Maintaining a COR


Energy Safety Canada offers various options for companies to maintain their COR. Alternatives to the standard COR maintenance audits provide companies with an opportunity to take advantage of diverse evaluation and program enhancement strategies. Intended to both focus company resources onto specific facets of their safety program and to attend to particular gaps in their safety program, many companies may consider such options to be beneficial in the COR maintenance cycle.

How to Maintain A COR

  • Maintenance audits occur in the two years following the certification year. 
  • Employers may use either a Maintenance Option or a Maintenance Audit .
  • Maintenance Audits must evaluate all operations of the company. Employers may hire an external auditor, or an employee can receive training to become an internal certified auditor to conduct the maintenance audit. 

Timing of Maintenance Audits 

  • Every COR is issued for a specific period and the certificate may be valid for one or three years.
  • A maintenance audit requires a 60% overall score to pass and to maintain the COR certificate. 
1 Year COR
The month of the expiry date is used to determine the timing to complete a recertification audit.
3 Year COR
The timing for annual maintenance audits is based on the month of the expiry date. Failure to complete an annual maintenance audit will result in the cancellation of the COR and the possible loss of government financial incentives.

COR Maintenance OptionS

COR Equivalency for ISO and CSA

Employers certified to meet either the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standards for occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems, are eligible to apply to Energy Safety Canada for Certificate of Recognition (COR) certification.

Please note:  British Columbia is currently not participating in the ISO/CSA Equivalency Program.



Baseline Audits

A baseline audit determines the extent and limitations of an employer's current safety program. This audit provides information concerning areas of the safety program that require upgrading.