CPO-Approved Working at Heights Training in Ontario

Yes — the Working at Heights program we deliver with 4S is approved by Ontario's Chief Prevention Officer and meets the requirements of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. That approval is what makes the certificate count on a construction project. A generic fall protection session does not satisfy O. Reg. 297/13.

Any worker on an Ontario construction project who uses a method of fall protection needs the CPO-approved certificate, and so do the supervisors answering for them. That covers carpenters, electricians, plumbers, ironworkers and labourers, and it covers roofers, window cleaners, painters on a boom lift and industrial crews servicing silos or overhead cranes. Coast2Coast is a Top 3 Canadian Red Cross Training Partner for 2023, 2024 and 2025, so one booking covers your first aiders and your crew's heights safety training.

Fall arrest was the old generic term; Working at Heights is the specific CPO-approved program Ontario has required on construction projects since 2015. Fall arrest names one kind of gear, the sort that catches you once you are already falling. Working at Heights is the standard, and it covers travel restraint and fall restricting systems too.

Ontario's construction regulation requires fall protection where a worker could fall 3 metres or more. Height is not the only trigger — fall protection is also required at any height where a worker could fall into water or a hazardous substance, or onto operating machinery. Once fall protection is in use on a construction project, O. Reg. 297/13 puts CPO-approved Working at Heights training on every worker who uses it. If your crew ties off at all, the training requirement follows.

No — online-only courses do not meet Ontario's requirements for working at heights training, because the Chief Prevention Officer requires a supervised in-person practical evaluation. The theory does have an online portion of the training, which is what makes the full course blended. The practical module that follows it runs approximately 3.5 hours in class: donning a harness, calculating fall clearance and inspecting fall protection equipment all have to be watched by an instructor.

A Working at Heights certificate runs three years, and the heights refresher has to be taken before that date passes. Book the Working at Heights refresher while the card is valid and you stay on the cycle. Let the WAH certificate lapse and the refresher closes to you, so the full heights course is the only route back. Heights certification is a cycle, so put the date on your WAH certificate in a calendar.

No — Working at Heights answers the fall protection training duty in O. Reg. 297/13, and it does not satisfy Ontario Regulation 1101, which is the workplace first aid rule. Two separate obligations, two separate certificates:

• Fall protection training for construction workers who use it — that is this course
• Workplace first aid under Regulation 1101 — Basic/Emergency First Aid for five workers or fewer, Intermediate/Standard First Aid above that, both with CPR/AED Level C

Most sites need both. Book Intermediate/Standard First Aid for the first aid half, and see our WSIB compliance page for the first aid station, the Form 82 poster, the records and the kit that Regulation 1101 puts on the employer.

Yes — Intermediate First Aid and Standard First Aid are two names for one course. The Canadian Red Cross changed the wording, so older certificates read Standard and newer ones read Intermediate. We list it as Intermediate/Standard First Aid: the 16-hour course, with CPR/AED Level C, that covers Regulation 1101 on a site with more than five workers. Below that threshold, Basic/Emergency First Aid is the 8-hour option. See our first aid course page.

Fall protection is a different trade from first aid, so we partnered with a safety management specialist rather than writing a heights training program of our own. Coast2Coast has trained first aid and CPR since 2014. 4S brings the approved program and the inspected fall protection systems; we bring the instruction and the booking. You book with one company, and your crew trains on a program the Chief Prevention Officer signed off.

Yes — Coast2Coast has been headquartered in Toronto since 2014, and we run heights safety training across Ontario. Working at Heights training Toronto crews book with us runs at our facility or at yours. Send your headcount and we will tell you which heights course fits.

Yes — we run private Working at Heights training at your facility, on a date you choose, with volume pricing for larger groups. You get one contact for booking, invoicing and tracking expiry dates — more than most heights training providers offer. Call 1-866-291-9121 or see private and group training.