2026 Canada’s Safest Employers: Nomination procedures

Thinking about putting your safety culture on the national stage? The 2026 Canada’s Safest Employers (CSE) Awards are now gearing up to recognise health and safety leaders across the country, and the nomination pathway is designed to be accessible, transparent and rigorous for organisations of all sizes.

The awards’ five-stage process begins with nominations, which are open to all occupational health and safety professionals, teams, companies and organisations, including industry service providers, from across Canada. Nominations run from February 23 to May 8, 2026, until 11:59 p.m. ET. During this period, candidates can submit entries free of charge via the Nominate page on the awards website.

Here’s the list of awards under which you can nominate:

Visit the Award Categories page to make your nominations today!

Nomination assessments, winners

Following the close of nominations, the CSE Awards team conducts an extensive research phase. Drawing on the knowledge base and reporting of Canadian Occupational Safety, the team verifies and supplements information contained in each submission. Nominees that advance from this phase are shortlisted and invited to complete a more detailed entry form. Shortlisted organisations must also distribute an employee perception survey and achieve a minimum response threshold by a predetermined deadline in order to remain under consideration.

On completion of the research and verification work, excellence awardees are selected in each category. These organisations are notified by e-mail or phone. Organisers state that all submissions remain confidential unless otherwise marked and are not shared with any third parties beyond the judging panel. The list of excellence awardees is scheduled to be released in July 2026 on the awards website and will be promoted through Canadian Occupational Safety’s print and digital channels. Promotional packages will be available for purchase to help organisations highlight their achievement in marketing and communications.

In the fourth stage, submissions from excellence awardees are forwarded to an independent judging panel made up of occupational health and safety experts, thought leaders and industry veterans. Judges assess entries against the criteria for each category and cast their votes, with voting set to begin in August 2026. Any judge with a conflict of interest in a particular category is required to recuse themself from deliberations in that category.

Winners are determined using a simple points system that aggregates the judges’ scores. The excellence awardee with the highest score in each category is named the winner. Results will be announced at the awards show on Oct. 22, 2026, and published on the awards website, with further promotion in Canadian Occupational Safety. Winners will also have access to paid promo packages to leverage their national recognition.