GI-2026-24-reg1: Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Labour Code (Personal Protective Equipment and Other Preventive Measures)

If you run a federally regulated business in sectors like marine transportation, oil and gas, rail, aviation, or trucking — covering about 8% of the Canadian workforce — these rules affect how you manage workplace safety gear and fall protection. You'll need to ensure PPE is fitted by a qualified person with explicit attention to body type (including for workers who don't fit traditional sizing), update your internal training materials and written procedures to reflect new terminology and standards, and — if you operate under the Maritime or Oil and Gas regulations — develop a formal fall-protection plan. Total compliance costs across all affected employers are estimated at about $2.7 million over 10 years, with roughly $2.2 million of that falling on approximately 18,500 small businesses; most of this cost is for purchasing newly required CSA standards documents rather than buying new equipment, since most employers are assumed to already meet the technical requirements. Non-compliance with new fall protection rules can trigger administrative monetary penalties classified as Type D (high risk of serious injury or fatality) or Type E (life-threatening), so the stakes for getting it wrong are significant.