Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers Accreditation Support
Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers is the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development programme that accredits occupational health and safety management systems and recognises employers who have successfully implemented one. Recognition is granted by the Chief Prevention Officer. PHASCORP builds and prepares the management system, supports the third-party audit that verifies it, and assists with the application for recognition.
Request a scoping call: (647) 564-6824
What recognition provides
Formal provincial recognition. Employers recognised under the programme may describe themselves as recognised by Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer. On a prequalification questionnaire, in a tender response, or in front of a customer’s procurement team, this is a provincial government signal that the organisation’s management system has been independently audited and accepted by the Ministry. Comparatively few Ontario employers hold it.
Potential eligibility for WSIB financial incentives. Once the Ministry recognises an employer, it shares that information with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for consideration under the Ontario Safe Employers Rebate Program. Eligibility carries its own conditions, including compliance with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, and reconciliation of any outstanding balances with the Board.
A management system that has been tested. Accreditation requires third-party verification that the system is genuinely implemented rather than merely documented. Employers frequently discover during this process that the written programme and the operating floor have diverged.
A realistic view of the financial incentive
We think it is worth setting expectations accurately before an organisation commits to this pathway.
In the autumn of 2025 the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board distributed a further two billion dollars in surplus funds to eligible safe Ontario businesses, amounting to approximately 61 per cent of 2024 premiums for the average business, and reduced the average premium rate again with effect from 1 January 2026 to its lowest level in more than fifty years.
In that environment the rebate available through recognition remains a genuine benefit, but it is no longer the most compelling reason to pursue accreditation. The stronger reason is recognition itself and the access to work it supports. Organisations whose growth depends on tenders, prequalification and large corporate customers hold a credential that very few competitors can produce.
We would rather an organisation enter this process for the reason that will still hold in three years.
Two routes to accreditation
Using a pre-accredited standard. Where a management system is built on a standard the Chief Prevention Officer has already accredited, the system itself does not require separate accreditation. The pre accredited standards are ISO 45001:2018, CSA Z45001-19, BS OHSAS 18001:2007 and COR 2020.
This is the route most of our clients take, because work undertaken for COR 2020 or ISO 45001 carries directly into
recognition rather than beginning again against a different framework.
Accrediting your own system. An organisation may develop a management system satisfying the Chief Prevention Officer’s accreditation standard and apply to have that system accredited directly. This route takes longer and is generally appropriate only where a mature in-house system already exists and the organisation does not wish to rebuild it against an external standard.
The criteria for recognition
To be recognised by the Chief Prevention Officer, an employer must:
1. Provide verification of successful implementation of the management system through a third-party audit
2. Demonstrate compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act
3. Demonstrate a commitment to worker participation and to the internal responsibility system in the workplace
The third criterion causes the most difficulty. It is not a documentation exercise. It requires that the joint health and safety committee genuinely functions, that its written recommendations receive responses, and that workers participate in hazard identification and control. We assess this honestly before an application is submitted, because it is the requirement most likely to defeat an otherwise well prepared submission.
The decision that must be made first
Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers and the WSIB Health and Safety Excellence programme are mutually exclusive.
Businesses that have applied for or been recognised through Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers are not eligible to participate in, or receive financial incentives from, the Health and Safety Excellence programme, and the Board disenrols a business from Excellence once it applies for recognition. The Board’s own guidance is to complete the Excellence programme topics that make sense for the business first, and then to pursue recognition.
The order in which these are approached carries real financial consequences and cannot readily be reversed. We model both pathways against your premium base and the maturity of your existing system before any commitment is made.
How we support the process
Gap assessment against the accreditation standard being pursued. Development or remediation of the management system. Internal audit and internal auditor training. Preparation for and support through the third-party audit. Assembly of the application for recognition. Ongoing maintenance of the system afterwards, since recognition is not a single event.
Request a scoping call: (647) 564-6824 or info@phascorp.com
Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers is a programme of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development that accredits occupational health and safety management systems and recognises employers who have successfully implemented one. Recognition is granted by the Chief Prevention Officer.
Recognised employers may describe themselves as recognised by Ontario’s Chief Prevention Officer, and the Ministry shares their information with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for consideration of financial incentives under the Ontario Safe Employers Rebate Program.
ISO 45001:2018, CSA Z45001-19, BS OHSAS 18001:2007 and COR 2020. Where a management system is based on one of these, it does not require separate accreditation.
An employer must provide verification of successful implementation of the management system through a third-party audit, demonstrate compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and demonstrate a commitment to worker participation and the internal responsibility system.
No. The programme does not affect enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Act at the workplaces of recognised employers. Ministry inspectors continue to conduct proactive inspections based on risk. Recognition is a credential, not an exemption.
No. The two are mutually exclusive. Applying for recognition disenrols a business from theHealth and Safety Excellence programme and makes it ineligible for that programme’s financial incentives. The Board recommends completing relevant Excellence topics first.
This depends on the route taken and the maturity of the existing system. Where COR 2020 or ISO 45001 is the underlying standard, the timeline for that certification applies first: commonly 8 to 18 months for COR 2020 from a standing start, and 6 to 12 months for ISO 45001 where a management system already exists. The application for recognition follows a successful third-party audit.
No. Accreditation and recognition are granted by the Chief Prevention Officer, and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board administers the associated financial incentives. We develop and prepare the management system, support the third-party audit and assist with the application.
No. Recognition by the Chief Prevention Officer makes an employer eligible for consideration by the Board, subject to further conditions including compliance with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 and the reconciliation of any outstanding balances.