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Creating safer and fairer work environments, promoting dignity and respect, making room for everyone—this is how we can face the challenges of today’s world of work and prosper in the future. This is what is good for a country’s economy and for Canadians.
To help guarantee that, it takes dedication and contributions from all of us—governments, organizations, and people who truly care about workplace health and safety.
That’s why our government is proud to continue working closely with the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) to share resources, tools and information. These valuable resources are helping workplaces adapt to current and emerging health and safety issues that are impacting them and their workers, including younger workers, workers from vulnerable populations, and trans and non-binary workers.
Every worker in Canada has the right to work in a place that is both physically and psychologically safe for them. This past year, the work of CCOHS centred on promoting safe work practices around priority sectors and workplace areas of concern, including mental health, harassment and violence, occupational diseases, and construction.
With CCOHS, our government continues to provide federally regulated workplaces with information to help them prevent harassment and violence at work. A few years ago, in consultation with federally regulated employers and labour representatives, we created a Canada-wide roster of qualified and independent investigators available to workplaces. CCOHS continues to maintain this list on their website.
The Government of Canada is—and will remain—committed to protecting the health and safety of Canada’s workers. I look forward to continuing our collaboration with CCOHS to help improve the lives of working people in Canada.
The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr.Minister of Labour and Seniors
I am pleased to present the 2022-2023 Departmental Results Report for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).
The COVID-19 pandemic presented workplaces with unique challenges as they adapted to a changed world of work. To help workplaces sort through challenges such as return to work, and remote work, CCOHS relied on existing partnerships with the Public Health Agency of Canada and other stakeholders to continue offering resources and guidance that would address safety challenges both in the physical and remote workspaces.
CCOHS continued to show national leadership on emerging issues with a focus on harassment and violence, mental health, construction, Indigenous enterprises, and occupational disease. We created resource guides, courses, and other products to address these topics of concern that workplaces in Canada are facing today.
Additionally, to support workplaces in their efforts to create environments that are free from harassment and violence, new resources and tools were developed. We partnered with the Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board to create a harassment and violence-based guide to help Yukon employers and employees understand their legislative obligations in their workplace. CCOHS also continues to offer online courses that outline prevention measures and employer duties and responsibilities including those related to the federal Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations that came into force on January 1, 2021.
This year CCOHS continued to work with Indigenous communities in Canada to learn about their workplace needs and challenges, and learned how we can better serve and support them.
Resources developed this year included customized courses, web-based apps and tools, and the exchange of research and knowledge with stakeholders.
To ensure materials are provided in accessible formats that are free from barriers, CCOHS continued to provide resources and information written in plain language and produced in various formats and multiple languages. We hosted events with simultaneous French translation and produced informative videos with closed captions, and audio podcasts with downloadable transcripts in English and French. Going forward we plan to offer American Sign Language (ASL) and Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) when needed.
We remain dedicated to providing everyone in Canada with information and resources that are easy to access and can help make their workplaces safer.
Anne Tennier, P.Eng. EPPresident and Chief Executive Officer
Outreach: 10.7 million people visited the CCOHS website for health and safety information 13.9 million times this year. Results of our annual user feedback survey indicated that 89.5% of respondents found the information easy to access, and 82.8% said they would use information from the website to make changes to their workplace. The OSH Answers fact sheets are one of CCOHS’ most widely used public services. This year, over 9.3 million users made 12.2 million visits to the fact sheet web page, and 30.7% of those visits were from users in Canada. The Safety InfoLine [person-to-person] confidential service responded to 8,131 inquiries from users who needed direct support from our team of occupational health and safety technical specialists. Users were surveyed on the quality and effectiveness of the service, and the results revealed that 61.3% said the information received would lead to current or future changes to their workplace.
Partnerships/Collaborations: CCOHS continued its partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, offering guidance and resources to help workplaces in their transition from remote to in-person or hybrid work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, CCOHS worked with the Yukon Workers’ Safety and Compensation Board to launch a harassment and violence prevention-based app to help employers and employees understand their workplace legislative obligations. CCOHS collaborated with the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum to amplify the findings of their survey on opioid consumption in building trades and with Health Canada on creating hazardous product decision trees. CCOHS partnered with Workplace Strategies/Canada Life on development of the psychological safe leader tool.
For more information on CCOHS’ plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.
The goal of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is to provide easy access to credible information on occupational health and safety to help workers in Canada be safe at work, and support employers, labour groups and governments in their efforts to create healthy and safe workplaces. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, as a national institute, provides impartial information through various free and for fee bilingual products and services. Workers and employers in Canada can access a free, confidential service to have their health and safety questions answered personally via telephone, e-mail, person-to-person, fax or mail. In addition, a broad range of online and print resources are offered which support safety and health information needs of workers and workplaces in Canada. Products and services may be financially supported through cost recovery efforts, contributions from the Government of Canada and contributions from other stakeholders.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety collects, evaluates, creates and publishes authoritative information resources on occupational health and safety for the benefit of the working population in Canada. This information is used for education and training, research, development of policy and best practices, improvement of health and safety programs, achieving compliance, and for personal use. When the product or service provided by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is offered to stakeholders such as individuals, groups, and organizations within Canada and abroad with benefits beyond those enjoyed by the general public, the product or service becomes part of the cost-recovery program and a fee is charged.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety promotes and facilitates consultation and cooperation among federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions and participation by labour, employers and other stakeholders in order to assist in the establishment and maintenance of high standards and occupational health and safety initiatives for the Canadian context. The sharing of resources results in the coordinated and mutually beneficial development of unique programs, products and services. Collaborative projects are usually supported with a combination of financial and non-financial contributions to the programs by partners and stakeholders and result in advancement of the health and safety initiatives.
For the fiscal year 2022-2023, CCOHS focused its efforts on addressing the three departmental results and priorities in the sectors identified in the strategic plan:
CCOHS took on various initiatives from the strategic plan specifically for our priority sectors by providing education, information and resources aimed at COVID-19, harassment and violence, mental health, occupational disease, and impairment.
COVID-19: To help workplaces address the challenges associated with COVID-19, CCOHS continued its partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, offering guidance and resources to help workplaces operate safely during the pandemic.
Mental Health: CCOHS continues to support organizations create a mentally healthy workplace. Through partnerships with credible organizations and industry leaders across Canada, we offer a collection of mental health resources which include websites, online courses, fact sheets, podcasts, web apps and tools.
Harassment and Violence Prevention: To support workplaces in their efforts to provide environments that are free from harassment and violence, CCOHS provides a collection of online courses, tools, and guidance materials.
Occupational Disease: To promote the prevention of diseases like occupational asthma and cancer, CCOHS partners with organizations to offer tools about the risk factors linked to occupational disease.
Impairment in the Workplace: CCOHS continued to offer resources, guidance, and prevention messages to help employers and their workers learn about opioids, their intended use, how to address impairment, and how to respond to signs of poisoning.
CCOHS recognizes the importance of Gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) perspectives and is committed to ensuring diverse groups of workers in Canada benefit from our products and services.
CCOHS’ activities and initiatives support the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) and objectives such as: the promotion of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all by protecting labour rights and through the promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers; and by promoting a work environment that is both accountable and inclusive at all levels.
| Departmental Results | Performance Indicators | Target | Date toachieve target | 2020-21 actual results | 2021-22actual results | 2022-23actual results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadians and workers in Canada can easily access the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's occupational health and safety information and services. | Number of learning activities and opportunities on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors | Between 100 and 140 learning events on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors | March 2023 | 125 | 116 | 52I |
| Number of social media impressions on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, where the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is referenced as the source | Up to 3,000,000 social media impressions | March 2023 | 2,925,959 | 5,450,000 | 2,200,000II | |
| Percentage of users of CCOHS' website who indicated that information was easy to access | Between 75% and 90% | March 2023 | 86% | 86% | 90% | |
| Provide Canadians and workers in Canada with a national repository of key occupational health and safety knowledge, standards, statistics, and information tools that improves dissemination of occupational health and safety related information | Number of collections of occupational health and safety related records made available to Canadians and workers in Canada through repository tools | Between 1 to 3 new collections of records per year | March 2023 | 1 | 1 | 4III |
| Number of new tools made available to workers in Canada which address emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors | Between 20 and 30 new tools per year | March 2023 | 79 | 39 | 27 | |
| Number of times users accessed CCOHS' free online repository of occupational health and safety information or used its person-to-person support services | Between 1,900,000 to 2,300,000 times | March 2023 | 4,000,000 | 3,380,000 | 3,756,000IV | |
| Through the facilitation of collaborative initiatives with labour, employers and/or government on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, knowledge outcomes are utilized for the benefit of Canadians and workers throughout Canada | Number of new collaborative initiatives with a tripartite perspective on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, where knowledge outcomes are serviceable across Canada | Up to 6 new initiatives per year | March 2023 | 5 | 8 | 9v |
I.CCOHS has changes the way that learning initiatives are counted, this number reflects only the new initiatives that were developed in fiscal year 2022-23.
II.Social media impressions in fiscal year 2021-22 were significantly higher than usual due to paid social media advertising related to COVID-19. Impressions for 2022-23 have returned to a normal range.
III.Additional collections were created for COVID-19 resources and mental health.
IV.COVID-19 increased the demand for credible health and safety information and therefore increased visits to and usage of our online fact sheets.
V.Following the successful collaboration with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, CCOHS sought additional collaborative opportunities.
Financial, human resources and performance information for CCOHS’ program inventory is available in GC InfoBase.
| 2022-23 Main Estimates | 2022-23 planned spending | 2022-23total authoritiesavailable for use | 2022-23 actual spending(authorities used) |
2022-23
difference(actual
spending minus planned spending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $7,270,760 | $7,270,760 | $16,825,080 | $8,853,799 | $1,583,039 |
Financial, human resources and performance information for CCOHS’ program inventory is available in GC InfoBase.
| 2022-23planned full-time equivalents | 2022-23actual full-time equivalents | 2022-23 difference (actual full-time equivalents minus planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 75.5 | 69.1 | (6.4) |
Financial, human resources and performance information for CCOHS’ program inventory is available in GC InfoBase.
Internal services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:
Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses
CCOHS is a Phase 3 organization and is aiming to achieve the minimum 5% target by the end of 2024-25.
Following the announcement of the mandatory minimum target of 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous organizations, CCOHS evaluated internal procurement processes and identified opportunities to award contracts to Indigenous vendors. The strategy to achieve and surpass the minimum 5% target of awarded contracts to Indigenous organizations focuses on review of annual budget allocation and required procurement methodologies.
Internal evaluation of budgets and historical data confirmed that the majority of awarded contracts are designated as IT under software or hardware. CCOHS collaborates with Shared Services Canada (SSC) to process software and hardware orders through their client portals (ITPro and P2P). This procurement methodology allows CCOHS to identify Indigenous designated re-sellers for hardware requirements that will be used to attain quotations as needed. In addition, CCOHS will utilize SSC contacts to support identifying Indigenous re-sellers for software needs.
CCOHS is currently evaluating the use of professional services and the Indigenous vendor selection tools available within the Centralized Professional Services System. Although CCOHS does not contract professional services often, this tool will be used to identify pre-qualified vendors and allow future contracting process to ensure Indigenous vendors are considered.
CCOHS is a micro-organization with limited resources and contracting abilities due to the specific goods and services regularly procured by the organization. It regularly uses prescribed supply arrangements designated by SSC which supports the organization’s ability to seek Indigenous-designated vendors. Internal processes are being drafted to support ongoing review of needs and subsequent procurement options available to identify Indigenous vendors for consideration.
The procurement specialist at CCOHS has completed the mandatory course Indigenous Considerations in Procurement (COR409) from the Canada School of Public Service.
| 2022-23 Main Estimates | 2022-23planned spending | 2022-23total authoritiesavailable for use | 2022-23 actual spending(authorities used) | 2022-23 difference (actual spending minus plannedspending) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $4,270,121 | $4,270,121 | $4,576,791 | $4,301,571 | $31,450 |
| 2022-23planned full-time equivalents | 2022-23actual full-time equivalents | 2022-23 difference (actual full-time equivalents minus planned full-time equivalents) |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | 32.8 | 1.8 |
The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.
The total planned spending reported in fiscal years 2020-21 to 2022-23 includes Parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources including main estimates, recoveries and the use of cash respendable revenues pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act (CCOHS Act).
Fiscal 2023-24 to 2025-26 includes planned spending authorities which represent authorities approved in the 2022-23 main estimates and do not represent the use of CCOHS’ respendable revenues, as respendable revenues are only reported upon the approved disbursement of the funds within the fiscal year.
| Core responsibilities and internal services | 2022-23Main Estimates | 2022-23planned spending | 2023-24planned spending | 2024-25planned spending | 2022-23total authorities available for use | 2020-21actual spending (authorities used) | 2021-22actual spending (authorities used) | 2022-23actual spending (authorities used) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Occupational Health and Safety Resource | $7,270,760 | $7,270,760 | $7,270,760 | $7,270,760 | $16,825,080 | $7,577,114 | $8,613,556 | $8,853,799 |
| Internal services | $4,270,121 | $4,270,121 | $4,270,121 | $4,270,121 | $4,576,791 | $4,128,539 | $4,479,476 | $4,301,570 |
| Total | $11,540,881 | $11,540,881 | $11,540,881 | $11,540,881 | $21,401,871 | $11,705,653 | $13,093,032 | $13,155,369 |
The 2022-23 total authorities available for use shown in the table above represents the planned Parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources including the main estimates, supplementary estimates, recoveries and the use of cash respendable revenues pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act.
There was a slight increase in actual spending authorities used in fiscal 2022-23 compared with the prior year. This slight increase was attributable to an increase in staffing costs to support cost recovery revenue activities, and additional operating expenditures necessary to support the CCOHS’ current level of growth. These costs were funded by the CCOHS’ respendable / reinvestment authorities as per section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act.
The “Human resources summary for core responsibilities and internal services” table presents the full-time equivalents (FTEs) allocated to each of CCOHS’ core responsibilities and to internal services.
| Core responsibilitiesand internal services | 2020-21 actual full-time equivalents | 2021-22actual full-time equivalents | 2022-23planned full-time equivalents | 2022-23actual full-time equivalents | 2023-24planned full-time equivalents | 2024-25planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Occupational Health and Safety Resource | 70.8 | 80.2 | 75.5 | 69.1 | 79.8 | 79.8 |
| Internal services | 26.8 | 26 | 31 | 32.8 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| Total | 97.6 | 106.2 | 106.5 | 101.9 | 109.5 | 109.5 |
For information on CCOHS’ organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada.
Information on the alignment of CCOHS’ spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.
CCOHS’ financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2023, are available on the department’s website.
| Financial information | 2022-23planned results | 2022-23actual results | 2021-22actual results | Difference (2022-23 actual results minus 2022-23 planned results) | Difference (2022-23 actual results minus 2021-22 actual results) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | $15,090,619 | $15,081,735 | $14,590,070 | ($8,884) | $491,665 |
| Total revenues | $6,151,989 | $ 5,761,212 | $6,976,998 | ($390,777) | ($1,215,786) |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers | $8,938,630 | $9,320,523 | $7,613,072 | $381,893 | $1,707,451 |
Fiscal year 2022-23 saw an increase in the net cost of operations over the prior year (+22%). That said, an increase was expected as the actual net cost of operations was only slightly above plan (+4%).
Cost recovery revenues were projected to decrease in the 2021-22 fiscal, but did not drop as predicted. However, the drop for the 2022-23 fiscal was greater than expected primarily due to a delay in the launch of the new WHMIS course.
Operating expenses were 3% higher than the prior year, but on target with what was planned.
The 2022–23 planned results information is provided in CCOHS’ Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2022–23.
| Financial Information | 2022-23 | 2021-22 | Difference (2022-23 minus 2021-22) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total net liabilities | $4,497,535 | $3,776,745 | $720,790 |
| Total net financial assets | $3,116,098 | $2,330,280 | $785,818 |
| Departmental net debt | ($1,381,437) | ($1,446,465) | ($65,028) |
| Total non-financial assets | $574,466 | $471,366 | $103,100 |
| Departmental net financial position | ($806,971) | ($975,099) | ($168,128) |
Total CCOHS liabilities of $4.498 million include: $2.577 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities payable, $902 thousand in deferred cost recovery revenues, and $630 thousand in deferred employee compensation and benefits. The increase of $721 thousand is related primarily to a $743 thousand increase in accrued liabilities, the bulk of which related to salaries payable for the collective bargaining agreement signed in the 2023-24 fiscal. This increase was offset partially by a decrease of $43 thousand in deferred vacation pay and compensated leave as well as a $5 thousand decrease in deferred donations.
Total CCOHS non-financial assets of $574 thousand consist of $394 thousand in tangible capital assets and $180 thousand in prepaid expenses.
The increase of $168 thousand in departmental net financial position, which is the difference between the total non-financial assets and the departmental net debt, is mainly attributable to the increase in non-financial assets.
The 2022–23 planned results information is provided in CCOHS’ Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2022–23.
“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on CCOHS’ website.
Information on the operating context is available on CCOHS’ website.
CCOHS’ Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2022–23 are shown below.
Departmental Results Framework
Core Responsibility: National Occupational Health and Safety Resource
Departmental Results: Canadians and workers in Canada can easily access the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s occupational health and safety information and services
Departmental Results: Provide Canadians and workers in Canada with a National repository of key occupational health and safety knowledge, standards, statistics, and information tools that improves dissemination of occupational health and safety related information
Departmental Results: Through the facilitation of collaborative initiatives with labour, employers and/or government on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, knowledge outcomes are utilized for the benefit of Canadians and workers throughout Canada
Program Inventory
Financial, human resources and performance information for CCOHS’ Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.
The following supplementary information tables are available on CCOHS’ website:
The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.
A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.