{"id":3434,"date":"2026-04-13T21:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/3434\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T21:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T21:31:21","slug":"canadas-labour-ministers-agree-to-harmonize-some-workplace-safety-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/3434\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s labour ministers agree to \u2018harmonize\u2019 some workplace safety standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada\u2019s provinces and territories plan to create a single nationwide standard for workplace training that Ontario\u2019s labour minister touts as a \u201cone Canada, one standard\u201d plan.<\/p>\n

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The plan will see the 13 jurisdictions work to harmonize training for working at heights and mobile lifts by Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

The proposal was put forward by Minister David Piccini and endorsed by all provinces and territories, along with the federal Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a fundamental recognition that a certification earned anywhere should mean something everywhere and that provincial borders shouldn\u2019t be provincial barriers,\u201d Piccini told Global News in an interview on Monday.<\/p>\n

The provinces and territories will also consult on training for hoisting and rigging, plus trenching and shoring, by the same date. In addition, work will be done on certifications for construction supervisors and entry-level workers by May 2027.<\/p>\n

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Due to retraining requirements, a construction project in need of 1,500 out-of-province workers could lead to as much as $270,000 in costs and about 10,500 hours in lost productivity, according to an Ontario government official, who spoke on background.<\/p>\n

Piccini told Global News that factors like U.S. tariffs mean action must be taken amid the push for nation-building projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really united in our shared commitment to nation build and to put forward a proposal of one Canada, one standard for health and safety harmonization,\u201d Piccini said.<\/p>\n

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Canada\u2019s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) encouraged harmonization during Friday\u2019s meeting, telling the ministers a \u201cpolitical momentum\u201d was needed to ensure it happens quickly.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe all know that in the current economic and geopolitical context, Canada needs to build a more diverse, resilient and efficient economy. Governments, private and public sector organizations, and unions: we all bear part of the responsibility for driving this progress forward,\u201d said CBTU executive director Sean Strickland.<\/p>\n

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Strickland went on to note Canada\u2019s premiers had committed to advancing labour mobility by prioritizing health and safety standards in the construction industry by fall 2026.<\/p>\n

Zerucelli told Global News that training for working at height and mobile elevating work platforms were chosen as the ones to harmonize first because of stakeholders, including the workers themselves.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEverybody has different working-at-heights regulations, it\u2019s something that people can gravitate to and it\u2019s something that stakeholders themselves said would be a challenge,\u201d Zerucelli said in an interview. \u201cIt was driven by workers about something that they were seeing, about the costs that were connected to construction companies, to unions, to workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLabour ministers from multiple provinces and territories stand for a photo during a meeting April 10 on harmonizing workplace training standards.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tOntario Ministry of Labour\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Harmonization does have its limits, according to the Canadian Construction Association, if\u00a0underlying issues aren\u2019t also tackled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile these efforts could result in some reduction in training costs for employers, those savings are likely to be eclipsed by the rising costs of construction materials and business operations as a result of domestic and international economic circumstances,\u201d said Rodrigue Gilbert, president of the association, in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n

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He went on to say the industry is facing a shortage of approximately 108,000 workers over the next 10 years and urged the government to streamline entry into the sector.<\/p>\n

Piccini said he recognizes some may be concerned the move could \u201cweaken\u201d standards, but said even these first steps move things forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The ministers will meet again in the fall in Nova Scotia and then in Saskatchewan in the spring to discuss the progress made.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s provinces and territories plan to create a single nationwide standard for workplace training that Ontario\u2019s labour minister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,2161,2162,113,2160],"class_list":["post-3434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-canada","tag-construction-sites","tag-david-piccini","tag-politics","tag-workplace-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}