2020-2021 Departmental Results Report

From the Minister

The Honourable Minister Seamus O'Regan

I am pleased to present the 2020-21 Departmental Results Report for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) as the new Minister of Labour.

CCOHS supports the fundamental rights of all workers in Canada to healthy and safe working environments. CCOHS shares information with employers, workers, and stakeholders across the country to provide a national perspective on current and emerging issues that affect workers and workplaces alike.

This year the COVID-19 pandemic created uncertainty and stress for many and changed how Canadians work. Thousands of frontline and essential workers were called on to serve, putting themselves at risk of infection to ensure we continue to have access to essential goods and services. At the same time, employers have continued to run their businesses while trying to keep their workers and the public protected from the spread of COVID-19.

To support them, CCOHS collaborated with government departments and the Public Health Agency of Canada to develop and provide tools and resources, such as a series of COVID-19 pandemic-related guidance documents, tip sheets, and infographics. CCOHS also developed COVID-19 related business resumption materials through $2.5 million of funding over 2 years provided by the Government of Canada. The funding aimed at helping as many sectors and industries as possible operate safely during the pandemic.

While fighting COVID-19, it is clear that this pandemic has increased the risk of harassment and violence for many people, and that mental health has become an even more prominent concern. To help raise awareness about and promote positive action on these important topics in Canadian workplaces, CCOHS, in collaboration with the Government of Canada, launched a national social media campaign in early 2021.

The need for credible resources related to the health, safety and well-being of workers in Canada has never been greater. As Minister of Labour, my priority remains to ensure that every Canadian lives and works in a safe and secure environment. I look forward to working more with CCOHS to meet the needs of the changing world of work and help make Canada one of the safest and more resilient countries in which to work.

The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr. Minister of Labour

From the Institutional Head

Anne Tennier

I am pleased to present the 2020-2021 Departmental Results Report for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

This was a year like no other. As the COVID-19 pandemic pressed on, workplaces shut down, remote work became a new reality for many, and essential service workers answered the call to serve. As workplaces struggled to stay functional, CCOHS provided support with guidance and information to help prevent the spread of infection and protect workers. Through partnerships and collaborations with national, regional, and provincial health and safety networks, we were able to put COVID-19 resources for safe work into the hands of employers and workers across Canada. We partnered with the Public Health Agency of Canada and other stakeholders to develop COVID-19 guidance documents and online tool kits, safety tips sheets and new websites (such as Pandemic Info Share). We received funding to develop business resumption materials such as e-courses, infographics and knowledge transfer initiatives to assist as many sectors and industries as possible.

Although COVID-19 was our primary focus, we continued to promote safe work practices in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and construction, and address topics of concern including harassment and violence, mental health, and occupational disease. With the help of like-minded organizations across Canada, we collaborated and partnered to create e-courses, added content to our topic-specific microsites, created apps, produced informational podcasts, and hosted virtual events to spread prevention messages and good practices to workplaces and workers alike.

CCOHS continued to strengthen its relationships with Indigenous communities to learn about their challenges to better serve them. This year we participated in virtual events hosted by the Nokiiwin Tribal Council to share harassment and violence prevention practices and developed a customized e-course on the transportation of dangerous goods for Indigenous Services Canada.

We continued our partnership with the Government of Canada on a national social marketing campaign,Taking Action Against Violence and Harassment and Mental Health in the Workplace,that addressed the essential elements of a workplace harassment and violence prevention policy and respective procedures. CCOHS developed three new e-courses to help federally regulated work places understand their specific roles and responsibilities in accordance with the Canada Labour Code, Part II, including the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations that came into force on January 1, 2021. Additionally, CCOHS hosts a roster of investigators that have been reviewed by an expert working group to investigate complaints under these regulations.

In this unprecedented year, CCOHS continued to advance its mandate to provide all Canadians with the information, tools, and guidance to make their workplaces both mentally and physically safer and reached more people than ever before. CCOHS will continue to meet whatever challenges lay ahead and serve with purpose.

Anne Tennier, P.Eng. EP President and Chief Executive Officer

Results at a glance

What funds were used?

$11,705,654

Actual Spending

Who was involved?

97.6

Actual FTEs

Results Highlights

Outreach: The CCOHS website had over 14.8 million visits (up 12% over the previous year) from 11.4 million unique users (an increase of 15% over the previous year) looking for health and safety information. To help measure the impact of the website, usage surveys were deployed throughout the year and 81% of respondents said they would use the information obtained from the website to make changes in their workplace. The OSH Answers fact sheet service received 13.1 million visits (an increase of 13% over the previous year) from 10.6 million users (up 15% over the previous year). Additionally, the OSH Answers mobile app was downloaded 7,871 times. Through the confidential person-to-person service Safety InfoLine, CCOHS answered 7,699 inquiries (1,375 of which were COVID-19-related).

Partnerships/Collaborations: Partnered with the Public Health Agency of Canada to develop a series of COVID-19 pandemic-related guidance documents and tip sheets for higher-risk occupations, industries, and essential services. More than 60 guidance documents have been published and 33,507 tip sheets having been downloaded; partnered with the Government of Canada on a national social media campaign to raise awareness about harassment and violence prevention, and mental health in Canadian workplaces, resulting in 10.2 million impressions, 274,800 video views and more than 42,500 visits to CCOHS mental health and violence prevention topic pages; partnered with the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) to build a database and tool to effectively disseminate and share research and statistics related to occupational disease.

For more information on CCOHS' plans, priorities and results achieved, see the "Results: what we achieved" section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core responsibility

National Occupational Health and Safety Resource

Description:

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.

Results:
Gender-based analysis plus

CCOHS recognizes the importance of the GBA Plus initiative and is committed to ensuring diverse groups of workers in Canada benefit from our GBA Plus policies and programs. CCOHS leadership along with its tripartite Council of Governors ensure that GBA Plus policies and programs are integrated into departmental decision-making processes, by requiring CCOHS to assess the potential implications of products and services produced by CCOHS to support the diverse populations of Canadians.

During fiscal year 2020-21, CCOHS:

  • launched the Chad Bradley Scholarship program to encourage women to pursue post-secondary education in the field of occupational health and safety to achieve greater gender equality and balance in the field;
  • facilitated virtual workshops and presentations to help workplaces incorporate psychological health and safety information into their safety programs with a focus on mental health, and harassment and violence programs, specifically in workplace sectors that are at high risk, such as healthcare, and farming;
  • continued to add content to promote and monitor the usage of the Gender, Work, and Health website which provides the most up to date and relevant information resources to help employers understand how the physical differences and psychosocial factors influence the rate of injury and illness among men, women, and non-binary people working identical jobs. This online repository also provides policy makers and employers with tools and research to integrate gender considerations into their health and safety programs; and,
  • continued to ensure that all products and services posted by CCOHS were written in plain language, were accessible and were inclusive of diverse imagery.
Experimentation

Due to the small size of our department, CCOHS does not have the capacity or resources to undertake this initiative.

Program Results

CCOHS' goals for the 2020-21 year were focused on addressing the three strategic priorities in the occupational sectors and industries, and on the issues identified in the strategic plan: 1) providing services, information and solutions that are easily accessible to employees and employers alike; 2) through facilitation of collaborative initiatives, utilizing knowledge outcomes for the benefit of Canadians and workers throughout Canada; and, 3) providing 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.

  • The CCOHS website, the central hub that houses all our information, was updated almost daily with new information and products (podcast episodes, fact sheets, COVID-19 tip sheets, e-courses, infographics) to help Canadians work safer amongst the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the website received over 14.8 million visits (up 12% over the previous year), from 11.4 million users (a 15% increase over the previous year). Of these visits, 31% of the users were from Canada. To help measure the impact of the website, usage surveys were deployed throughout the year and 81% of respondents said they would use the information obtained from the website to make changes in their workplace.
  • The OSH Answers fact sheet collection is the Centre's most widely used public service providing people around the world with reliable and credible information to improve worker health, safety, and well-being. OSH Answers grew in popularity as 10.6 million users (15% year over year increase) made over 13.1 million visits to the fact sheets, an increase of 13% over the previous year. Canadian usage increased as well with 2.9 million users (7% increase) accessing the fact sheets almost 4 million times. Additionally, the OSH Answers mobile app was downloaded 7,871 times.
  • Safety InfoLine, a free service that connects users to CCOHS' team of occupational health and safety technical specialists, responded to 7,699 inquiries. Of those, 1,375 were coronavirus related. The service was accessed most frequently by employers (47.5%), followed by labour (38.7%), the general public (11.4%), and governments (2.4%). This year's survey results revealed that 80.6% of users were very satisfied with the information they received, and 58.3% indicated they would use the information received to make changes in their workplace.

Mental Health: CCOHS continues to support organizations in fostering a mentally healthy workplace. Through partnerships with credible organizations and industry leaders across Canada, CCOHS is able to provide an extensive collection of mental health resources including e-courses, fact sheets, podcasts, websites, web apps and tools.

  • Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation (CAALL)'s Strategic Labour Policy Committee: Mental Health Jurisdictional Scan. CCOHS undertook a mental health jurisdictional scan and review of workplace mental health tools currently offered by various organizations, for CAALL's Strategic Labour Policy Committee on behalf of the Deputy Ministers responsible for Labour across Canada. The goal of the cross-country legislative scan and interview study was to identify tools that provide tangible improvements in workplace mental health that, if used across Canada, could lead to improvements to workplace mental health.
  • Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment Tool. CCOHS collaborated with Canada Life to rebuild and enhance the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment Tool, which allows individuals and organizations to identify and strengthen their psychological health and safety leadership strategies. We continue to provide support for the tool and plans are underway to enhance the content, functionality, and layout for a better user experience for all users.

Harassment and Violence: To help organizations work towards creating environments that are free from harassment and violence, CCOHS continued to develop resources such as e-courses, podcasts and infographics focused on preventative measures. Additional initiatives included:

  • Workplace Harassment and Violence Resources: CCOHS launched three new online courses to help employers, managers, and employees in federally regulated work places understand their specific roles and responsibilities in accordance with the Canada Labour Code, Part II, including the Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations that came into force on January 1, 2021. Additionally, the infographic Workplace Violence and Harassment was created to highlight worker rights, employer responsibilities, and examples of harassment and violence, including those of a sexual nature. The resources also share tips on committing to and creating, a workplace that is free of harassment and violence.
  • Virtual Event: Addressing Domestic Violence in the Workplace. Together, with the Addressing Domestic Violence in the Workplace through Collaboration team (consisting of lawyers, professors, doctors, and researchers), CCOHS hosted a free virtual educational session that highlighted what workplaces are legally required to do under the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations. Participants learned when domestic violence becomes a workplace issue and how to assess their own organization's readiness to address domestic violence in the workplace. The session also covered prevention and policy development strategies and offered guidance on how to recognize and respond to domestic violence incidents in the workplace. The event took place in February 2021, with 59 participants.
  • Harassment and Violence Prevention Social Media Campaign: CCOHS continued its partnership with the Government of Canada on a national social media campaign to raise awareness about harassment and violence prevention, and mental health in Canadian workplaces. The campaign ran on CCOHS' Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn social channels and resulted in 10.2 million impressions, 274,800 video views and over 42,500 visits to CCOHS' mental health and harassment and violence prevention topic pages.

Occupational Disease: CCOHS focused on producing resources to help workplaces safely stay operational during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as sharing resources to help educate Canadians about occupational cancers and other occupational diseases.

  • CCOHS partnered with the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) on a two-year project to build a database and tool to effectively disseminate and share research and statistics related to occupational disease with stakeholders in Ontario as well as nationally. The website, Ontario Occupational Disease Statistics, launched on November 23, 2020, with data and supporting infographics and resources on five occupational groups, with ongoing efforts to add exposure data over the next year.
  • Partnered with the Public Health Agency of Canada to develop a collection of COVID-19 pandemic-related guidance documents and tip sheets for higher-risk occupations, industries, and essential services. More than 60 guidance documents were published, and the uptake has been strong with 33,507 tip sheets having been downloaded. CCOHS produced additional COVID-19 related products that are available through the COVID-19 Health and Safety Resources Tool Kit. The tool kit is anchored by the COVID‐19: Workplace Health and Safety Guide, which includes information on the responsibilities of employers and workers, and what workplaces should do to control risks. Since its launch in early October 2020, the tool kit has been downloaded 3,226 times.

Impairment in the Workplace: CCOHS continued to stay at the forefront of the workplace impairment issue, providing practical advice and guidance through various informational formats and materials.

  • CCOHS supported the CSA Group by participating in the CSA Z1008 Impairment in the Workplace technical committee. The committee was tasked with developing a new standard (Z1008 Management of Impairment in the Workplace) and an implementation guide that will provide guidance to small, medium, and large organizations on how to best apply CSA Z1008. The Standard and companion implementation guide were released in March 2021.
Results achieved
Departmental Results Performance Indicators Target Date toachieve target 2018-19 Actual results 2019-20Actual results 2020-21Actual 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 2021 * Not available * Not available 125
Number of social media impressions on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, where CCOHS is referenced as the source. Up to 2,500,000 social media impressions March 2021 2,246,613 2,474,648 2,925,959
Percentage of users of CCOHS' website who indicated that information was easy to access. Between 65% and 75% March 2021 84.7% 85% 86%
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 2021 *Not available *Not available 1
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 2021 *Not available *Not available 79
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 2021 *Not available *Not available **4,000,000
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 2021 *Not available *Not available 5

* Beginning in fiscal year 2020-21 CCOHS implemented new departmental results / indicators to align with the expansion of CCOHS' strategic initiatives as a national leader on emerging occupational health and safety issues.

** Users originating in Canada

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2020-21 Main Estimates 2020-21Planned Spending 2020-21Total authoritiesavailable for use 2020-21 Actual spending(authorities used) 2020-21 Difference(Actual spending
minus
Planned
spending)
7,129,798 7,129,798 13,473,043 7,577,114 447,316
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2020-21Planned full-time equivalents 2020-21Actual full-time equivalents 2020-21 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
71 70.8 (0.2)

Financial, human resources and performance information for CCOHS' Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Internal Services

Description

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:

  • Acquisition Management Services
  • Communications Services
  • Financial Management Services
  • Human Resources Management Services
  • Information Management Services
  • Information Technology Services
  • Legal Services
  • Material Management Services
  • Management and Oversight Services
  • Real Property Management Services
Budgetary financial resources (dollars)
2020-21 Main Estimates 2020-21Planned Spending 2020-21Total authoritiesavailable for use 2020-21 Actual spending(authorities used) 2020-21 Difference (Actual spending minus Plannedspending)
4,187,342 4,187,342 7,435,697 4,128,539 (58,803)
Human resources (full-time equivalents)
2020-21Planned full-time equivalents 2020-21Actual full-time equivalents 2020-21 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
24 26.8 2.8

As CCOHS was called upon to support the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, additional health and safety specialists and supporting staff were required to support public health and business resumption activities.

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures

Departmental spending trend graph

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.

Expenditure Profile - Spending Trend Graph

Text version of the Graph

The total spending reported in 2018-19 through 2021-22 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.

Fiscals 2022-23 and 2023-24 planned spending authorities represents authorities approved in the 2021-22 Main Estimates and do not represent the use of CCOHS' respendable revenues.

Budgetary performance summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2020-21 Main Estimates 2020-21 Planned spending 2021-22 Planned spending 2022-23 Planned spending 2020-21Total authorities available for use 2018-19 Actual spending (authorities used) 2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used) 2020-21 Actual spending (authorities used)
National Occupational Health and Safety Resource 7,129,798 7,129,798 9,336,865 6,429,591 13,473,043 6,653,617 6,953,799 7,577,114
Internal Services 4,187,342 4,187,342 5,483,556 3,776,109 7,435,697 3,906,430 4,227,191 4,128,539
Total 11,317,140 11,317,140 14,820,421 10,205,700 20,908,740 10,560,047 11,180,990 11,705,653

The 2020-21 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 Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Actual spending for fiscal 2020-21 was 3.4% above plan and 4.7% above the prior year. Additional spend was required to support the whole-of-government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supporting the move to a remote work environment.

Actual human resources

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services
Core responsibilitiesand Internal Services 2018-19 Actual full-time equivalents 2019-20Actual full-time equivalents 2020-21Planned full-time equivalents 2020-21Actual full-time equivalents 2021–22Planned full-time equivalents 2022-23Planned full-time equivalents
National Occupational Health and Safety Resource 63 62.3 71 70.8 86 71
Internal Services 18 21 24 26.8 29 24
Total 81 83.3 95 97.6 115 95

Expenditures by vote

For information on CCOHS's organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2020-2021.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of CCOHS's spending with the Government of Canada's spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

CCOHS's financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2021, are available on the departmental website.

Financial statements highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2021 (dollars)
Financial information 2020-21Planned results 2020-21Actual results 2019-20Actual results Difference (2020-21 Actual results minus 2020-21 Planned results) Difference (2020-21 Actual results minus 2019-20 Actual results)
Total expenses 12,525,223 13,177,926 12,201,850 652,703 976,076
Total revenues 5,626,107 6,442,648 5,951,904 816,541 490,744
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers * 6,899,115 6,735,278 6,249,946 (163,838) 485,332

* Net cost of operations includes the spending of available cash revenues pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act.

Fiscal year 2020-21 saw an increase in the net cost of operations over the prior year (+7.8%). An increase of 4.5% was expected yet the year’s activities were far from what was planned. In support of the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unexpected projects resulted in both increasing cost recovery revenues and expenditures.

Cost recovery revenues were projected to decrease due to the completion of several projects. New emerging strategic programs and priorities were also expected to be transitioned, with an overall reduction in revenues of 4.6%. As expected, there was a reduction in revenues related to the completed projects. However, the unexpected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led CCOHS to see an overall 8.2% increase in revenues. This increase primarily stemmed from the partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Operating expenses were higher than planned given the unexpected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. CCOHS had increased spending to support the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional health and safety specialists and other supporting team members were hired. These new employees were essential to create the key public health and business resumption tools needed to support the government response to the pandemic. In addition, CCOHS quickly transitioned and supported workers in a remote work environment. This shift resulted in increased spending on computing devices and technological support.

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2021 (dollars)
Financial Information 2020-21 2019-20 Difference (2020-21 minus 2019-20)
Total net liabilities 3,900,017 3,824,938 75,079
Total net financial assets 2,209,184 2,309,909 (100,725)
Departmental net debt (1,690,833) (1,515,029) (175,804)
Total non-financial assets 380,881 423,798 (42,917)
Departmental net financial position (1,309,952) (1,091,231) (218,721)

Total CCOHS liabilities of $3.9 million include: $1.781 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities payable; $1.110 million in deferred cost recovery revenues and $896 thousand in deferred employee compensation and benefits. The increase of $75 thousand is related to a $98 thousand increase in deferred cost recovery revenues; an increase of $230 thousand in deferred vacation pay and compensated leave offset partially by a $183 thousand reduction in deferred employee severance benefits and a $70 thousand reduction in accounts payable and accrued liabilities.

Total CCOHS non-financial assets of $381 thousand consist of $238 thousand of tangible capital assets.

The decrease of $219 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 vacation pay and deferred revenues.

Graphs: CCOHS - Total Cost Recovery Revenues and Parliamentary Authorities, CCOHS Funding from Parliamentary Authorities, CCOHS Cost Recovery Revenues, Fiscal Year 2019-20

Text version of the Graph

Graph for CCOHS Cost of Operations
				  (Excluding non-cash other expenses provided by other government departments)

Text version of the graph

Corporate Information

Organizational profile

Appropriate minister[s]:
The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labour
Institutional head:
Anne Tennier, P.Eng. EP, President and Chief Executive Officer
Ministerial portfolio:
Labour Program
Year of incorporation / commencement:
1978

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do is available on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's website.

Raison d’être

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) operates under the legislative authority of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act (S.C., 1977-78, c. 29) which was passed by unanimous vote in the Canadian Parliament in 1978. CCOHS' mandate is to promote health and safety in the workplace and to enhance the physical and mental health of workers in Canada. CCOHS functions as an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour.

Mandate and role

As Canada's national occupational health and safety resource, CCOHS is dedicated to the advancement of workplace health and safety. We do this by providing information and knowledge transfer services; training and education; cost-effective tools for improving occupational health and safety performance; management systems services supporting health and safety programs; injury and illness prevention initiatives and promoting the total well-being - physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working people.

CCOHS is a recognized leader in providing effective programs, products and services, which are based on the centre's core knowledge, collection of occupational health and safety information, and application of information management technologies.

CCOHS has a broad range of collaborative arrangements with many national and international health and safety organizations. These include the World Health Organization (WHO), International Labour Organization (ILO), North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and Health Canada and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Further information on our partnerships is available on our website and in our annual report.

Collaborative projects serve many purposes at CCOHS. They are opportunities to enhance our occupational health and safety information resources, collaborate with partners worldwide to access and share global perspectives. This collaboration among nations serves to promote the sharing of information and knowledge for social and economic programs relating to health and safety, reduce injuries and illness, and improve conditions for workers. They also contribute to Canada's leadership role in the world and bring the wealth of global occupational health and safety information for use by CCOHS to improve the health and safety of working people in Canada.

Operating context

Information on the operating context is available on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's website.

CCOHS is governed by a tripartite council representing governments (federal, provincial and territorial), employers, and labour organizations. The Council of Governors (Council) assists in overseeing a policy framework for a trustworthy and complete occupational health and safety service and ensures that the information CCOHS disseminates is unbiased. CCOHS' Council members are directly involved in the governance and strategic planning for the organization. Council also assists with reviews of programs and services to help ensure that CCOHS' information is impartial and relevant. Along with federal government support, CCOHS' inquiries service is supported and partially funded from contributions provided by provincial and territorial governments.

Reporting framework

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2020-21 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.

        • Indicator: Number of learning activities and opportunities on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors.
        • Indicator: Number of social media impressions on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, where CCOHS is referenced as the source.
        • Indicator: Percentage of users of CCOHS’ website who indicated that information was easy to access.
      • 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.

        • Indicator: Number of collections of occupational health and safety related records made available to Canadians and workers in Canada through repository tools.
        • Indicator: Number of new tools made available to workers in Canada which address emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors.
        • Indicator: Number of times users accessed the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s free online repository of occupational health and safety information or used its person-to-person support services.
      • 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.

        • Indicator: 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.
    • Internal Services
  • Program Inventory

    • Program: Occupational health and safety information and services

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety's Program Inventory is available in GCInfoBase

Supplementary information tables

Federal tax expenditures

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.

Organizational contact information

  • Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
  • 135 Hunter Street East
  • Hamilton ON L8N 1M5
  • Telephone: 905-572-2981; 1-800-668-4284 (Canada and US)
  • Fax: 905-572-2206
  • Email: ResultsReporting@ccohs.ca
  • Website: www.ccohs.ca

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental priority (priorité)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.
departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that connects the department's core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.
Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.
experimentation (expérimentation)
The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.
full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person's collective agreement.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.
government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2020-21 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government's agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the Middle Class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world.
horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.
performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)
The process of communicating evidence based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.
plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues)

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.

program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department's core responsibilities and results.
result (résultat)
A consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization's influence.
statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.