for federal regulation to finding the province or territory where the work is done, then reading the Act, regulations, code and guidance — Two questions settle most cases: is the business federally regulated, and where is the work done?

All 14 jurisdictions

Find Your OHS Legislation: All 14 Jurisdictions

The table links each jurisdiction's main OHS Act, its main general regulations or code, and the regulator that enforces them. Every link goes to the official government or regulator source. Many jurisdictions also have regulations for specific hazards or industries, such as mining, so check the regulator's site for anything that applies to your work.

OHS legislation and regulators for all 14 Canadian jurisdictions
Jurisdiction	OHS Act	Main regulations and codes	Regulator
Alberta	Occupational Health and Safety Act	OHS Regulation OHS Code	Alberta Occupational Health and Safety
British Columbia	Workers Compensation Act (Part 2)	Occupational Health and Safety Regulation	WorkSafeBC
Saskatchewan	The Saskatchewan Employment Act (Part III)	The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020	Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety
Manitoba	The Workplace Safety and Health Act	Workplace Safety and Health Regulation	Workplace Safety and Health Branch
Ontario	Occupational Health and Safety Act	Industrial Establishments (Reg. 851) Construction Projects (O. Reg. 213/91)	Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
Quebec	Act respecting occupational health and safety	Regulation respecting occupational health and safety	CNESST
New Brunswick	Occupational Health and Safety Act	General Regulation 91-191	WorkSafeNB
Nova Scotia	Occupational Health and Safety Act	Occupational Safety General Regulations	Nova Scotia OHS Division
Prince Edward Island	Occupational Health and Safety Act	General Regulations	WCB PEI
Newfoundland and Labrador	Occupational Health and Safety Act	Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2012	Occupational Health and Safety Division
Yukon	Workers' Safety and Compensation Act	Workplace Health and Safety Regulations	Yukon Workers' Safety and Compensation Board
Northwest Territories	Safety Act	Occupational Health and Safety Regulations	Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC)
Nunavut	Safety Act	Occupational Health and Safety Regulations	WSCC (shared with the Northwest Territories)
Federal	Canada Labour Code (Part II)	Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations	Labour Program, Employment and Social Development Canada

How the law fits together

How OHS Law Is Built: Acts, Regulations, Codes and Guidance

OHS legislation comes in layers, and you need to know which layer you're reading. As Saskatchewan's own guide to understanding OHS in Saskatchewan puts it, the Act sets out general requirements, while the regulations give the detailed provisions.

The Act. The Act is passed by the legislature. It sets out who's covered, the general duties of employers, supervisors, workers and others, workers' rights, the powers of inspectors and the penalties. General duty clauses, such as an employer's duty to ensure the health and safety of workers as far as it's reasonably practicable, apply even where no specific rule exists.

Regulations and codes. Regulations are made under the Act and carry the same legal force. They hold the detailed rules on topics such as first aid, fall protection, confined spaces and WHMIS. Alberta splits its detailed rules between the OHS Regulation and the OHS Code, which sets the technical requirements. Ontario uses separate regulations for different sectors, such as industrial establishments and construction projects.

Standards adopted by reference. Many regulations require compliance with a CSA, ANSI or other standard. When they do, that standard becomes part of the legal requirement, so check which edition the law refers to.

Policies, guidelines and codes of practice. Regulators publish material that explains how they read the law. Their legal weight varies. In British Columbia, WorkSafeBC's OHS policies must be applied by WorkSafeBC and the appeal tribunal, while its OHS guidelines help interpret the law but aren't the only acceptable interpretation. In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the WSCC notes in its joint OHS committee code of practice that codes of practice don't have the same legal force as the Acts and regulations. Guidance isn't law, but it shows how inspectors are likely to read the law, so it's worth following.

How OHS legislation is built in Canada: the Act at the top, then regulations and codes, standards adopted by reference, and regulator policies, guidelines and codes of practice — The layers of OHS law in Canada. The Act and its regulations and codes are law; policies, guidelines and codes of practice explain and support them.

Reading the law

How to Read and Interpret OHS Legislation

Legislation reads differently from most documents, but a few habits make it much easier to use.

Start with the definitions. Words such as "worker," "work site," "supervisor," "competent" and "prime contractor" have specific legal meanings, and they're not always the same from one jurisdiction to the next. Alberta talks about a work site, for example, where most other jurisdictions talk about a workplace. Read the definitions section first, and come back to it whenever a word seems to carry weight.

Check the scope and application. Early sections tell you who and what the law covers, and what's excluded. A section may apply only to construction, only to a certain number of workers or only to particular equipment.

Read the duty words carefully. "Shall" and "must" create obligations. "May" gives permission or a choice. The federal Interpretation Act says that "shall" is imperative and "may" is permissive, and each province and territory has its own interpretation statute with similar rules. These statutes also tell courts to read laws as remedial, giving them the fair, large and liberal interpretation that best achieves their purpose. British Columbia's Interpretation Act is a good example. In practice, that means an OHS law is read to protect workers, not narrowly to excuse a gap.

Understand "reasonably practicable." Many duties apply as far as it's reasonably practicable. Alberta's plain-language explainer, Legal terms 101: reasonably practicable, describes it as what's feasible in the circumstances and what a reasonable person would consider appropriate. Cost and convenience alone don't make a precaution impracticable. Our article on what reasonably practicable means goes into more detail.

Read the layers together. A general duty in the Act, a specific rule in a regulation and an adopted standard often all apply to the same work. Where a specific rule exists, follow it; where it doesn't, the general duty still applies.

Use the current, official version. Many online consolidations are kept up to date but are labelled unofficial. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories all say so on their consolidations, while the federal Justice Laws Website, LegisQuébec and Newfoundland and Labrador's House of Assembly publish official versions. Check the currency date, and don't rely on old printouts or third-party summaries.

Ask when it matters. Regulators answer questions about their legislation, and their guidance often covers the most common ones. For a decision with real consequences, such as whether a contract makes you the prime contractor, get advice before you act.

The legal standard

What Due Diligence Means

Due diligence is the legal standard at the heart of Canadian OHS law. It means taking every reasonable precaution in the circumstances to prevent injury and illness, and being able to show you did.

Its legal footing comes from the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Sault Ste. Marie (1978). The Court recognized a category of public welfare offences, called strict liability offences, that includes most OHS offences. The prosecution doesn't have to prove the accused meant to break the law. Instead, once the offence itself is proven, the accused can avoid conviction by showing, on a balance of probabilities, that it took all reasonable care. That's the due diligence defence.

Regulators describe it the same way. WorkSafeBC sums it up as "taking all reasonable steps to protect workers from harm," and Alberta's explainer ties it to being able to prove that all reasonably practicable steps were taken. Due diligence is judged on what you did before the incident, not on what you meant to do or did afterward.

In practice, due diligence is built from the ordinary parts of a good safety program:

knowing the legislation that applies and what it requires;
identifying hazards and controlling them, starting with the most effective controls;
written procedures for the higher-risk work;
training, competency checks and supervision;
enforcing the rules consistently and correcting problems when they're found;
records that show all of the above actually happened.

There's also a criminal law side. Section 217.1 of the Criminal Code, added after the 1992 Westray mine disaster, says anyone who directs how others work has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm. A serious failure can lead to criminal negligence charges against organizations and individuals, separate from any OHS prosecution. Our article on OH&S due diligence in Canada looks at what it means for employers and supervisors.

Across Canada

Key Differences Between Provinces and Territories

The core ideas are shared, but the details aren't, and the differences catch out employers who work in more than one jurisdiction. The table shows two of the most common: when you need a joint health and safety committee or representative, and when you need a written health and safety program.

Committee and written program thresholds by jurisdiction
Jurisdiction	Joint committee or representative	Written health and safety program
Alberta	20 or more workers; representative for 5 to 19	20 or more workers
British Columbia	20 or more workers; representative for 10 to 19	Formal program at 20 or more workers with a moderate or high hazard rating, or 50 or more; less formal program for others
Saskatchewan	10 or more workers; representative at prescribed workplaces with 5 to 9	Prescribed workplaces with 10 or more workers
Manitoba	20 or more workers; representative for 5 to 19	20 or more workers
Ontario	20 or more regularly employed; representative for 6 to 19	Written policy, reviewed yearly, and a program where more than 5 workers are regularly employed
New Brunswick	20 or more workers; for 5 to 19, the safety policy may provide for a representative	20 or more workers
Nova Scotia	20 or more workers; representative for 5 to 19	Program at 20 or more; written policy at 5 or more
Yukon	20 or more workers; representative for 5 to 19	Health and safety management system at 20 or more, with separate requirements for smaller workplaces
Northwest Territories and Nunavut	20 or more workers; representative under 20	20 or more workers
Federal	Work place committee at 20 or more; representative under 20; policy committee at 300 or more	Hazard prevention program for every employer, whatever its size

Thresholds are counted differently, too. Some jurisdictions count workers at each workplace and some count them across the employer, some count regular workers only, and some average the count over a year, so check the exact wording before relying on a number. Our article on when a committee or representative is legally required goes into the detail for Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Other differences show up in how the law is organized and enforced:

Who regulates. In British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the workers' compensation board or commission also enforces OHS. In Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, a government department does.
Hazard assessment. Alberta's OHS Code spells out a formal hazard assessment process. Most other jurisdictions build hazard identification into a required program or the employer's general duties. Our guide on how to complete a job hazard analysis shows how that works in practice.
Program requirements for small employers. Federally regulated employers need a hazard prevention program regardless of size, as the federal hazard prevention program guide explains, while most provinces set a threshold.
Psychosocial risks. Quebec now requires prevention programs to identify and analyze psychosocial risks, which goes further than most jurisdictions.
Terms. The same role can have a different name. Ontario's constructor is close to Alberta's prime contractor, for example, but the duties aren't identical.

Staying current

How to Keep Up With Changes

OHS legislation changes more often than most employers expect. Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, raised its committee threshold from 10 to 20 workers in March 2024, and New Brunswick amended its Act in 2024 so employers with 20 or more employees must establish and implement their written health and safety program, not just establish it. A program written to last year's law can fall out of step without anyone noticing.

A few simple habits keep you current:

Keep a legal register. List the Acts, regulations, code parts and adopted standards that apply to your work, what each requires of you, how you meet it, who owns it and when it was last reviewed.
Subscribe to your regulator. Most regulators publish news, bulletins or email updates when legislation or guidance changes.
Check currency dates. Before you rely on a section, check the date the consolidation is current to, and look for amendments that haven't come into force yet.
Review on a schedule. Review your register at least once a year, and whenever you start new work, enter a new jurisdiction or introduce a new hazard.
Follow your industry. Industry safety associations and COR certifying partners often flag changes that affect their members early.

Inspectors enforce the law as it stands today, not as it stood when your manual was written, so a register reviewed on schedule is one of the simplest ways to show due diligence.

Keeping OHS legislation current: a manager and a safety coordinator updating a legal register of occupational health and safety requirements at a desk

Guides

Guides That Put the Law Into Practice

Guides that go deeper into specific parts of OHS law will be listed in this category as they're published. In the meantime, this guide shows how the law turns into everyday safety work.

How to Complete a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA)

How to build one formal, written JHA for each job or position, covering every task, so you can show how you meet your duty to identify and control hazards.

Read the guide →

Related categories

From our audits

Common Mistakes With OHS Legislation

Assuming head office's province applies everywhere. The law where the work is done applies, so a crew working in another province follows that province's legislation.
Missing federal jurisdiction. Businesses that cross provincial borders, such as some trucking and courier operations, may fall under the Canada Labour Code without realizing it.
Reading the Act but not the regulations. The detailed requirements usually sit in the regulations or code, and the Act alone won't tell you what's needed.
Relying on old or unofficial copies. Old printouts, summaries and other companies' manuals go out of date. Use the current consolidation from the official source.
Treating guidance as optional, or as the law itself. Guidance shows how the regulator reads the law. It's worth following, but it doesn't replace the legal text.
Having no way to track changes. Without a legal register and a review date, a program quietly falls out of step with the law.

Free downloads

Free OHS Legislation Downloads

Two free downloads go with this page. Click a button to download the PDF.

OHS Legislation Quick Reference (PDF). A two-page summary of how to find the law that applies to your workplace, with the Act, main regulations and regulator for all 14 jurisdictions as clickable links.
Legal Register Template (PDF). A simple register for listing the legal requirements that apply to your work, how you meet each one, who owns it and when it was last reviewed.

Download the Quick Reference (PDF)Download the Legal Register (PDF)

From the blog

How Calgary Safety Consultants Can Help

Calgary Safety Consultants helps employers understand the OHS legislation that applies to them and turn it into a practical program. Our consulting covers legal registers, program and manual development, multi-province operations, responses to orders and inspections, and audit preparation, with a focus on Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Our online training and free downloads are available anywhere in Canada.

We help employers prepare for COR and SECOR audits, but we don't issue certificates. CORs and SECORs are issued through the applicable certifying partner, and no document guarantees an audit result.

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions About OHS Legislation

Answers to the questions employers ask most often about OHS legislation in Canada.

What OHS legislation applies to my workplace?

If your business is federally regulated, Part II of the Canada Labour Code and its regulations apply. Otherwise, the OHS legislation of the province or territory where the work is done applies. A business working in more than one province follows each province's law at its own locations, and the table on this page links the Act, regulations and regulator for all 14 jurisdictions.

How do I know if my business is federally regulated?

Check the federal government's list of federally regulated industries, which includes banks, airlines and airports, railways, telecommunications, broadcasting, ports and shipping, pipelines, postal services and road transport that crosses provincial or national borders. What counts is the nature of your business, not an individual's job. If you're unsure, ask the federal Labour Program and keep the answer on file.

Does Canada have a national OHS law?

No. Canada has 14 OHS jurisdictions: the 10 provinces, the 3 territories and the federal government. Each has its own Act and regulations. The Canada Labour Code applies only to federally regulated workplaces, which are a small share of employers. Most businesses follow the law of the province or territory where the work is done.

What's the difference between an Act and a regulation?

The Act is passed by the legislature and sets out the general framework: who's covered, the main duties and rights, inspectors' powers and penalties. Regulations are made under the Act and hold the detailed rules on specific topics, such as first aid or fall protection. Both are law, and you need to read them together to know what's required.

Is a code or code of practice legally binding?

It depends on what it is. Alberta's OHS Code is a regulation and fully binding. Codes of practice published by regulators, such as those from the WSCC in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, generally don't have the same legal force as the Act and regulations, although following them helps show you've met the law. Check how your jurisdiction treats each document.

Are regulator guidelines and policies law?

Not in the same way as the Act and regulations. Guidelines explain how a regulator reads the law and what it expects, and some policies, such as WorkSafeBC's OHS policies, are binding on the regulator itself. Following guidance is a strong way to show compliance, but it doesn't replace the legal text, and it can't lower a requirement in the law.

What does due diligence mean in OHS?

Due diligence means taking every reasonable precaution in the circumstances to prevent injury and illness, and being able to show it. Under the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Sault Ste. Marie, most OHS offences are strict liability offences, so an accused can avoid conviction by proving it took all reasonable care. Records of hazard assessments, training, supervision and corrective action are how you show it.

What does reasonably practicable mean?

It means what's feasible in the circumstances and what a reasonable person would consider appropriate, weighing the risk against the time, effort and cost of controlling it. A precaution isn't impracticable just because it's inconvenient or costs money. Many OHS duties apply as far as it's reasonably practicable, so the term comes up often when interpreting the law.

Which law applies when my workers travel to another province?

The law where the work is done. A crew from Alberta working on a site in Saskatchewan follows Saskatchewan's OHS legislation while it's there. Orientation, committees, first aid and other requirements should match that province's rules. The exception is a federally regulated business, which follows the Canada Labour Code wherever it operates in Canada.

Do OHS laws apply to small businesses?

Yes. OHS legislation applies to employers of every size, apart from a few specific exclusions set out in each law. Some requirements, such as a joint health and safety committee or a written program, only start at a set number of workers, and those thresholds vary by jurisdiction. The general duties, such as protecting workers' health and safety and training them, apply from the first worker.

Where do I find the official version of the law?

Use the government's own legislation site or King's Printer, linked in the table on this page. Many online consolidations are labelled unofficial but are kept current and are what most people use day to day. Some jurisdictions, such as Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, publish official versions online. Always check the date the consolidation is current to.

How often does OHS legislation change?

Changes happen every year somewhere in Canada, from new regulations to changed thresholds. Newfoundland and Labrador raised its committee threshold in 2024, for example, and New Brunswick amended its Act the same year. Subscribe to your regulator's updates, keep a legal register and review it at least once a year and whenever your work changes.

What is the Westray law?

It's the common name for the Criminal Code amendments that came into force in 2004 after the 1992 Westray mine disaster in Nova Scotia. They added section 217.1, which says anyone who directs how others do their work has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to them and others, and set rules for holding organizations criminally responsible. Serious breaches can lead to criminal negligence charges against organizations and individuals.

Do I need a joint health and safety committee?

Most jurisdictions require a joint committee at 20 or more workers and a health and safety representative for smaller workplaces, but the numbers vary. Saskatchewan requires a committee at 10 or more workers, for example, and British Columbia requires a representative from 10 to 19. Check the exact threshold and how workers are counted in your own legislation.

Who enforces OHS law in my province or territory?

Each jurisdiction has its own regulator. In some, it's the workers' compensation board, such as WorkSafeBC or WorkSafeNB. In others, it's a government department, such as Alberta OHS or Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Federally regulated workplaces are overseen by the federal Labour Program. The table on this page links each regulator.

Sources

This page is general information, not legal advice. OHS requirements differ between provinces, territories and federally regulated workplaces, and they change over time, so always check the current legislation that applies to your workplace and get advice for decisions with legal consequences.

Talk to a safety consultant

Not Sure Which Law Applies to You?

Working in more than one province, unsure whether you're federally regulated, or facing an inspector's order? Complete the form below or book a 30-minute consultation, and we'll help you work out the next practical step.

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OHS Legislation in Canada