COR: The Certificate of Recognition program (COR™) is an occupational health and safety accreditation program that verifies a fully implemented safety & health program which meets national standards.  The objectives of COR™ are to provide industry employers with an effective safety and health management system to reduce incidents, accidents and injuries as well as their associated human and financial costs. COR™ is now frequently used as a pre-qualification and/or condition of contract by public and private project owners across Canada.
COR™ is nationally trademarked and endorsed by participating members of the Canadian Federation of Construction Safety Associations (CFCSA). Although COR™ is the national standard, COR™ must be attained in the province or territory you are working in.

Each of the participating members of the CFCSA act as the Authority Having Jurisdiction to grant COR™ Certification in their Province or Territory and practices the utmost diligence to ensure that the COR™ standards are upheld.

NOTE: COR™ Must be granted by the Authority Having Jurisdiction in each of the provinces/territories you work. A straightforward process is available to companies that have achieved COR™ and would like to request Equivalency/Reciprocity in another jurisdiction.

If you are interested in learning more about COR™ or the Equivalency/Reciprocity process, please contact your Provincial or Territorial Construction Safety Association.

History:  During the annual meeting of the CFCSA in 1999, members agreed in principle to a number of common audit elements required for a construction firm to achieve or maintain an acceptable level of health and safety performance (COR™).  Included in the agreement between members was the minimum national standards for the COR™ audit program and the training requirements necessary to meet the Construction Safety Officer (CSO) designation.

The next meeting in 2000, formalized the agreement.

At the 2004 CFCSA annual meeting, a “technical committee” was established to begin harmonizing of the actual audit instrument.

June 2005 meeting unveiled the new National Audit Instrument to achieve COR™ (13 common elements with one provincial supplement for those jurisdictions wishing to include). 

At the June 2010 CFCSA Annual Meeting, all members signed a COR™ Memorandum of Understanding solidifying the original 2000 agreement.