By Peter Spence, VP of Sales & Partnerships, AuditSoft
Peter has 10+ years of experience in the regulatory technology and safety & compliance industry. He was involved in the early rollout of the Certificate Of Recognition (COR) program in Ontario and has completed the IHSA COR Internal Auditor and the Basic Auditing Principles courses. Prior to AuditSoft, Peter worked for the leading provider of global legal and regulatory compliance content, consulting Fortune 500 companies and supporting their rollout of global corporate compliance and auditing programs. Connect with Peter on LinkedIn.
In a recent CBC article, Minister Anita Anand highlighted the need for mutual recognition of regulations across Canada, stating:
“We need mutual recognition of rules across the country so that if you’re a trucker, you don’t have to comply with 13 different sets of regulations.”
This statement comes amid a federal push to reduce red tape and help Canadian businesses operate more efficiently across provinces. This same principle should apply to safety and compliance, particularly through broader adoption of the Harmonized Certificate of Recognition (COR) audit tool.
Canada is a leader in safety and compliance, but we should always strive for better. One clear opportunity for improvement is broader adoption of the Harmonized COR audit tool, developed by the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA). This tool provides a consistent national framework for workplace safety certification, reducing inconsistencies that create administrative and operational challenges for businesses.
Today, provinces like Nova Scotia (CSNS), Saskatchewan (SCSA), Manitoba (MHCA), Newfoundland and Labrador (NLCSA), and Alberta (AFPA) have embraced the harmonized COR standard—but broader adoption remains critical.
A nationally recognized COR standard would:
✔ Reduce administrative burdens for businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions
✔ Ensure safety standards are consistent across provinces
✔ Improve efficiency in the prequalification process for contractors and suppliers
✔ Increase mobility for workers and businesses, eliminating duplicate certifications
✔ Capture better data metrics for continuous improvement benchmarking
The last point is particularly important. Capturing better data metrics through a harmonized COR standard makes perfect sense.
A unified audit tool allows organizations and regulators to compare performance metrics more effectively, track compliance trends, and identify best practices that drive continuous safety improvements across industries. This also strengthens the case for wider adoption—better data leads to more informed decision-making, targeted safety initiatives, and stronger industry standards.
Just as Ottawa is working to remove trade barriers, harmonizing safety certification across Canada is another practical, pro-business move. The Harmonized COR audit tool is already proving its value—now is the time for more provinces to adopt this model and create a simpler, safer, and more efficient system for Canadian businesses.
Provinces or Certifying Partners that have yet to adopt the harmonized COR standard should see this as an opportunity to support businesses, enhance worker safety, and drive national consistency.
By Peter Spence
The leading safety and compliance auditing and data analytics software.