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SECOR Audits

SECOR audits for small companies in Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan

The certificate that unlocks the contracts you cannot bid on today.

Small Employer Certificate of Recognition opens prequalification doors for sole proprietors, small trade shops, and specialty subs. On-Track coordinates the entire audit with the certifying partner that fits the operation, across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Quote on operations. Scoped to size, partner, and current state of the safety program.

Compare COR vs SECOR
  • For operators typically under 10 workers
  • Coordinated through any certifying partner
  • Self-audit format with full coordination
  • AB, BC, SK, and MB coverage
An auditor and a client representative in hard hats and hi-vis vests reviewing a clipboard together in a shop.

What it is

SECOR is COR, scoped to your size.

The Small Employer Certificate of Recognition is the small-operator version of the COR program. It exists because COR's full evidence depth and three-year external-audit cycle are impractical for operations with one to ten workers. The recognition is similar, but the audit is sized to a small operation. SECOR uses a self-audit format with certifying-partner oversight, supported by training and guidance from the partner.

Worker thresholds vary by province. Most provinces define the small-employer threshold as under ten workers. British Columbia's equivalent program is called Small COR and covers operators with up to nineteen workers, run through BCCSA for construction. On-Track coordinates SECOR audits across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The right certifying partner is determined by industry, province, and the prime contractors the operation works with. On-Track is not tied to one - we scope the audit against whichever partner fits.

A SECOR is a self-audit. An operator can complete it without hiring anyone - the certifying partner does not require an external auditor. Most operators still do not do it themselves. It is fifteen to twenty-five hours of structured documentation work, against a protocol an owner-operator sees once every three years, while the business still needs running. That is the work operators hand to On-Track: we scope it, gather the evidence, run the self-audit format alongside you, and coordinate the certifying partner's sign-off.

Need the safety program built first?

SECOR Ready $1,960 for the SECOR manual + $1,960 for us to prepare your SECOR submission. COR Ready from $4,495. Plus GST. The manual, up to 20 formal hazard assessments for your own tasks, forms and the implementation checklist in one order.

See COR Ready and SECOR Ready

Not ready to book your SECOR yet?

The On-Track Compliance Portal helps small operators organise documentation, training records, and partner-specific evidence in the months before a certifying-partner submission.

See the Compliance Portal

Your SECOR pathway

Four steps to certificate. Sized to a small operation.

Same shape regardless of which certifying partner is right for the operation. We coordinate the work, the operator does the self-audit, the partner issues the certificate.

  1. Scope + Certifying Partner Selection

    We confirm the right certifying partner for the industry, province, and prime contractor requirements. Each partner has its own protocol; picking the right one is half the work of a successful SECOR audit.

  2. Documentation Gather

    We work through the partner's required documentation list with the operator. Existing safety program documents go in first; gaps get scoped. The work is sized to a small operation.

  3. Self-Audit Completion

    The small employer completes the self-audit against the partner's protocol. We support, prompt, and check the evidence. The audit is the small employer's; the coordination is ours.

  4. Certifying-Partner Sign-Off

    Submission to the certifying partner with the evidence package ready. We coordinate the partner's review and any follow-up the operator needs before the certificate is issued.

Industries we serve

We work where the work happens.

Six core industries. Same problem in each: a safety program that holds up when the inspector or a prime contractor asks to see it.

  • Construction

  • Oil and Gas

  • Trades and Services

  • Industrial and Manufacturing

  • Transportation

  • Mining and Resource

Plus office, retail, municipal, and commercial operations across Canada.

Western Canada coverage

Which certifying partner runs your SECOR.

On-Track is not tied to one certifying partner. The right partner is determined by industry, province, and the prime contractors the operation works with. We coordinate SECOR through any of the Western Canada partners below.

Alberta

9 partners
  • ACSAAlberta Construction Safety Association
  • AASPAlberta Association for Safety Partnerships
  • ESCEnergy Safety Canada
  • AMTAAlberta Motor Transport Association
  • AMHSAAlberta Municipal Health and Safety Association
  • MHSAManufacturers Health and Safety Association
  • AFPAAlberta Forest Products Association
  • ARHCAAlberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association
  • Plus 5 moreAdditional sector-specific Alberta partners

British Columbia

6 partners
  • BCCSABC Construction Safety Alliance
  • ESCEnergy Safety Canada
  • MSABCManufacturing Safety Alliance of BC
  • BCMSABC Municipal Safety Association
  • go2HRTourism and hospitality
  • BCFSCBC Forest Safety Council

Saskatchewan

3 partners
  • SCSASaskatchewan Construction Safety Association
  • ESCEnergy Safety Canada
  • HCSASHeavy Construction Safety Association of Saskatchewan

Manitoba

5 partners
  • CSAMConstruction Safety Association of Manitoba
  • MHCA WORKSAFELYManitoba Heavy Construction Association safety program
  • Made SafeManitoba sector safety partner
  • RPMRegional Partnership Manitoba
  • MASHManitoba Association of Safety and Health

Protocols vary by partner

Same themes, different scorecards.

Every certifying partner touches the same high-level themes - management commitment, hazard ID, hazard control, training, inspections, emergency response, investigations, program administration. How each one labels, groups, and weights them is partner-specific. Six representative protocols below.

Alberta Construction Safety Association

ACSA

Alberta Construction Safety Association

Alberta · Construction sector

  • Alberta-specific OHS Code references
  • Construction-sector scoring
  • Most rigorous SECOR pathway in AB
Alberta Association for Safety Partnerships

AASP

Alberta Association for Safety Partnerships

Alberta · General and service-sector

  • Broadest industry applicability
  • Online training component for the operator
  • Common path for service-sector small employers
Energy Safety Canada

ESC

Energy Safety Canada

Cross-provincial · Oil and gas

  • Upstream oil and gas scope
  • Lettered element list (A through J)
  • Multi-province acceptance
Alberta Motor Transport Association

AMTA

Alberta Motor Transport Association

Alberta · Trucking and transportation

  • Transportation-sector small carriers
  • AB trucking and motor carrier scope
  • Aligned to NSC and TDG requirements
BC Construction Safety Alliance

BCCSA

BC Construction Safety Alliance

British Columbia · Construction sector

  • BC Small COR program (under 19 workers)
  • Internal-auditor pathway available
  • WorkSafeBC rebate eligible
Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association

SCSA

Saskatchewan Construction Safety Association

Saskatchewan · Construction sector

  • Saskatchewan construction-sector small employers
  • SK WCB rebate eligible
  • Saskatchewan-specific evidence rules
Not sure which partner fits the operation?

When SECOR is no longer the fit

When SECOR is no longer the right size.

Two events typically push a SECOR operator into the full COR program. The first is worker count. Once the operation consistently runs above the small-employer threshold, SECOR's scope no longer fits the operation. The second is a prime contractor demand. Even a small operator may need COR specifically to bid on a particular project owner's work.

When either happens, the safety program needs to expand to meet COR's deeper evidence requirements. The typical transition is six to twelve months. The existing SECOR documentation provides a solid spine; what it needs is broader policy coverage, a fuller hazard library, deeper training records, more inspection cadence, and operating history the COR audit can observe on site.

Operation size

SECOR

Under 10 workers (up to 19 in BC's Small COR)

COR

10 or more workers (20 or more in BC)

Audit format

SECOR

Self-audit with certifying-partner oversight

COR

Full external third-party audit

Prime contractor acceptance

SECOR

Most accept; some primes require COR

COR

Universally accepted across Canada

We are here for both ends of the journey - SECOR today, COR when the operation outgrows it.

Read the full COR vs SECOR comparisonSee COR audits

What small operators say

Certificates that open doors.

“Our crew is six people. We needed a certificate to bid on a project owner's work that opened up. On-Track scoped the audit, picked the right partner, and walked us through the documentation. Certificate in hand inside three months.”
Owner-OperatorSpecialty Trades, Alberta
“We are too small for full COR but our prime contractors were starting to ask. The On-Track team picked the partner that fit, gathered what we had, and told us exactly what was missing. No wasted hours.”
General ManagerService Contractor, British Columbia
“The self-audit format would have been overwhelming on our own. With On-Track on the coordinating side, we knew what evidence to dig up and what to ignore. The partner accepted the submission first round.”
OwnerSmall Civil Sub, Saskatchewan

Frequently asked

What small operators ask first.

Who is SECOR designed for?
SECOR (Small Employer Certificate of Recognition) is the small-operator version of the COR program. It is built for operations with typically under ten workers. British Columbia's equivalent program (called Small COR) covers operations with up to nineteen workers. Sole-proprietor trades, two-to-five person service operators, and small specialty subs are the most common fit.
What does an On-Track SECOR engagement cost?
Pricing depends on operation size, current state of the safety program, and which certifying partner is right for the industry. Most SECOR engagements run between fifteen and twenty-five hours of structured work. Contact us for a quote against your operation.
Which certifying partner should we audit through?
On-Track is not tied to one certifying partner. The right certifying partner is determined by industry, province, and which prime contractors require certification. In Alberta the deepest market includes ACSA (construction), AASP (general and service-sector, broadest applicability), ESC (oil and gas), AMTA (trucking), AMHSA (municipal), and others. In British Columbia construction operators audit through BCCSA. In Saskatchewan construction operators audit through SCSA. Manitoba has several sector partners. We scope the audit against whichever partner fits the operation.
What does an On-Track SECOR engagement actually include?
Four pieces of work. First, scope the audit against the right certifying partner for the industry and province. Second, gather the documentation required by that partner's protocol, using existing safety program documents wherever possible. Third, walk the small employer through the self-audit format the partner uses, prompting and checking evidence as we go. Fourth, coordinate the certifying partner's sign-off and any follow-up before the certificate is issued. We send you a secure upload link for your documents; no account or password to set up.
Will my SECOR be accepted by my prime contractors?
Most prime contractors that prequalify small subs accept SECOR. Some specifically require COR even from small operators. Before pursuing SECOR, confirm with the top three to five prime contractors the operation works with that SECOR is accepted on their work. If any of them require COR, plan for COR from the start. Pursuing SECOR first and then COR is more expensive than going straight to COR.
Does the documentation differ between certifying partners?
Yes. Each certifying partner has its own required documentation list. ACSA, AASP, ESC, and the BC and Saskatchewan equivalents all touch the same high-level themes (management commitment, hazard identification, hazard control, training, inspections, emergency response, investigations, program administration) but they label, group, and weight them differently. We work to whichever partner's protocol fits the operation, so the documentation effort lines up with the audit you will actually be scored against.
What is the difference between SECOR and the COR program?
SECOR is the small-operator version of COR. Smaller scope, self-audit format with certifying-partner oversight, less external on-site work. COR is a full external third-party audit with documentation review, worker and supervisor interviews, and worksite observations. The recognition is similar, but the audit depth and the operations they fit are different. See our COR vs SECOR explainer for a full side-by-side.
How do I send you my documents for a SECOR audit?
We email you a secure upload link. It works from a phone, there is no account or password to set up, and everything you send lands in one place we both work from. The Compliance Members Portal - Safety Advisor, Document Builder, audit-prep workspace, certificate tracking for the whole crew, OHS legislation feed - is a separate subscription you can add after certification.
How long does the SECOR process take?
Most engagements complete inside three months from kickoff to certificate. Total time depends on the current state of the operation's safety program, how quickly documentation can be gathered, whether the certifying partner requires any training, and the partner's review timeline. Operations starting from a stronger documentation base move faster.
Do you do SECOR audits outside Alberta?
Yes. We coordinate SECOR through certifying partners in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The right partner depends on industry and province. Quebec is not supported - we do not provide French-language audits.

Not pursuing a certificate yet?

The Compliance Portal keeps a small operation audit-ready.

Most small operators are not behind on safety - they are behind on the paper trail. The On-Track Compliance Portal is the workspace that gets a small operation's safety program documented and current, so when SECOR makes sense the documentation is already there.

One login for your safety program, training records, inspection logs, and the recurring compliance tasks that keep a small operation current.

See the Compliance PortalCompare COR vs SECOR

  • Audit-prep Workspace

    Every certifying partner's element codes pre-loaded. Track evidence against the partner you are actually auditing under.

  • Document Vault

    Your safety manual, training records, hazard assessments, and posted notices in one workspace. Indexed and dated.

  • Compliance Scheduler

    Inspections, training renewals, posting cycles, and certificate expiries. Email alerts before anything lapses.

  • Cross-framework Evidence Map

    One document can satisfy multiple frameworks. A workplace violence policy can serve OHS Code, a SECOR element, and a prime-contractor pre-qual from one upload.

What the SECOR audit covers

Small-employer roster, tracked to the day.

Even a 5-worker SECOR roster carries First Aid, WHMIS, fall protection, and trade-specific tickets the audit needs current proof of. The Compliance Members Portal Worker Cert Tracker auto-alerts at 90, 60, 30, and 14 days. It is a separate subscription you can add alongside your audit.

Worker Cert Tracker - your roster, your renewal calendar

90, 60, 30, and 14-day expiry alerts. Sample roster shown.

  • 1 critical
  • 1 renew soon
  • 2 schedule
  • 0days

    S. Tremblay - Roofing Lead

    Working at Heights

  • 0days

    J. Khalil - Site Foreman

    First Aid Level 1

  • 0days

    M. Okonkwo - Welder

    WHMIS 2018

  • 0days

    R. Singh - Equipment Op

    Forklift

  • 0days

    K. Beaupre - Pipeline Crew

    H2S Alive

  • 0days

    A. Hernandez - Excavator Op

    Ground Disturbance 201

Cert tracking with 90, 60, 30, and 14-day alerts is included from the Foundation tier. OCR-extracted certificate data, worker self-service, and the audit-prep workspace map are unlocked at Compliance tier and above.

SECOR pathway

Pick the partner. We do the coordinating.

Tell us the operation size, the industry, and the province. We will tell you which certifying partner fits and what the documentation effort looks like before any work starts.

Talk to a safety advisor