How to Obtain & Maintain COR
2025 COR Audit Registration
To register your 2025 COR audit, please complete the following registration. For certification audits, recertification audits, and organizations who do not have CCSA Certified Internal Auditors, please use the Certified External Auditors List to obtain an auditor.
Once your 2025 audit registration has been received, the CCSA COR Team will provide confirmation of your registration.
If you have any questions please contact the CCSA COR Team via email (COR@ab-ccsa.ca) or via phone 780-433-5330 and we will be happy to assist you.
NOTE: If you do not receive feedback from CCSA within 2 business days, please contact the CCSA COR Team.
Timelines and Dates
Auditors have up to 45 days for data gathering. Once data gathering is complete, they’ll write and submit the audit report to the CCSA within another 21 days. When audit reports require correction, auditors are allowed 15 days per revision and as many reviews as needed within 90 days. Once the final audit is approved by the CCSA, the audit report can be released to the employer by the lead auditor.
When going through the audit process, please keep in mind:
- If you don’t have a health and safety management system, it may take 12 months or more to complete the whole process; the CCSA can help with this.
- October to December is the busiest time for auditors, so an audit may take longer during this time.
- If corrections are needed by the auditor, this will add more time to the process.
- If the auditor does not meet the deadlines for completing or submitting the audit report, or if the auditor’s report doesn’t pass quality assurance standards your COR status may be impacted. In these scenarios, the audit won’t be accepted which means you will have to have a new audit performed and your COR could expire while you are waiting for the new audit to be completed.
Maintenance Action Plans in lieu of Maintenance Audits
Performing an Maintenance Action Plan in lieu of a Maintenance Audit is an option for some organizations. Maintenance Action Plans allow employers to focus on recommendations from the last certification audit while maintaining COR and continuing to enhance workplace safety.
NOTE: This is not the action plan that is created by the employer after the annual audit process.
For an organization to be eligible to use an action plan in lieu of maintenance audits, the following criteria must be met:
- The employer must have a current COR.
- The employer must have completed one full, three-year COR audit cycle and successful completed a re-certification audit.
- The employer must have achieved a 90% overall score on the re-certification audit.
- The employer must apply in writing to the CCSA prior to March 31 of the calendar year for permission to use an action plan in lieu of the maintenance audit, and provide the proposed Action Plan before approval will be given.
- The employer must submit the action plan to the CCSA for approval by June 30.
2025 COR Maintenance Action Plan Application
The employer must send a letter of intent to the CCSA COR team by March 31st of the calendar year for permission to use a maintenance action plan in lieu of the maintenance audit.
To be eligible for maintenance action plans, the employer must meet the following criteria:
- The employer must have completed one full, three-year COR audit cycle and successfully completed a re-certification audit(already have a current COR).
- The employer must have achieved a 90% overall score on the re-certification audit.
The Letter of Intent must include the current audit cycle year and the overall score from the previous recertification audit.
Once your letter of intent has been received, the CCSA COR team will review the request, and if all criteria has been met, you will be asked to register for the maintenance action plan and then a template with instructions and criteria will be sent to you. You will have until June 30 of the calendar year to submit the maintenance action plan to CCSA for approval.
The completed maintenance action plan and all deliverables will be due by November 30.
If you have questions, please contact CCSA COR Team COR@ab-ccsa.ca
Written Questionnaire
In specified circumstances, CCSA can approve the use of written questionnaires in lieu of verbal interviews for COR Audits. Before deciding to use written interview questionnaires as an alternative to verbal interviews for workers, employers and auditors should consider the following factors:
- Does this method provide a better opportunity to gather feedback from workers than face-to-face interviews?
- Will the workers participating have adequate reading and writing skills to complete the questionnaire?
- Will the questionnaire respondents be able to write out a full answer, not just “yes” or “no?”
Questionnaires can only be used for up to 50% of the worker interview sample and cannot be used to gather manager and supervisor interview data. For more information and to apply please click the application button below.
Audit Remote Observation Application
In specified circumstances, CCSA can approve the use of remote observations in lieu of in-person observations for COR Certification, Re-Certification and Maintenance Audits. Remote observations must be agreed upon between the employer and auditor, and include a rationale of the decision and description of the methodology to be used to complete the observations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on the size and complexity of the employer, the time needed to complete the audit process can vary. Maximum timeline for data gathering is 45 days, with an additional 21 days to write the audit report. Some auditors may be able to complete the audit sooner, depending on capacity.
Audits must be completed annually once the employer is certified.
In the Certification or Recertification, the employer is required to hire an external auditor. For the Maintenance years, the employer can certify employees as internal auditors or choose to hire an external auditor.
As long as all data gathering activities are completed before December 31 of the calendar year, the COR will be recertified. The WCB rebate is not affected as long as the audit is successfully submitted before the end of the calendar year and meets the required standards. COR Holders who are at risk of losing their COR status will be contacted by the CCSA COR Team.
If data gathering activities are not completed before the end of the calendar year and no extension was granted, the member employer would be removed from the COR Holders list and are put back on after completion of the ENTIRE audit process (including the Quality Assurance Review). Once the CCSA submits the audit into CORRS, the employer will go back on the list.
- Contact the CCSA to let them know. Sometimes there are opportunities to work with auditors in training that need to complete a qualification audit.
- If there is time you can choose to send another staff member through training to become an internal auditor. Their qualification audit can be used as the maintenance audit, as long as they are successful in completing and passing the audit process.
- You can hire an external auditor to complete the audit.
- Those with an interest in health and safety and have a good understanding of the health & safety system.
- Reading, writing, and communication skills are essential to understand the audit guidelines and provide detailed support on the documentation reviewed.
- Interviewing skills are an asset, people skills and the ability to communicate objectively and professionally are essential.
- Auditors must be comfortable with speaking in public, the role of coaching and delivering negative findings in a positive and helpful way.
- Most important is the ability to meet deadlines; specific timelines have been established in order for the employer to maintain their COR.
- Those who have no interest in health & safety.
- Those who do not have access to a computer or limited knowledge of computers and programs such as Word, Excel, and email.
- Those who do not have dedicated time each year to conduct an audit.
An annual audit:
- Helps review the health and safety system against an approved standard.
- Shows where improvements need to be made, year over year, to the health and safety system.
- Helps ensure the health and safety system is maintained and it is not forgotten when we “get busy”.
- Gives all levels of staff an opportunity to participate in and to help achieve successes. Participation can be at different levels such as: a) an internal auditor, b) HSC member or c) worker
Partnerships establishes the minimum requirement for interviews to ensure a representative sampling is done. A representative sample ensures employees from all sites, departments, shifts, levels and experience, within the scope of the audit, participate. This provides enough details so that the auditor can be sure the policies and process documented are being used and understood.
Most interviews will take approx. 45 minutes, the more an organization communicates health and safety and ensure workers awareness, the shorter the time it will take to complete the interview.