2021-22 Departmental Plan

From the Minister

The Honourable Minister Filomena Tassi

As Minister of Labour, I am pleased to present the 2021–2022 Departmental Plan for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which is one of the great challenges of our time, my priority has been the health and safety of Canadian workers. Our government is continuing to work closely with the CCOHS to provide valuable guidance, resources and tools to help Canadian workers and businesses operate safely and at their best during this pandemic and beyond.

Every Canadian has the right to work in a healthy, respectful and safe environment. Earlier this year, we took an important step forward in protecting Canadians in the workplace with the coming into force of the harassment and violence prevention legislation (Bill C-65), but we can do more to ensure that workers feel safe, valued, included and secure. Our government will collaborate with the CCOHS in the development of resources to help workplaces meet the legislative requirements for safe, healthy and respectful workplaces. Making mental health a key component of occupational health and safety is a priority. It is essential to support the mental health of Canadian workers.

The workplace has changed significantly over the past few decades, particularly as the increased availability of mobile technologies (among other factors) has blurred the boundaries between what it means to be “at work” and “not at work.” The rapid shift to working from home because of COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated these changes. Being constantly connected may pose psychosocial risks for employees, including anxiety, depression and burnout. It is important that we plan a thoughtful way forward in this new world of work to ensure that the well-being of all workers is supported.

We solve problems best when we solve them collaboratively. We will continue to engage with our partners, including employers, workers and organized labour, to ensure that all Canadians have safe and healthy workplaces.

I will continue to work with the CCOHS to meet these challenges. The work we are doing today is making Canada’s workplaces among the most resilient and safest in the world. When workplaces are healthy and safe, workers have the conditions to achieve their full potential, which is good for workers, employers and the economy.

The Honourable Filomena Tassi Minister of Labour

From the Institutional Head

Anne Tennier

In our 2021-2022 Departmental Plan, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) will continue to respond to the changing needs of workers and workplaces in Canada to support safe work.

The global pandemic instantly changed the landscape of work, impacting businesses, employers and workers alike. The need for credible guidance and information was never greater and CCOHS answered the call. As the situation with COVID-19 changes, CCOHS will continue to create learning tools and provide current information and guidance to support workplaces to protect their employees from illness and injury.

CCOHS will continue to focus its efforts on addressing its strategic priorities: to demonstrate and provide national occupational health and safety leadership, including on emerging issues and in priority sectors; and serve as a national repository of workplace health and safety statistics and information.

Through collaboration and partnerships with governments, employers, labour and other stakeholders, CCOHS will advance workplace health and safety by developing easy to access tools, educational resources and solutions, in both official languages, that meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses; Indigenous enterprises; workers at higher risk, including temporary foreign/migrant workers; self-employed workers; and those who have disabilities. Our prevention initiatives will focus on sectors such as health care, construction, agriculture and fishing and on priority issues including mental health; harassment and violence; occupational disease; and the changing nature of work.

I look forward to continuing to work and collaborate with our partners and stakeholders to help create safe, respectful and productive workplaces in Canada.

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

Plans at a glance

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is dedicated to the advancement of workplace health and safety in Canada. CCOHS does this by providing information and knowledge transfer services; education through e-learning; cost-effective tools and management systems for improving occupational health and safety programs and performance; injury and illness prevention initiatives; and by promoting the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health – of working people in Canada.

For fiscal year 2021-2022, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) will focus its efforts on addressing the three departmental results and priorities in the sectors identified in the strategic plan:

  1. Provide easy access to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s occupational health and safety information and services;
  2. Utilize knowledge outcomes for the benefit of Canadians and workers throughout Canada through collaboration with labour, employers and/or government on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors; and
  3. 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.

Priority 1: Provide easy access to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s occupational health and safety information and services.

CCOHS plans to continue to create informational and educational content and services that are accessible and in a variety of formats (such as audio, video and digital), to help Canadians respond to current and emerging workplace issues such as COVID-19 pandemic resources, business resumption tools, mental health, harassment and violence, occupational disease, gender-based concerns, and the changing nature of work. Equipping people with information, tools and solutions they need to address the hazards in their workplaces, work safely, and create healthy and safe workplaces, can lead to reduced work-related illness, injuries and death in Canada.

Priority 2: Utilize knowledge outcomes for the benefit of Canadians and workers throughout Canada through collaboration with labour, employers and/or government on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors.

To foster use of knowledge outcomes, CCOHS will seek and facilitate collaborative initiatives with labour, employers, and government on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors.

CCOHS will partner with like-minded organizations, unions, and employers to deliver tools, services and solutions that meet the health and safety needs of small and medium-sized businesses; Indigenous enterprises; and workers at higher risk. We will focus prevention efforts to address hazards in priority sectors including healthcare, construction, and fishing and agriculture.

Priority 3: Serve as a national repository of workplace health and safety information.

Through collaborations with organizations, jurisdictions and researchers, CCOHS will provide Canadians with a national repository of key occupational health and safety knowledge, research, standards, statistics, and information tools that improve access to, and dissemination of, occupational health and safety related information.

CCOHS will continue to develop its capability to capture and store relevant, credible research, tools and information and make all easily accessible to Canadians and others. This gateway to information that can be used to shape programs and policy will lead to improvements in the workplace and workplace practices.

For more information on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this report.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains detailed information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

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.

Planning highlights

For the fiscal year 2021-2022, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) will focus its effort on addressing various initiatives for the strategic plan specifically for our priority sectors by providing education, information and resources aimed at COVID-19 pandemic, business resumption efforts, workplace violence and harassment, mental health and occupational disease. This will be conducted through facilitation of collaborative initiatives, partnerships, and sector specific relationships across Canada. CCOHS will continue to build its national repository of key occupational health and safety knowledge, standards, statistics, and information tools that improves dissemination of occupational health, safety and wellness related information.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic CCOHS will continue to focus on developing its resources to provide priority sectors with pandemic guidance, business resumption details, tools, training and resources.

CCOHS continues to develop learning activities and will focus on the development of new micro e-learning modules that focuses on short bursts of information that is aimed at adult learning principles. CCOHS will also conduct social media campaigns to disseminate important, timely information and guidance to raise awareness of, and prevent work-related illnesses and injuries.

To reach greater audiences and serve those with special needs, CCOHS through its programs will produce increased content in a variety of formats including informative videos and podcasts (audio) with transcripts in both official languages. CCOHS will add to its collection of infographics, posters and tips cards, offered as free online downloads in print quality format.

CCOHS will modernize the search functionality and the navigation of the website to allow for accessibility and quick targeted information to the user that will result in increased visits and accesses to our informational resources.

With ongoing pandemic restrictions CCOHS will reduce in-person events and training workshops and will continue to explore other options to deliver these services.

Consistent with its knowledge transfer mandate, CCOHS has a comprehensive program to disseminate timely and accessible information to its various stakeholders on occupational health, safety, mental health and wellness as well as emerging areas of concern such as unpaid caregiving. These initiatives support informed decision-making designed to help promote awareness of how to identify, access, manage and mitigate workplace risk as well as create compassionate workplaces that accommodate changing needs of workers.

CCOHS will collaborate on several initiatives that serve our priority sectors by working with our federal departments and territorial and jurisdictional partners to develop e-learning modules to meet the new Canada Labour Code training requirements for workplace harassment and violence, the agriculture sector, and COVID-19 guidance documents for safety and business resumption. We continue to disseminate this information to all Canadians through our website, communications channels and apps for ease of use.

CCOHS entered a two-year interdepartmental letter of agreement (ILA) with the Public Health Agency of Canada to collaborate on translating public health and occupational health and safety guidance into sector-specific workplace guidance. The purpose is to help prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 by ensuring that this information is available and easily accessible to all Canadians. This initiative will continue in 2021-2022 and will support the collaborative initiatives on real-time occupational health and safety issues.

Although the CCOHS website has served as a focal point and information hub for employers at all levels seeking information and counsel on traditional occupational safety topics, emerging safety issues, statistics, tools and databases, CCOHS will be adding even more collections of data and resources to its offerings in the next year. CCOHS will add topics to and enhance its collection of OSH Answers fact sheets and grow its collection of sector-specific COVID-19 guidance tip sheets and business planning publications.

CCOHS will be focusing on occupational disease through the development of a website on occupational disease surveillance data and by supporting new tools to provide employers and workers easily accessible calculations to work safely. These tools will include apps that can be used across Canada, for Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs), silica calculation, ergonomic tools, and a diesel calculator. These initiatives are part of our emerging issues for all priority sectors as per our strategic plan.

Gender-based analysis plus

CCOHS continues working towards inclusion and diversity of its workforce through programs which will include: a commitment for diversity recruitment strategies; the development of activities to increase the social and cultural diversity in the workplace; leadership and organizational diversity and inclusion training with an approach that promotes gender equality. CCOHS will also continue to work closely with its Council of Governors to integrate gender considerations into strategic initiatives that further advance health and safety in the workplace.

The direct benefits of CCOHS material and information are expected to be gender balanced as both male and female employees and employers will benefit from CCOHS and guidance for a healthy and safety workplace. In addition, women are overrepresented among temporary and part-time workers who, due to their disempowered positions, may lack knowledge of their workplace risks and their rights to address unsafe working conditions and would particularly benefit from the information and training that CCOHS provides.

Overall representation of Indigenous peoples, members of visible minorities, and persons with disabilities has been increasing and would directly benefit from support, guidance, technical expertise regarding occupational health, safety and wellness.

Some populations of workers, including non-unionized workers, women, Indigenous peoples, visible minorities, and young workers (e.g. students), are more vulnerable in the workplace and may benefit from OHS awareness, knowledge translation tools, e-learning and overall safety guidance. Furthermore, more generally, all workplace parties will benefit from the resources provided by CCOHS to gain better awareness and address occupational health and safety risks in the workplace.

In the long-term, it is expected that the work that CCOHS does will benefit worker and workplaces across Canada generally, given the expansive scope of workplaces.

United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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.

Experimentation

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

Key risk(s)

There is a potential risk for the core responsibility for departmental result indicator: number of learning activities and opportunities on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors. Originally this target was set to achieve between 100-140 learning events that included face to face conference presentations. Given the impact to business operations for face to face interactions for conference opportunities as a direct result of COVID-19 the target numbers may be reduced.

CCOHS relies heavily on cost recovery programs and contributions from partners to supplement its parliamentary appropriations and cover fixed costs. The CCOHS funding model is based upon a target of 50% of its operating budget being generated through cost recovery. Therefore, CCOHS’ products and services must be continually updated to be marketable.

Continuous improvement in technology continues to change the landscape for CCOHS. CCOHS delivers most of its products and services to workers in Canada through electronic delivery and must stay up to date on new technology as traditional delivery methods for its content is unsustainable and out-dated. CCOHS has responded by expanding its on-line resources to include more specialized web portals, e-learning programs, webinars, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter promotion and on-line discussion groups. CCOHS continues to develop mobile apps to help workers assess hazards and risks. These channels are key to supporting CCOHS’ priority to expand its reach and impact of workers in Canada. CCOHS must also ensure that it is adequately protected against increasing threat from unauthorized exploitation of systems, networks and technologies. Such threats can have significant impact to CCOHS’ operations and ability to safely conduct business transactions. CCOHS maintains sufficient levels of investment in technology required to support continuous improvements in its on-line resource delivery channels and to protect against cyber-security risks.

To continue to provide relevant leadership training and support to workers in Canada on emerging occupational health and safety issues CCOHS relies heavily on maintaining a high level of professional development of its staff. Lack of properly directed investment in talent management will have a significant impact on CCOHS’ ability to perform optimally in the research and delivery of relevant products and services on topics which may quickly become areas of concern for workers both in Canada and globally.

Planned results for National Occupational Health and Safety Resource
Departmental
result
Departmental
result
indicator
Target Date to
achieve
target
2017–18
actual result
2018–19
actual result
2019–20
actual result
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 2022 * Not available * Not available * Not available
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 3,000,000 social media impressions March 2022 1,906,795 2,246,613 2,474,648
Percentage of users of CCOHS’ website who indicated that information was easy to access. Between 75% and 90% March 2022 ** Not available 80.3% 85%
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 2022 * Not available * Not available * Not available
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 2022 * Not available * Not available * Not available
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 2022 * Not available * Not available * Not available
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 2022 * Not available * Not available * Not available

* Beginning in fiscal year 2020-2021 the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) implemented new departmental result / indicators to align with the expansion of CCOHS’ strategic initiatives as a national leader on emerging occupational health and safety issues.

** A new web survey was introduced in fiscal year 2018-19 to measure this result. Results were tabulated in April 2019.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase this is a link to an external website.

Planned budgetary financial resources for National Occupational Health and Safety Resource
2021–22 budgetary
spending (as indicated
in Main Estimates)
2021–22
planned spending
2022–23
planned spending
2023–24
planned spending
9,336,865 9,336,865 6,429,591 6,429,591

Planned spending for fiscal year 2021-22 represents the use of funding sources for Main Estimates, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities, pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase this is a link to an external website.

Planned human resources for National Occupational Health and Safety Resource
2021–22
planned full-time equivalents
2022–23
planned full-time equivalents
2023–24
planned full-time equivalents
86 71 71

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase this is a link to an external website.

Internal Services: planned results

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 services that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. These services are:

  • Management and Oversight Services
  • Communications Services
  • Legal Services
  • Human Resources Management Services
  • Financial Management Services
  • Information Management Services
  • Information Technology Services
  • Real Property Management Services
  • Materiel Management Services
  • Acquisition Management Services

Planning highlights

Internal Services at CCOHS continue to focus on its main goals:

  • To sharpen its focus on its cost recovery program in order to support the strategic outcomes of the organization. A successful cost recovery program is key to ensuring the sustainability of CCOHS operations.
  • To fully implement the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and further CCOHS’ leadership on emerging occupational health and safety issues and serving as a national centre for information related to occupational health and safety. CCOHS will continue to further align its human resources to facilitate and service these national initiatives.
  • To improve the overall working experience of its employees. This includes the implementation of CCOHS’ refreshed corporate values, alignment of its performance management system to further support these values, continued emphasis to foster open communication and consistent and equal treatment of staff across the organization.
  • To promote enhanced initiatives that support the advancement of CCOHS diversity and inclusion objectives.
  • To continue to refresh and reinvest in its Information Technology infrastructure to ensure CCOHS continues to meet the ongoing needs of its stakeholders while continually enhancing its protection against cyber-security risks.
  • To continue investing in a digital transformation of how CCOHS delivers its services in support of its Strategic Plan and in alignment with the government direction on delivering digital services to the public.
Planned budgetary financial resources for Internal Services
2021–22 budgetary
spending (as indicated
in Main Estimates)
2021–22
planned spending
2022–23
planned spending
2023–24
planned spending
5,483,556 5,483,556 3,776,109 3,776,109
Planned human resources for Internal Services
2021–22
planned full-time equivalents
2022–23
planned full-time equivalents
2023–24
planned full-time equivalents
29 24 24

Spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three consecutive fiscal years and compares planned spending for the upcoming year with the current and previous years’ actual spending.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2018–19 to 2023–24

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

Text version of Planned Spending Trend Graph

Spending Trend Graph

The total planned spending reported in fiscal years 2018-19 to 2020-21 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.

Fiscal 2021-22 to 2022-24 includes planned spending authorities which represent authorities approved in the 2021-22 main estimates. Note that only fiscal year 2021-22 planned spending authorities represent the use of CCOHS’ respendable revenues carried forward for use in subsequent years pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act. Planned spending shown for fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24 do not represent the use of CCOHS’ respendable revenues, as respendable revenues have not yet been approved for use in these fiscal years.

Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s core responsibilities and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2018–19
expenditures
2019–20
expenditures
2020–21
forecast spending
2021–22
budgetary
spending (as
indicated in
Main
Estimates)
2021–22
planned spending
2022–23
planned spending
2023–24
planned spending
National Occupational Health and Safety Resource 6,653,617 6,953,799 7,129,798 9,336,865 9,336,865 6,429,591 6,429,591
Internal Services 3,906,430 4,227,191 4,187,342 5,483,556 5,483,556 3,776,109 3,776,109
Total 10,560,047 11,180,990 11,317,140 14,820,421 14,820,421 10,205,700 10,205,700

The 2020-21 forecasted spending shown in the above table represents the planned Parliamentary appropriations and revenue sources including main estimates, recoveries and the approved use of cash respendable revenues pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act..

The planned spending for fiscal years 2021-2022 reflects the use of Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities, respendable revenues, available for use in subsequent years pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act. For information on the CCOHS Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities available for use in subsequent years refer to note 14 in the CCOHS Annual Report of the Council, 2019-2020.

Planned spending for fiscal years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 represents authorities approved in the 2020-2021 budgetary estimates and do not represent the use of CCOHS’ Respendable / Reinvestment Authorities, as these authorities are only reported upon planned use.

Planned human resources

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned full-time equivalents (FTEs) for each core responsibility in Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s departmental results framework and to Internal Services for the years relevant to the current planning year.

Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and Internal Services
Core responsibilities and Internal Services 2018–19
actual
full-time
equivalents
2019–20
actual
full-time
equivalents
2020–21
forecast
full-time
equivalents
2021–22
planned full-time
equivalents
2022–23
planned full-time
equivalents
2023–24
planned full time
equivalents
National Occupational Health and Safety Resource 63 62.3 71 86 71 71
Internal Services 18 21 24 29 24 24
Total 81 83.3 95 115 95 95

In support of its mandate and strategic plan the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is planning for an increase in the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) in fiscal year 2021-22. The investment in 20 additional FTEs is in support of CCOHS efforts to address various initiatives for the strategic plan specifically for our priority sectors by providing education, information and resources aimed at COVID-19 pandemic, business resumption efforts, workplace violence and harassment, mental health and occupational disease. CCOHS has entered into a short-term interdepartmental agreement with the Public Health Agency of Canada to collaborate on translating public health and occupational health and safety guidance into sector-specific workplace guidance with the intention is to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. CCOHS is also supporting a two year federally funded business resumption program for federal jurisdictional employers to support safe and effective business resumption, and to help ensure that workplaces are better equipped with sector-specific occupational health and safety resources to provide priority sectors with pandemic guidance, business resumption details, tools, training and resources.

In addition, the FTE increase planned within 2021-22 is the continued result of CCOHS’ implementation of the workforce renewal initiative, which focusses on the recruitment and development of diverse talent to meet both the organization’s current and future talent needs. Staffing levels beyond fiscal year 2021-22 have not yet been approved and remain at the prior planned staffing levels, excluding short term projects to support COVID-19 response and business resumption efforts.

Estimates by vote

Information on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2021–22 Main Estimates this is a link to an external website.

Future-oriented Condensed statement of operations

The future oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s operations for 2020–21 to 2021–22.

The amounts for forecast and planned results in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The amounts for forecast and planned spending presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.

A more detailed future oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s website.

Future oriented Condensed statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2022 (dollars)
Financial information 2020–21 forecast results 2021–22 planned results Difference
(2021–22 planned
results minus
2020–21 forecast
results)
Total expenses 12,525,223 14,820,421 2,295,198
Total revenues 5,626,107 6,252,286 626,179
Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers* 6,899,116 8,568,135 1,669,019

* Transfers will include CCOHS Respendable / Reinvestment authorities, respendable revenues, earned in prior years and authorised for use in the planned year pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act.

CCOHS’ net cost of operations is expected to increase by $1,669,019 (24.19%) when compared with fiscal year 2020-21 forecasted results. The increase in the net cost of operations is a result of the planned increase in total expenses of $2,295,198 (18.32%) and by a planned increase in cost recovery revenues of $626,179 (11.13%). The increase in planned expenses is primarily accounted for by planned personnel investments to increase CCOHS’ staffing by 20 FTEs to support CCOHS’ ongoing COVID-19 response efforts and business resumption support efforts through federal, jurisdictional and employer collaborations. In addition, CCOHS has planned for further enhancement of its information technology and digital transformation of its services.

Funding sources for planned net cost of operations in 2021-22 is a combination of planned federal funding totaling $6,719,243 and planned use of $1,848,892 of in year respendable revenues and CCOHS Respendable / Reinvestment authorities, respendable revenues, earned in prior years and authorised for use in planned year pursuant to section 6(1)(g) of the CCOHS Act.

Corporate information

Organizational profile

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 International Labour Organization (ILO), the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMHA), the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada, CAREX Canada, World Health Organization (WHO), North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), European Agency for Safety and Health at Work and Health 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.

Reporting framework

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2021–22 are as follows.

Departmental Results Framework

Core Responsibility: National Occupational Health and Safety Resource

Departmental Results Indicator
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
Number of social media impressions on emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors, where CCOHS is referenced as the source
Percentage of users of CCOHS’ website who indicated that information was easy to access
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
Number of new tools made available to workers in Canada which address emerging occupational health and safety issues and for priority sectors
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
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.
Program Inventory Program: Occupational health and safety information and services

Supporting information on the program inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase this is a link to an external website.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s website.

Federal tax expenditures

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures that relate to its planned results for 2021–22.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance, and the Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government¬ wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures this is a link to an external website. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis. The tax measures presented in this report are solely the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

  • Mailing address
    • 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 a department over a 3 year period. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.
departmental priority (priorité ministérielle)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Departmental 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 factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.
departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, 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 and what doesn’t. Experimentation is related to, but distinct form 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. Full time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.
gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) ( analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
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 2021–22 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities refers to those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2020 Speech from the Throne, namely: Protecting Canadians from COVID-19; Helping Canadians through the pandemic; Building back better – a resiliency agenda for the middle class; The Canada we’re fighting for.
horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative in which 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 up to the expected result.
planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the 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 of the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.
result (résultat)
An external 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.
strategic outcome (résultat stratégique)
A long-term and enduring benefit to Canadians that is linked to the organization’s mandate, vision and core functions.
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.