Canadian construction employers faced a significant wave of OHS regulation updates in 2025 and 2026, and the pace of change shows no sign of slowing. Ontario introduced mandatory defibrillators on construction sites and a new administrative penalty framework. Alberta overhauled its violence and harassment prevention requirements. WorkSafeBC added new obligations for tower cranes, mobile equipment, and hazardous substances emergency planning. At the federal level, amendments to the Canada Labour Code Part II regulations were published in February 2026, with a February 2027 compliance deadline. And nationally, WHMIS GHS 7 went into full force on January 1, 2026, affecting how hazardous product information must be presented on every construction site in the country.
This post covers the material changes that construction employers need to act on now, province by province and jurisdiction by jurisdiction. It is not an exhaustive legal review. It is a practical summary of what changed, what it requires, and what the compliance deadline is.
Ontario: the most significant changes in years
Ontario's construction sector absorbed more regulatory change on January 1, 2026 than in any single day in recent memory. The changes came through the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025 (Bill 30), which received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025, and through a suite of new regulations amending O.Reg 213/91 (Construction Projects).
AED requirement on construction sites
The most operationally immediate change is the mandatory defibrillator requirement. As of January 1, 2026, any construction project expected to last three or more months with 20 or more workers must have an automated external defibrillator (AED) installed and maintained on-site. Ontario Regulation 157/25 sets out what must be stored with the AED (scissors, medical-grade gloves, absorbent towels, and related items), what signage must be posted, and what inspection, maintenance, testing, and training records must be kept.
The reimbursement program under O.Reg 360/25 allows employers to recover up to $2,500 per AED purchased between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2027. Applications go to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and must be submitted no later than July 31, 2027. The reimbursement is limited to one AED per project. If your project qualifies and you have not yet purchased an AED, the reimbursement window is open now.
Washroom and sanitation records
Two separate amendments tightened the documentation requirements for washroom facilities on construction sites. Under O.Reg 480/24, effective January 1, 2026, constructors and employers must maintain cleaning records for each washroom facility showing the date and time of the two most recent cleanings. These records must be physically posted near the washroom or made available electronically with clear instructions for workers on how to access them.
Under O.Reg 482/24, also effective January 1, 2026, records of servicing, cleaning, and sanitizing for toilets, urinals, and clean-up facilities must now include the date of all services for the past six months or the duration of the project, whichever is shorter. This is a documentation change, not a frequency change, but it does mean that informal verbal arrangements with sanitation contractors will no longer satisfy the record-keeping requirement.
Administrative monetary penalties: a new enforcement tool
The most consequential long-term change is the new Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) framework under O.Reg 365/25. Before January 1, 2026, Ontario inspectors could issue orders and refer matters for prosecution, but they could not issue financial penalties directly. That has changed. Ministry of Labour inspectors can now issue AMPs for contraventions of the OHSA or its regulations, for failures to comply with inspector orders, and for failures to comply with ministerial orders.
The process works as follows: the inspector issues a written notice of administrative penalty specifying the amount, payment method, deadline, and the right to request a review. The employer has 15 days from receipt to apply for a review before the Ontario Labour Relations Board. If the penalty is not appealed and relates to an inspector's order, payment is due within 30 days after the appeal period expires. For other penalties, payment is due within 45 days of service.
Ontario becomes the ninth Canadian jurisdiction to allow AMPs for OHS violations, joining Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and the three territories. The Ministry may publish the names of employers who receive AMPs, the nature of the contravention, and the penalty amount. This public disclosure element means that AMPs carry reputational risk beyond the financial penalty itself.
The practical implication for construction employers is that the cost of non-compliance has increased. An inspector who previously would have issued an order and moved on can now attach a financial consequence to that same visit. The due diligence defense that applies to OHS prosecutions is expected to apply to AMP appeals as well, which means that documented safety programs, completed hazard assessments, and worker training records remain the most important protection an employer can have. If you are reviewing your construction site safety plan in light of these changes, the AMP framework is a reason to treat that review seriously.
Alberta: violence and harassment prevention overhauled
Alberta's OHS Code amendments, introduced through Ministerial Order 2024-12 in December 2024 and in force as of March 31, 2025, made the most significant changes to Part 27 of the Code since the current framework was established.
The headline change is the consolidation of workplace violence and harassment prevention into a single plan. Employers are no longer required to maintain separate violence prevention plans and harassment prevention plans. A combined Violence and Harassment Prevention Plan now satisfies the requirement. The previous requirement for employers to include specific harassment and violence prevention policy statements has been repealed.
There is a more substantive change buried in the amendments that construction employers need to understand. Workplace harassment and violence are no longer classified as "hazards" for the purpose of hazard assessments under Part 2 of the OHS Code. This means employers are no longer required to assess a work site for potential violence or harassment hazards before work begins, as they would for physical or chemical hazards. The prevention obligations remain: employers must still eliminate or control violence and harassment, inform workers of relevant risks, and maintain reporting and investigation procedures. But the mechanism for meeting those obligations has changed.
The amendments also introduced new confidentiality requirements. Employers must now include procedures in their Violence and Harassment Prevention Plans that protect the confidentiality of all parties involved in any incident or complaint. Disclosure is only permitted when necessary to investigate the complaint, take corrective action, inform the involved parties of investigation results, inform workers of a threat of violence, or when required by law.
For Alberta construction employers, the Alberta OHS Resource Portal has published change-highlight bulletins for each amended section of the Code, including a specific bulletin for Part 27 violence and harassment. These are worth reading before updating your prevention plan, because the new framework has different structural requirements than the previous one.
British Columbia: mobile equipment, tower cranes, and hazardous substances
WorkSafeBC made several targeted amendments to the OHS Regulation in 2024 and 2025 that directly affect construction employers.
Three-point seat belts on mobile equipment
Effective March 31, 2025, under B.C. Reg. 283/2024, amendments to Part 16 of the OHS Regulation established new requirements for three-point seat belts on mobile equipment. A new section 16.21.1 was enacted specifying when minimum three-point seat belts are required. This applies to the range of mobile equipment used on construction sites, including excavators, loaders, and compaction equipment. Employers operating this equipment need to confirm that their fleet meets the new standard.
Tower crane notice of project
The tower crane amendments that took effect October 1, 2024 (B.C. Reg. 176/2024) introduced a Notice of Project (NOP) requirement for tower crane work. Employers must submit an NOP to WorkSafeBC at least two weeks before any tower crane work begins. WorkSafeBC reported in November 2025 that compliance with the NOP requirement has been generally good after one year, but noted that risks remain on sites where the NOP is submitted but the pre-erection planning is not completed with adequate rigour.
Emergency planning for hazardous substances
Effective February 3, 2025 (B.C. Reg. 178/2023), WorkSafeBC enacted a new set of sections in Part 5 of the OHS Regulation covering emergency planning for hazardous substances. Sections 5.97 through 5.104 now require employers to maintain an inventory of hazardous substances, conduct a risk assessment, prepare a written emergency response plan, establish emergency procedures for protection and notification, and conduct training and drills. The worker participation requirement in section 5.98 means that workers must be involved in the emergency planning process, not just informed of the plan after it is written.
For construction employers working with hazardous substances, this is a new planning obligation that sits alongside the existing WHMIS requirements. The emergency response plan required under Part 5 is separate from the general emergency response plan required under Part 4 of the OHS Regulation.
Federal jurisdiction: amendments published, compliance deadline February 2027
For construction employers operating under the Canada Labour Code, the Government of Canada published amendments to regulations under Part II of the Code in February 2026. These changes take effect in February 2027, giving federally regulated employers approximately one year to prepare.
The key changes include: a requirement to maintain records of hazardous substances used by contractors on site (not just the employer's own substances); updated measurement requirements for chemical agent concentrations in the breathing zone of the most exposed workers; a new obligation to keep chemical agent concentrations as low as reasonably achievable when no ACGIH threshold limit values have been established; requirements for managing engineered nanomaterials using the CSA Z12885 standard; and a lowered radon exposure limit of 200 Bq/m3 for workers outside the nuclear sector.
The extreme heat and cold provisions are particularly relevant for construction employers. Employers will be required to take measures to control worker exposure to extreme cold or heat when ACGIH thresholds are reached, and to consult with the policy committee or workplace health and safety representative to develop mitigation procedures. Construction workers in Canada face extreme temperature conditions regularly, and this requirement formalises what good employers are already doing.
The February 2027 deadline gives federally regulated construction employers time to prepare, but the preparation is not trivial. Updating hazardous substance records to include contractor materials, reviewing air sampling protocols, and developing heat and cold stress procedures all require planning time. Starting now is the right approach. Understanding the full scope of your obligations under the Canada Labour Code is a good starting point, and the Canada Labour Code Part II explained post covers the framework that these amendments build on.
National: WHMIS GHS 7 in full force
WHMIS GHS 7 went into full force on January 1, 2026. The changes to the Hazardous Products Regulations (HPR) were first phased in beginning April 2023, but the full compliance deadline has now passed. For construction employers, the most important changes are to the Safety Data Sheet (SDS): Section 9 (physical and chemical properties) and Section 14 (transport information) now have revised presentation requirements under the GHS Revision 7 standard.
The practical action is straightforward: audit your SDS binders and electronic systems to confirm that the SDS documents for every hazardous product on your sites reflect the GHS 7 format. If they do not, contact the supplier in writing and request an updated SDS. Keep records of those requests. If a supplier does not provide an updated SDS, document your efforts and notify the relevant authority. An SDS that was compliant under GHS 6 may not satisfy the GHS 7 requirements for Sections 9 and 14.
What OHS inspectors are focused on in 2025-2026
The Ontario Ministry of Labour's compliance campaign for April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 is focused on single-family and multi-family residential construction. Inspectors are targeting this sector specifically, which means residential construction employers in Ontario face a higher probability of an inspection visit during this period than in a typical year. The new AMP framework means those visits now carry a direct financial consequence for non-compliance.
If an OHS inspector shows up on your site, the documentation they will ask for first includes your hazard assessments, your safety plan, your training records, and now your AED maintenance records and washroom cleaning logs. Understanding what inspectors look for and how to respond is covered in detail in the post on what happens when an OHS inspector shows up on your construction site.
The practical checklist
The volume of changes across multiple jurisdictions can be difficult to track. The most important actions for construction employers operating across Canada right now are:
Ontario employers on projects with 20 or more workers expected to last three or more months need an AED on site, with the required accessories, signage, and maintenance records. The reimbursement window is open until July 31, 2027.
Alberta employers need to review and update their Violence and Harassment Prevention Plans to reflect the consolidated format and the new confidentiality requirements. The March 31, 2025 deadline has passed, which means non-compliant plans are already in violation.
BC employers operating mobile equipment need to confirm that their equipment meets the three-point seat belt requirement that took effect March 31, 2025. Employers planning tower crane work need to submit a Notice of Project to WorkSafeBC at least two weeks in advance.
All employers need to audit their SDS binders for WHMIS GHS 7 compliance. The full compliance deadline was January 1, 2026.
Federally regulated employers have until February 2027 to comply with the Canada Labour Code Part II amendments, but the preparation work for hazardous substance records, air sampling protocols, and heat and cold stress procedures should begin now.
Sources
Government of Ontario, Ontario Regulation 157/25 (Construction Projects amendment), 2025.
Government of Alberta, OHS Resource Portal, 2024 OHS Code Change Highlights, March 2025.
Health Canada, Amended Hazardous Products Regulations (WHMIS GHS 7), December 2025.
Government of Ontario, Health and Safety Compliance Campaigns 2025-2026.
