When someone is seriously hurt or killed on your site, the clock starts immediately, and what you do in the first hour matters. Every province requires you to report a fatality or critical injury at once, usually by phone, and then in writing within a short deadline. Get the reporting wrong and you add an offence to a tragedy. Beyond reporting, Canada's OHS penalty regime has teeth: provincial fines run into the millions in Ontario, and a serious case can become a Criminal Code prosecution that reaches managers and owners personally. This guide covers what to report, when, and what is at stake.
Reporting a critical injury or fatality
The pattern is consistent across provinces even though the wording differs: a death or a critical (serious) injury must be reported to the regulator immediately, normally by phone, followed by a written report within a set period.
Ontario gives the clearest definition. A "critical injury" under the OHSA is one that places life in jeopardy, produces unconsciousness, causes substantial loss of blood, fractures a leg or arm (but not a finger or toe alone), amputates a leg, arm, hand or foot, causes the loss of sight in an eye, or involves a major burn. For a fatality or critical injury you notify the MLITSD immediately, plus the Joint Health and Safety Committee and any union, and file a written report within 48 hours. A non-critical injury (a worker who needs medical attention or cannot do their usual work) is reported in writing within 4 days.
Other provinces define the trigger as a "serious injury" or "dangerous occurrence" with broadly similar timing: report fatalities and serious incidents immediately, with a written follow-up within a few days. British Columbia requires immediate notice to WorkSafeBC and the employer's incident report within set deadlines; Alberta requires notice to the OHS Director as soon as possible. Always confirm the exact definition and deadline for the province where the work is done. Do not move or disturb the scene of a fatal or critical incident beyond what is needed to help the injured or prevent further harm, because the regulator will want it preserved. Keep incident-investigation records, most provinces expect at least three years.
The penalty regime, in general terms
OHS penalties in Canada come in two forms. The first is a fine after a prosecution and conviction in court. The second, in several provinces, is an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) the regulator can impose without going to court.
The headline numbers are highest in Ontario, where the maximum fine for a corporation is $2,000,000 per charge, and individuals such as directors and officers face their own substantial maximums. Other provinces and territories set their own maximums, and these vary widely, with some far lower than Ontario and Quebec's regulatory fines lower still (though the CNESST enforces actively). Because those per-province caps come from single sources and change with amendments, treat any figure other than Ontario's as something to confirm with the specific regulator rather than a fixed fact. The general point holds everywhere: a serious OHS conviction is expensive, it is public, and it follows the business.
Criminal liability: the Westray law
Since 2004, the Criminal Code (section 217.1, added by Bill C-45 after the 1992 Westray Mine disaster that killed 26 miners) imposes a legal duty on anyone who directs how work is done to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm. This runs in parallel to provincial OHS law, not instead of it. To convict for criminal negligence the Crown must prove a marked and substantial departure from what a reasonable person would have done, amounting to wanton or reckless disregard for life or safety, and that death or bodily harm resulted. The penalties are severe: up to life imprisonment for an individual where death results, and unlimited fines for an organisation. It reaches supervisors, managers, owners, directors and officers. Crucially, the due-diligence defence that answers a provincial charge does not answer a criminal-negligence charge.
Naloxone on Ontario construction sites
Ontario became the first, and as of 2026 the only, Canadian province to mandate naloxone kits at certain workplaces, under the OHSA, in force since 1 June 2023. The duty is triggered where all three conditions are met: there is a risk of a worker having an opioid overdose, the risk is at a workplace where that worker works for the employer, and the employer knows or ought reasonably to know about it. "Ought reasonably to know" includes a prior overdose on site, finding discarded needles or paraphernalia, the committee or a worker reporting the risk, or a worker disclosing at-risk opioid use.
Where it applies, the Ontario employer must provide at least one naloxone kit in a hard case with unexpired, single-use contents, keep it in the charge of a trained worker who works nearby whenever workers are on site, train at least one worker per site to recognise an overdose and administer naloxone, and post the names and locations of trained workers near the kit, while protecting personal privacy. Given the realities of the trade, many Ontario construction employers now carry a kit as a matter of course. No other province has legislated an equivalent construction-sector mandate as of 2026, though several run strong voluntary programs.
Common mistakes
- Not reporting fast enough. A fatality or critical injury is an immediate phone call, with the written report close behind; a late report is itself an offence.
- Disturbing the scene. Beyond helping the injured, leave a fatal or critical scene as it is for the regulator.
- Assuming due diligence covers everything. It defends a provincial charge, not a Criminal Code criminal-negligence charge.
- Treating the Ontario naloxone rule as optional. Where the trigger is met it is a legal duty, not a nice-to-have.
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