Construction First Aid Kit Requirements: A Guide to Canadian Provincial Compliance

The High Stakes of Site Safety

A construction site is not a static environment. Heavy machinery, power tools, working at heights, and rotating crews of sub-trades create a continuously shifting risk landscape. The consequences of getting first aid wrong aren't just human — they're financial and operational.

Ministry of Labour inspectors (and their provincial equivalents) regularly issue stop-work orders and heavy fines because a GC is covering a 40-person framing and roofing crew with the same kind of kit that belongs in a dental office. That's not a regulatory technicality. It's a documented pattern, and it's avoidable.

The fix is straightforward: upgrade to rugged, high-hazard CSA Z1220-compliant kits for the site box, and ensure every vehicle in your fleet carries the correct mobile kit. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is clear that employers are legally required to conduct a hazard assessment and provide first aid appropriate to the level of risk — and on a construction site, that level is almost always high.

The Main Site Kit: Why Construction Demands "Type 3"

Office Kits Don't Cut It on a Job Site

There's a reason CSA classifies first aid kits by risk environment. An office kit — a Type 2 Basic — is built for paper cuts, minor burns, and low-probability bumps. It is not built for what happens when a worker's hand gets caught in a table saw, a roofer takes a fall, or a labourer is struck by a load.

Construction sites need to handle crush injuries, deep lacerations, and traumatic bleeds during the window before EMS arrives. That's exactly what a Type 3 Intermediate kit is designed for.

What Makes a Kit "Type 3"

Under the CSA Group Z1220 Standard, a Type 3 Intermediate kit covers moderate- to high-risk environments and includes all Type 2 contents, plus critical additions for trauma response:

• Windlass tourniquets — for arterial bleeds and potential amputation injuries
• Heavy trauma dressings — to manage severe lacerations and penetrating wounds
• Wound closure strips — for deep cuts that need to be held closed until surgery
• Metal or rigid splints — for fractures on sites with limited access to EMS
• Standard items: conforming stretch bandages, sterile gauze pads, triangular bandages, nitrile gloves, CPR barrier, emergency blanket, and scissors

Type 3 kits are further scaled by headcount: Small (2–25 workers per shift), Medium (26–50 workers), and Large (51–100 workers). For sites over 100 workers, multiple kits must be proportionally distributed.

Kit Placement

The main site kit should live in the site trailer or gang box, clearly marked with a green cross, accessible at all times, and — critically — never locked during working hours. A kit that requires a supervisor's key to access is not a compliant kit.

The Hidden Trap: Work Vehicles and Fleet Compliance

Your Foreman's Truck Is a Workplace

This is the compliance gap that trips up even experienced GCs. Under provincial OHS legislation, a company-owned vehicle transporting workers is legally a workplace. That means a foreman's F-150, a mobile welder's rig, or a concrete crew's van each requires its own dedicated first aid kit — independent of the main site kit.

If a crew is working away from the central site kit — on a punch list, a utility run, or a separate phase of the build — they must have a vehicle kit with them.

A CSA Type 1 Personal kit is the minimum standard for solo vehicle operators. When workers are being transported, provincial requirements typically call for a kit appropriate to the crew size and hazard level of the work being performed.

Don't let a missing $40 kit in a company truck result in a massive site fine. Ensure your entire fleet is compliant with our Vehicle Emergency Kits.

The Plain-English Provincial Breakdown

All major provinces are currently aligned with — or actively adopting — the national CSA Z1220 standard. Here's what that means for your active markets.

Workplace first aid requirements vary significantly by province — kit type, first aider certification level, and record-keeping obligations are all governed by provincial OHS legislation. Use the free audit tool for your location to verify compliance before your next inspection.

Ontario — WSIB Regulation 1101

Ontario's first aid requirements are governed by Regulation 1101 under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA). The rule is direct: all employers covered by the Act must provide first aid equipment, facilities, and trained personnel in all workplaces.

Key points for construction:

• Kit requirements are headcount-driven, based on the highest-staffed shift — this includes all sub-trade workers on site, not just your direct employees.
• Worksites with 1–5 workers per shift must have someone with an Emergency First Aid (EFA) certificate on site. Worksites with 6 or more require a Standard First Aid (SFA) certificate holder.
• Company vehicles transporting workers must be equipped with a vehicle-appropriate first aid kit.
• While WSIB Regulation 1101 does not explicitly mandate an AED (automated external defibrillator), many Prime Contractors now require them as a strict site standard, and best practices strongly recommend them for high-hazard projects.

For full details, see WSIB's First Aid Program and Regulation 1101.

British Columbia — WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation Part 3

BC just went through its most significant first aid overhaul in two decades. Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation took effect November 1, 2024, and they have significant implications for construction.

Under the new framework, every employer must complete a written first aid assessment for each workplace. That assessment weighs four variables:

• Maximum workers on site at any given time
• Hazard rating of the work (low, moderate, or high — construction is almost always high)
• Distance to the nearest BC Emergency Health Services ambulance station — a site is now classified as "remote" if it's more than 30 minutes from an ambulance station (previously the threshold was 20 minutes from a hospital)
• Whether the site is "less accessible" — meaning ambulance personnel cannot safely reach the work area

The new rules hit remote and civil construction hardest. A downtown Vancouver condo build operates under a very different compliance picture than a bridge repair 45 minutes outside of Prince George. Remote and less-accessible sites now face upgraded requirements for emergency transport vehicles, higher first aid certification levels, and mandatory annual first aid drills.

BC's kits are also now required to meet CSA standards, aligning provincial requirements with the national framework.

For full details, see the WorkSafeBC OHS Regulation Part 3.

Alberta — OHS Code Part 11

Alberta formally adopted the CSA Z1220-17 standard effective March 31, 2023, replacing the old system of provincially numbered kits (Type P, No. 2, No. 3) with the national CSA classification.

For construction in Alberta, the requirements are determined by three factors under Schedule 2 of the OHS Code:

• Hazard level of the work — construction is classified as high hazard
• Number of workers per shift
• Distance from the work site to the nearest medical facility — close (under 20 minutes), distant (20 minutes or more), or isolated

A practical example: a construction site with 15 workers per shift located within 20 minutes of a hospital requires a CSA Type 3 Intermediate (Small) kit, at minimum one basic first aider, and one intermediate first aider on site per shift.

The definition of "workplace" in Alberta explicitly includes vehicles, boats, and aircraft used to transport workers — which means every piece of fleet equipment needs to be accounted for.

Violations under the Alberta OHS Code carry fines ranging from $100 to $500 per violation, with a 15% victim surcharge applied to each ticket.

Dealing with Sub-Trades: Who Is Responsible?

The Prime Contractor Bears Responsibility

This is where liability gets real for GCs. As the Prime Contractor, you are ultimately responsible for the overall site safety plan — including ensuring adequate first aid coverage for everyone on site, regardless of who their employer is.

Sub-trades may show up with their own kits, but if the plumbing sub's kit is underpowered for the crew size, or the electrical sub forgot theirs entirely, the Ministry is looking at you.

The practical recommendation: Supply the main, high-capacity site kit yourself. Don't rely on sub-contractors to cover your compliance exposure. Require sub-trades to maintain their own vehicle kits, but control the central site first aid station directly. This removes ambiguity, speeds up emergency response, and keeps you audit-ready at all times.

Get Your Site Compliant Before an Inspector Does It for You

Construction safety isn't a line item to trim. A compliant kit keeps your site open, protects your workers during the critical minutes before EMS arrives, and insulates you from fines, stop-work orders, and the reputational damage that comes with a preventable injury.

The standard is clear. The kits exist. There's no excuse for running a 30-person crew off a Type 2 kit that belongs in a boardroom.

Equip your job site with rugged, audit-ready supplies designed for the trades. Browse our collection of CSA Compliant Construction First Aid Kits to get your site fully compliant today.

This article is intended as general guidance. Employers are responsible for reviewing the most current provincial regulations applicable to their specific work sites and consulting with their provincial OHS authority to confirm compliance requirements.