Labour ministers and safety officials across Canada prepare for meeting in the fall
Canada’s push for national safety harmonization is picking up speed, with ministers and safety officials across the country ramping up preparations for a pivotal meeting this fall. The tone has shifted from cautious optimism to active engagement, as Nova Scotia and Ontario take center stage in the drive to align safety regulations and training standards nationwide.
Earlier this summer, Ottawa revealed its pursuit of safety harmonization, setting the stage for a national conversation on aligning standards. That momentum has only grown over the past couple of weeks.
“There’s buy-in at the ministerial level. I think there is a general sense the time is now to act,” says Nolan Young, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Labour, Skills, and Immigration. “We’re making strides. We’re making advancements. We’re making ground to facilitate worker mobility and to help with keeping costs down for employers and employees, while getting people working safely.”
Preparations for the anticipated fall meeting are already underway. Young confirms, “staff at all levels are really working and focused on this. At my ministerial level, I speak with my colleagues in the provinces and territories, other labour ministers across the country. I think it’s time that we can have some alignment with other jurisdictions without compromising any safety standards.”
The upcoming meeting is expected to zero in on five to ten key safety regulations for harmonization, a pragmatic approach that aims for tangible progress. “We want to find things that bring us together. We want to find commonalities…areas we can work together,” Young says.
Fred Jeffers, executive director of the occupational health and safety division in Nova Scotia, echoes the sense of momentum. “Senior leaders from across the country are thinking about this and are wanting to get together and, you know, see what we can do and see what some of the possibilities might be. It’s very exciting,” Jeffers says.
Jeffers points to the importance of informed decision-making and stakeholder engagement. “I would challenge folks out there to learn more about the work that’s already taken place when it comes to harmonization, and so that they understand it, and to think about how harmonizing regulations could support their work, and to have a voice and to share those ideas with the regulators in their jurisdictions,” he says.
The harmonization effort builds on existing models, such as the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), which Jeffers calls “a model regulation that we all adopted regionally.” He adds, “The model is there. It can happen.”
With the fall meeting on the horizon, both Young and Jeffers stress the importance of collaboration and incremental progress. “It’s just getting the right people to the table at the right time,” Young says. “I believe it’s the right time to have these conversations. Maybe for whatever reason, they didn’t come together in the past. I’m an optimist… I think there is a general sense the time is now to act.”
As Canada’s safety leaders prepare to meet, the message is clear: harmonization is no longer a distant goal, but an active, collaborative process—one that promises to reshape the landscape of workplace safety across the country.
