LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Fall Protection

June 10: The Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) published amendments to the OHS Safety Code for construction work governing use of personal fall protection during the assembly or dismantling of a metal structure, including metal bridging work, take effect. Highlights: New requirement to have an engineer's plan meeting CSA Z259.13 and Z259.16 when using a flexible continuous anchorage system, clarification of the standards for movement limitation system arrest links, and updates to required lighting levels. Effective date: August 10.

Action Point: Find out how to implement a legally sound Fall Protection Compliance Game Plan at your site.

Power Tools

Jun 10: Proposed amendments to OHS forest management work regulations affect required standards for chainsaw chains, safety footwear, leg protection devices, and protective clothing for chainsaw users. The amendments also add paramedic to the list of potential contact people when there are fewer than nine workers and permit modifying brush clearing equipment if the manufacturer allows it.

Action Point: Find out how to implement an effective Chainsaws Safety & Compliance Game Plan at your workplace.

Industry Challenges

Jun 10: Proposed amendments to the Regulation respecting concrete pumps and distribution masts eliminate the requirement that reports on the examination of load-bearing parts of pump trucks be transmitted to the CNESST. They also clarify that the prime contractor is responsible for obtaining a copy of the most recent pump truck load-bearing parts examination report before the start of work. Effective date: August 10, 2026.

Industry Challenges

Jun 10: CNESST proposed significant changes to OHS Regulations for mines safety, including new requirements for mine rescue, practical training of the extraction machine operator, protection of emergency exits, rail-driven vehicles without an on-board engine, haulage convoys, autonomous vehicles, cable inspection, explosives chests, and loading areas.

Industry Challenges

Jul 15: Québec’s new regulatory framework for mineral exploration and mining activities officially took effect, including the new regulations governing the appointment of a representative in cases of joint ownership of a mining right, the financial contribution for non-exclusive leases for the exploitation of surface mineral substances (restoration of sand and gravel pits), and the standards for provisional financial guarantees.

Industry Challenges

Jun 11: Newly effective red-tape reduction legislation abolishes the annual royalty that sawmills in Québec must pay on timber from public forests. Bill 11 also revises the pricing of such timber, which will now be based on a minimum rate that’s adjusted monthly according to the average profitability of companies and market conditions. The government plans to phase in the new wood pricing system over a two-year transition period.

New Laws

Jul 6: Québec launched a new government Policy designed to cut red tape for entrepreneurs. From now on, ministries and agencies that regulate businesses will have to offset each new administrative requirement by eliminating one or two existing requirements. The government will create a single, public registry of government forms intended for businesses to better track and improve regulatory paperwork requirements. New administrative forms will also be made available online before they come into effect to further simplify entrepreneurs’ lives.

Workplace Violence

Jun 22: After systematically reviewing 10 domestic violence incidents resulting in 16 deaths, the Québec Coroner's Office's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee published a new report making 13 recommendations to raise awareness of and prevent domestic violence deaths in the province.

Action Point: Sexual and domestic violence becomes an OHS compliance issue when it happens at the victim’s workplace. Bottom Line: Simply having a workplace violence prevention plan isn’t enough. You must also incorporate protections against workplace domestic violence into the plan. Find out how to implement an effective Workplace Domestic Violence Prevention Plan to protect your own workers.

Workplace Violence

Jun 11: Royal Assent for Bill 4 making it easier for individuals who are at risk of domestic violence, including minors under the age of 14, to apply to law enforcement for personal information indicating whether their or their parent’s intimate partner has a history of violence. The Bill also allows police officers and support services personnel to seek such information on behalf of a third person they reasonably suspect to be in danger of intimate partner violence.

New Laws

Jun 5: Québec sent 2,549 new invitations to individuals who submitted an expression of interest to apply to the Skilled Worker Selection Program (SWPSP). It also added tourism to the list of priority occupations. With over 420,000 jobs across Québec, tourism generated record revenues of nearly $19 billion in 2025. It is Quebec's fourth largest export sector for foreign exchange earnings, just after aerospace, aluminum, and iron ore.

New Laws

Jun 25: Canada Economic Development (CED) will provide $33,996,687 in funding for 52 businesses and organizations in Québec’s biofood sector. The money will enable businesses and organizations to integrate new technologies, improve their processes, increase their productivity, and develop innovative solutions and products while also creating over 3,400 jobs in the province.

Workers’ Compensation

Jun 16: CNESST proposed increasing the average workers’ comp contribution rate from $1.54 to $1.71 per $100 assessable payroll in 2027. That’s the second yearly increase in a row.

Action Point: In addition to earning workers’ comp rebates, studies show that companies with COR or similar recognition have lower injury rates.

Workers’ Compensation

Jun 30: Newly proposed regulations modernize the framework for health services covered by workers’ comp. Among other things, CNESST would create a distinction between professions regarding fee increases and introduce new reimbursement conditions for certain treatments.

Environmental

Jul 6: After 20 years, Québec officially ended the moratorium on the expansion of agricultural land. The new Regulation respecting agri-environmental practices (RPAE) allows the cultivation of new agricultural land, for an additional potential of up to 200,000 hectares, subject to conditions aimed at protecting natural environments, waterways, and biodiversity.

Environmental

Jun 30: The Governments of Canada and Québec reached an agreement providing $25 million in federal funding over five years to support the recovery and protection of caribou in the province. The money will be used for caribou habitat and population management. Québec has 17 caribou populations divided into three ecotypes—woodland, migratory, and mountain.

CASES

Lockout Tagout: Contractor Didn’t Use Due Diligence to Prevent Electrical Violation

A CNESST inspector pulls aside a construction worker replacing light fixtures in a corridor to ask whether the power source to the electrical supply system has been properly locked out. At that very moment the lights come on. The inspector cites the electrical contractor/employer for failing to ensure that the components of an electrical circuit of more than 30 volts are protected to prevent contact with a live element. The Québec court rejects the contractor’s due diligence defence based on evidence that its workers weren’t aware of the company’s electrical hazards prevention program and the lack of documentation that training was provided and safe work procedures were in place. The court also pooh-poohs the contractor’s reasonable mistake of fact due diligence argument finding that its misidentification of the electrical box was due to “passivity” rather than reasonable mistake of fact [CNESST v. EK Électrik inc., 2026 QCCQ 2902 (CanLII), June 23, 2026].

Action Point: You can prevent OHS fines like these by implementing a legally sound Lockout and Hazardous Energy Control Compliance Game Plan at your site.

Drugs & Alcohol: OK to Terminate Safety-Sensitive Employee for Refusing a Drug Test

During a 2:00 a.m. overtime shift, an experienced cheese slicing machine operator was unable to keep pace with the assembly line and had to set aside 10 boxes to finish later to catch up. She also displayed agitation during the shift. Suspecting impairment, the company asked the operator to take a drug test, but she refused. As a result, the company fired her. The Québec arbitrator dismissed the union’s grievance. The operator’s job was safety-sensitive and there was reasonable cause to suspect that she wasn’t fit for duty thereby justifying for-cause testing under the company’s drug testing policy, which the arbitrator ruled was a reasonable safety policy. The operator’s refusal to submit to testing was thus just cause to terminate [Teamsters Québec, local 1999 v. Agropur Coopérative (Beauceville), 2026 CanLII 52451 (QC SAT), June 1, 2026].

Action Point: Find out how to create a legally sound Drugs and Alcohol Testing Policy for your workplace.