What the common safety tickets are, who needs them, how long they last and where to check the official rules, plus every provincial and territorial safety regulator.
About this guide: we don't sell or issue safety tickets, and we're not a training provider. This page is general information. Requirements depend on your province or territory, your employer and your site, so always confirm with your employer and your regulator before you book a course.
Updated: Oct 2026. We only list a cost or validity period when an official source states it.
The tickets
Working at Heights (Ontario)
What it is
Ontario's mandatory fall protection training for construction. The program and the training provider must both be approved by Ontario's Chief Prevention Officer (CPO).
Who needs it
Workers on Ontario construction projects (under O. Reg. 213/91) who are required to use a travel restraint system, fall restricting system, fall arrest system, safety net, work belt or safety belt must complete it before using that equipment. Ontario also accepts Newfoundland and Labrador's WorkplaceNL fall protection training, together with basic awareness and site-specific training.
Cost
Not stated by Ontario. Prices are set by each approved provider.
Validity
3 years from the date you complete it. A refresher from an approved provider renews it for another 3 years. Beware of fraudulent providers: check the official list.
Ontario's mandatory awareness training for every worker and supervisor, covering your rights and duties, the roles of employers and supervisors, and common hazards. Ontario.ca offers the ministry's program as a workbook or an eLearning module.
Who needs it
Every worker and supervisor in Ontario covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act (O. Reg. 297/13). Employers should provide it within the first few days, before you're exposed to hazards, and must keep a record.
Cost
Not stated. The ministry's own workbook and eLearning module are on Ontario.ca.
Education and training on the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System: labels, safety data sheets and the safe-work procedures for the hazardous products at your workplace.
Who needs it
Workers who work with, or near, hazardous products. Your employer is responsible for making sure you're educated and trained, including on site-specific procedures. Details are set by each province and territory.
Cost
No official price. Your employer is responsible for providing the training. CCOHS warns against high-pressure sellers of WHMIS training.
Validity
There's no fixed national expiry. Employers should review their WHMIS program at least once a year, or as their jurisdiction requires, and retrain when products, hazards or procedures change. A new employer must give you site-specific training.
First aid and CPR training from an approved provider. Each province and territory sets its own workplace first aid rules.
Who needs it
Every jurisdiction in Canada requires workplaces to have first aid. How many trained first aiders a workplace needs, and at what level, depends on things like the number of workers, the hazards and the distance to a hospital. In Ontario, the WSIB approves first aid training providers.
Cost
Not stated by the WSIB. Prices are set by providers.
Validity
Ontario: all first aid certificates are valid for three years from the date of issue. Since June 22, 2026, Ontario's “Emergency First Aid” is called Basic First Aid and “Standard First Aid” is called Intermediate First Aid (aligned with CSA Z1210:24). Certificates issued up to June 21, 2026 stay valid until they expire. Online-only courses aren't accepted; blended courses are. The WSIB accepts Canadian certificates that meet CSA Z1210.
An online construction safety orientation from the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA). It has 9 modules: worker and employer responsibilities, work site expectations, hazard management, PPE, manual lifting, hand tools, noise, WHMIS and emergency response preparedness.
Who needs it
Construction workers who want a general safety orientation, often asked for in Western Canada. Check with your employer whether they require it.
Cost
Free on ACSA's MyLearning site ($0.00 at the time of checking).
Validity
Not stated by ACSA. It takes about 2 to 3 hours, and you need 80% on each module test.
“Santé et sécurité générale sur les chantiers de construction,” Quebec's general construction safety course: 30 hours, 19 modules and a final exam.
Who needs it
Required under Quebec's construction safety code (CSTC s. 2.4.2 i) for workers on construction sites, and for managers and supervisors who mainly and usually work on site. Exceptions are decided by the CNESST.
Cost
Varies by training provider.
Validity
A provisional certificate is valid for 12 weeks until your card arrives. The card itself doesn't expire. Offered in French and English.
Fall protection training in other provinces and territories
What it is
Outside Ontario, fall protection training is required everywhere, but each jurisdiction words it differently.
Who needs it
Examples from CCOHS's summary: Newfoundland and Labrador requires a WorkplaceNL-prescribed program; Nova Scotia requires training before use and at least every 3 years, with proof kept at the workplace; Alberta requires the employer to train workers before they work where fall protection is needed (OHS Code s. 141); British Columbia requires instruction before a worker enters an area where fall protection is required. Manitoba, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and federally regulated workplaces each have their own rules.
Cost
Not stated by the regulators.
Validity
Varies. Nova Scotia: at least every 3 years. Elsewhere, check your regulator.
Training for entering or working near confined spaces. There's no single national confined space ticket.
Who needs it
Workers who enter confined spaces, or act as attendants or rescuers, must be trained under their employer's confined space program and their jurisdiction's rules. A trained, competent person evaluates the hazards and the air is tested before entry.
Training on safely breaking ground near buried pipelines and other facilities. Energy Safety Canada publishes the industry's Ground Disturbance and Damage Prevention guideline, which replaced DACC IRP 17.
Who needs it
Workers and supervisors doing ground disturbance in the upstream oil and gas industry. Employers set specific training requirements.
Energy Safety Canada's one-day course on hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas hazards, detection, protection and rescue.
Who needs it
Workers in the oil and gas industry who may be exposed to H2S. Employers and sites set the requirement.
Cost
Classroom course: not stated. Blended renewal: CAD 90 listed by Energy Safety Canada (“prices may vary”), plus a separate fee for the assessment at a training provider. The renewal needs an unexpired certificate.
Operator training for forklifts (lift trucks) and elevating work platforms like scissor and boom lifts.
Who needs it
Only trained operators should run this equipment. CCOHS notes that some jurisdictions require operators to be trained, certified or licensed, to be “competent” or “authorized”, or to meet a minimum age (for example, 18). Relevant standards include CSA B335 (lift trucks) and CSA B354.7 (elevating work platforms).
Cost
Not stated by an official source.
Validity
Not stated nationally. In Quebec, ASP Construction says aerial work platform (PEMP) operators must update their training, including at least a practical exam, every 5 years (CSTC 2.15.17).
Training for workers who direct traffic around road and construction work.
Who needs it
British Columbia: traffic control persons must be trained to WorkSafeBC standards through an approved provider (BCCSA, BeeSafe or Universal Health and Safety). Ontario: a traffic control person must be a competent worker, given written and oral instructions in a language they understand, and must not do other work while directing traffic (O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69); Ontario's regulation doesn't name a specific course. Quebec: ASP Construction runs a signaleur routier course.
Cost
Not stated by an official source.
Validity
BC (BCCSA program): the 2-day course needs 80% to pass and the certificate is valid for 3 years; a 1-day renewal course is available. Quebec (ASP): renew every 3 years. Ontario: no expiry set in the regulation.
Does the free Safety Basics course count as a safety ticket?
No. Our Safety Basics course is general education only. It isn't a certification, it doesn't replace your employer's site-specific training, and it doesn't give you Working at Heights, WHMIS, First Aid or any other ticket.
How long is Ontario Working at Heights training valid?
Three years from the date you complete it. A refresher from a CPO-approved provider renews it for another three years.
Does WHMIS training expire?
There's no fixed national expiry date. Employers should review their WHMIS program at least once a year, or as their province or territory requires, and retrain workers when products, hazards or procedures change. A new employer must give you training on its own workplace.
How long is a first aid certificate valid in Ontario?
The WSIB says all first aid certificates are valid for three years from the date of issue in Ontario.
Will Ontario accept my first aid certificate from another province?
The WSIB accepts Canadian first aid certificates that meet CSA Z1210 (the 2017 or 2024 edition). Check with the WSIB or your employer.
Who can tell me exactly which tickets I need?
Start with your employer, since many requirements depend on the site and the work. For the law in your area, contact your provincial or territorial health and safety regulator, listed in the table on this page.