COR® Program

The Certificate of Recognition (COR®) Program is an occupational health and safety certification program for all Yukon employers.

COR® is an occupational safety and health accreditation program that verifies a fully implemented safety and health management system which meets national standards. The objectives of COR® are to provide industry employers with effective tools to develop, implement, assess, and promote continual improvement of their safety and health management system to prevent or mitigate incidents and injuries as well as their associated human and financial costs.

COR® is nationally registered, trademarked and endorsed by the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA) and is delivered through member associations that have a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to serve as the Authority Having Jurisdiction to grant COR® in their respective province/territory.

COR® is a requirement to bid on many Yukon Government tenders/contracts.

COR® may also be a requirement for Yukon Energy Corporation contracts.

The COR® program is designed to:

assist companies in the development and maintenance of a company-wide safety program
introduce standardized training
monitor the safety program through annual audits

Specifically, the COR® Program helps employers understand the Workers' Safety & Compensation Act and the Workplace Health & Safety Regulations, and employer and worker rights and responsibilities. This will help firms avoid liability and ensure due diligence. Through participation in the program, employers and employees will come to recognize that injury prevention must be an integral part of their business conduct and daily working routine.

The COR® program is a partnership between the Northern Safety Network Yukon (NSNY) and the Workers' Safety & Compensation Board (WSCB). The program is administered by the Northern Safety Network Yukon and available to all Yukon employers, from owner/operators to large corporations. Upon completion of the program requirements, a certificate of recognition is issued jointly by the NSNY and the WSCB.

If you already have COR® Certification from another province, please see the COR® Reciprocity Program for more information.

Certificate of Recognition (COR®) Process

The process to obtain a Certificate of Recognition for companies with ten or more employees is:

Step 1

Step 2

COR ® Certification requires 5 courses. The same person is not required to take all the courses; however, the auditor must complete PHSM and Auditor training.

Any employees taking the training on behalf of the company must be full-time (regular or permanent) Yukon site employees. An employee is deemed to be full-time (regular or permanent) when he/she is employed in a continuous capacity for the COR® company. This individual's name must appear on the company's payroll and be covered by the firm's WSCB account.

The training must be held by person(s) who are working full time on the Yukon site operations (i.e. the company's internal auditor cannot be living/working outside of the Territory, they must be dedicated to the Yukon operations and managing COR®/internal audits from the Yukon). Please contact NSNY for further information if required.

Principles of Health & Safety Management (PHSM) - This course is designed to help the company develop and implement a health & safety program.
Leadership for Safety Excellence (LSE) - This course is designed to help the supervisors understand their health & safety roles and responsibilities. The course covers legislation, inspections, investigations and training (safety meetings, etc.). Note: See additional information on supervisors below.
Safety (Internal) Auditor Training - A three-day Instructor led course designed to help the person responsible for health & safety understand how to measure the effectiveness of the program within the company. Note: For certification as a NSNY auditor, a self-audit must be completed during the course or within 2 weeks of completing the safety auditor course.

*An external audit cannot proceed until this requirement has been met.

WHMIS Train-the-Trainer Online or Basic Instructional Techniques (BIT is currently under construction) - a two-day Instructor-led course. The company can choose which course they would like to take. Only one is required.
Return to Work & the Basics of Workers Compensation for Large or for Small Business Online - Participants will explore the legal responsibilities of RTW. The course will also cover making the case for RTW; the duty to accommodate; choosing the job; RTW plan development; monitoring; adjusting and problem solving; RTW programs, making the connection to ongoing resources and RTW program evaluation. Note: The size of your company/organization determines which RTW course you need to take: NSNY also offers a 2-hour refresher RTW course for all participants looking to re-certify once their training has expired.
- If your workplace has 20 or more employees, you require the Return to Work for Large Business course
- If your workplace has less than 20 employees, you require the Return to Work for Small Business course

Please refer to our course calendar and E-Learning page for required courses.

Supervisor Info

Best Practice is that all supervisors take the LSE training, however the current requirement is that 50% or more supervisors hold valid LSE certificates.

A supervisor is anyone who directs work activities over others, and may include workers who self delegate on a daily basis (for example working alone). Supervisors who direct work over new/young workers, and/or who supervise high hazard class work activities should be considered first by the company as to who should attend the Leadership for Safety Excellence course. Senior supervisors/managers are also recommended to be considered first for this training, as they hold a higher responsibility to the health & safety of all workers under their supervision.

Private course bookings are available at the NSNY location or off-site. Contact the Training Coordinator if you are interested in a private course booking.

Step 3

On completion of the required training, you will develop your company health and safety manual and submit it to NSNY for review. NSNY offers sample policies and template forms to assist you in creating your safety manual. If you need additional help developing your manual, please contact us. Once NSNY has reviewed and determined that your company health and safety manual meets the minimum standards for a COR® health and safety program, your company can begin to implement your health & safety program.

Step 4

Once your company has at least 3-6 months' worth of documented safety activities, and is at medium to peak operating levels with an active worksite(s) to audit, arrangements for the certifying external audit must be made. Keep in mind that these arrangements can take from two to four weeks depending on audit load, availability of auditors, work season activities, etc. Please note that there is a cost associated with undergoing your external audit, and is a seperate agreement made between the company being audited and the auditor.

The external audit should take approximately 2 to 5 days to complete, for a company with up to 30 employees, depending on location of the active work site(s) in relation to Whitehorse. Once the audit is completed and the close out meeting (between the auditor and the company) has been held, and audit action plan has been created, the audit document must be forwarded by the company to NSNY for review.

Step 5

NSNY forwards a request for certification to the Workers' Safety & Compensation Baord (WSCB) for issuance of the Certificate of Recognition. The whole process for audit review could take six to eight weeks to complete.

Maintaining COR® Certification

Once certification is achieved, COR® is maintained by keeping all training certifications valid and through the combined external and internal progress audits. The following maintenance schedules are in place:

Year 1: Certifying External Audit

The company will submit their health & safety manual for review and approval to the NSNY, complete the required COR® training courses.
The company will then undergo their certifying external audit.
Upon successful completion, the company will be issued with a Certificate of Recognition. The certificate is valid for 3 years. The date of issue of the certificate becomes the company’s anniversary date.

Years 2-3: Internal Audits - Continuous Improvement

An annual audit must be completed by the designated Internal Auditor and submitted by the company prior to the designated anniversary date for year 2 and 3. The audit must be in the standard format required by NSNY. The audit must pass an audit review conducted by the NSNY for the company to maintain good standing.
Upon Successful completion of the annual Internal Audit, the company will be issued with a one-year Letter of Good Standing (LoGS)

Year 4: Recertifying External Audit

The end of the third year marks the completion of the COR® cycle. Continued participation in COR® requires the company to undergo a re-certifying external audit.
Upon successful completion of the re-certifying external audit, the company will be granted certification and will begin a new 3 year cycle.