Workplace violence and harassment program template for Canadian employers

A program must tell workers how risks are controlled, how to get help, how to report an incident or complaint, who investigates it, and how the employer responds and reviews the outcome. A policy states the commitment; the program makes it usable. Copy the fields below into your organisation's controlled document, then adapt them to the governing federal, provincial or territorial regime and the actual workforce. Do not issue it as a legal template without that review.

This is a *program framework*, not an assertion that every Canadian jurisdiction prescribes identical policy words, investigation deadlines, disclosure rules or retention periods. Health Canada's WHMIS roles are unrelated to violence/harassment and should not be used as a source here. Instead, use the applicable OHS and human-rights/privacy laws. The specific Ontario and federal notes below are examples with primary regulator sources. A separate Complys Canadian overview owns the broad explanation; this page supplies copyable operating forms and should not repeat its general article.

Before adopting this document

Record: the legal employer, each covered site, governing OHS jurisdiction, workforce groups, bargaining/collective agreement obligations, committee or representative consultation, privacy and records rules, emergency services, and a named qualified investigator or independent alternative. A worker may be affected by violence from a customer, patient, client, co-worker, manager or domestic partner. A reporting route that leads only to the alleged harasser is not usable. A grievance or criminal process may run alongside the OHS response; neither automatically replaces the employer's safety duty.

If a situation presents immediate danger, workers use the emergency procedure and local emergency services. This form does not ask a worker to complete an online complaint before getting help.

Copyable program cover and commitments

> Employer: [legal name] > Workplaces and jurisdictions: [sites and relevant law] > Program owner and independent reporting alternative: [roles, contacts and backups] > Effective date / last review / next review: [dates] > Consultation record: [committee, representative and worker input; date] > Approved by: [senior accountable person]

Policy commitments. We will assess reasonably foreseeable workplace violence risks arising from the nature of the workplace, the work and its conditions; implement controls; provide a way to summon immediate assistance; receive and respond to reports; conduct appropriate investigations; protect the information of affected people according to law; and take corrective action. We will not penalise a worker for reporting a concern or participating in an investigation in good faith. We will tell workers how this program works and review it when law, work or evidence requires.

Scope and definitions. Use the exact definitions in [governing law] for workplace violence, harassment and sexual harassment, plus any relevant human-rights or collective-agreement definitions. Attach or cite those definitions here: [source and section]. Do not assume that a management disagreement is automatically harassment or that a single serious violent threat can be ignored because it is not a repeated pattern. A qualified reviewer should resolve borderline cases under local law.

Form A: workplace violence risk assessment

Consider circumstances common to similar workplaces as well as the specific site. A reception desk, emergency department, retail closing shift and construction gate will need different controls. Avoid collecting unnecessary personal details about an individual while documenting a hazard. Determine when a known person's history of violence creates a legal duty to inform affected workers, then share only information necessary to protect them under the applicable law.

In Ontario, the ministry's OHSA Part III.0.I guide explains the violence-risk assessment and reassessment duty under section 32.0.3 and communication of results to the JHSC/representative or workers. That Ontario section is not the legal basis for a BC or federally regulated workplace.

Form B: controls and immediate help

Include measures suited to the assessed hazards: staffing, public-contact layout, access control, safe exit, lone-worker checks, payment/cash arrangements, de-escalation training, or a practiced response plan. A camera or panic button is not enough if nobody receives the alert or reaches the worker. Define emergency number(s), site access and who takes charge. Test the process on an evening or remote shift if that is when exposure exists.

Ontario's workplace violence program guidance explains section 32.0.2's four elements: controls for assessed risks likely to expose a worker to physical injury, reporting, immediate assistance, and investigation/dealing with incidents or complaints. Use the four as an Ontario check, then add workplace-specific detail.

Form C: reporting channels and first response

> Immediate danger: [emergency number, site alarm, evacuation/safe room and person in charge]. > Violence incident or threat report: [supervisor/central channel, phone/email/in-person options]. > Harassment report: [designated recipient and independent alternative if that person, a supervisor or employer is implicated]. > Outside-hours route: [staffed route and backup]. > Accessible/language alternative: [method].

On receipt, [named role] records the date and nature of the report, protects immediate safety, decides whether separation or other interim controls are needed without treating either party as guilty, and tells the complainant what the next steps are. They preserve relevant documents, messages, CCTV or witness details only under an appropriate legal basis and access control. They consider medical, first-aid, police, regulator, insurer and worker-support routes as applicable. A threat or assault may need an urgent OHS response even before a formal investigation starts.

Do not promise absolute confidentiality. Limit information to those who need it for investigation, correction or legal requirements, and explain that limit to all participants. A complaint form should collect facts needed to act, not a complete medical or personal history by default.

Form D: investigation plan and outcome

An investigator needs enough independence, competence and time to assess the circumstances fairly. If the alleged harasser is the employer or senior manager, use the alternate route and consider an external investigator. Do not prewrite a conclusion or make confidentiality promises that prevent a fair response. Findings and corrective action may have different disclosure rules from the full investigation report. In Ontario, the OHSA Part III.0.I guide describes section 32.0.7's requirement to inform the allegedly harassed worker and alleged harasser, if a worker, in writing of the results and any corrective action taken or to be taken. Verify the exact disclosure rule for other jurisdictions separately.

Form E: worker instruction and program review

Review after a serious event, change in public contact, new site, altered hours, worker feedback, failed emergency test or new law. Ontario requires the policies to be reviewed at least annually and the harassment program as often as necessary but at least annually; see the ministry guide. Do not transfer that timing unqualified to all of Canada. The results should change the controls or procedure where a gap appears, not merely update the document date.

Jurisdiction adaptation notes

Ontario. The ministry guide and harassment code of practice describe distinct policy, violence-program, written harassment-program, reporting-alternative, consultation, investigation, privacy and notification duties. Check the current Act and whether posting requirements or exceptions apply to the specific workplace. The ministry's code includes example documents; this Complys template should complement, not claim to supersede, the official one.

Federally regulated workplaces. The Labour Program's harassment and violence prevention guidance describes a separate regime, including the prevention policy, assessment and occurrence-resolution process under the federal regulations. Use its current policy and timelines rather than replacing them with Ontario sections.

British Columbia and other jurisdictions. WorkSafeBC offers a bullying and harassment policy guide and sample, but other violence and conduct rules require separate current review. For every province or territory, add a local-law appendix that identifies definitions, consultation, risk assessment, emergency response, investigation, notification, records and review requirements. Do not label this base form “compliant in all provinces.”

Scenario: complaint about the assigned recipient

A worker says their supervisor has harassed them. If the program lists only “tell your supervisor,” the reporting path fails. The worker uses the alternate named recipient. That recipient checks for immediate safety needs, preserves evidence, appoints someone independent to investigate and tells the worker how the process and confidentiality limits work. The accused person is given a fair chance to respond. The employer records a reasoned outcome and corrective action, communicates results as local law requires, and reviews whether its reporting system remained usable. The program should support that sequence without pre-judging the allegation.

Next step

Run two tabletop tests before issuing the program: one violence scenario needing immediate help and one harassment report naming the ordinary recipient. If either route stalls, change the named people and process. For broad context, use the existing Canadian Complys overview. The proposed /ca/ohs-compliance-software route is unverified. Do not claim Complys investigates complaints, keeps privileged records, sends emergency help or enforces statutory deadlines without implementation evidence.

Source, owner, link, product and writer-side QA

Terminal writer-side disposition: READY.