Our Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (COHS) program offers a dynamic learning experience that prioritizes practical process skills, unlike others that focus exclusively on technical content.
The COHS program is tailored to cater to diverse needs, from current OHS practitioners aiming to enhance their credentials to individuals contemplating a career shift and newcomers wanting to enter the field.
Learn more about COHS & register
UNB is the proud recipient of the 2023 Readers’ Choice award. Readers of Canadian Occupational Safety magazine voted UNB one of the top three educational institutions in Canada for its Occupational Health & Safety programs.
UNB's online Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety is a self-paced online program that has been designed to help practitioners from varied backgrounds develop the broad base of competencies needed to be effective in the development, implementation, and evaluation of occupational health and safety programs and systems. As well, many people looking for a career change take the COHS program to prepare for entry to the field.
This certificate has also been specifically designed to prepare students to write the CRST® or CRSP® exam to become a Canadian Registered Safety Technician (CRST®) or a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP®) as granted by the Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP).
Note: This program meets the CRST® educational requirement for program hours, however, successful completion of both the COHS and DOHS programs are required to meet the educational hours required to write the CRSP®.
There are no prerequisites for the COHS program. You are free to register at any time and will be able to start studying within one business day.
Each course is comprised of a number of modules/chapters and there are quizzes at the end of each module. Students will also complete one assignment for each course, which is submitted as uploads in your learning platform.
Note: The course called "Health and Safety Program Basics" is made up of 11 modules. This is a single course and is not the full certificate program.
Course clusters identify those courses falling under specific over-arching topic areas. There are three "clusters" of courses in the COHS: Fundamental, Management & Leadership and Specializations.
Fundamental Cluster
Management & Leadership Cluster
Specializations Cluster
An overall grade of 70% is required to successfully pass each course. The grade will be based on quiz results and the assignment grade. Weighting of each item is available within the important course information in the D2L learning platform.
Each course involves approximately 46 hours of student engagement (i.e. time spent with your studies).
Students are given a target of 10 weeks in which to complete a course but may complete in less or more time, according to their own unique schedule.
Similarly, the self-paced nature of the COHS allows the student to complete the certificate according to their timeline. This means that while some students may take up to two or more years to complete the program, others may complete in as little as six months.
Life happens and sometimes we just need a little more time. We have you covered! If you need extra time to complete your course you can submit an Extension Request.
You may have taken courses that match our COHS courses, or you may hold a designation such as the NCSO, the CSC, HSA, etc.
If so, you can apply for credit of up to five (5) UNB COHS courses through our Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), which contains a list of courses that have been previously assessed and the PLA application form.
You can purchase courses one-by-one at a cost of $625 per course, or pay for the entire program upfront for $6,875. There are no additional fees or textbooks required.
The COHS program is open-entry and asynchronous, which means you can register and start the program at any time.
After you click the "register now" link, you will be taken to a new web page. If you have never taken a COHS course, we recommend starting with the course called Health and Safety Program Basics unless you have applied for prior learning.
Our OHS programs are not recognized by student loans as they are offered asynchronously, without fixed start and end dates; students are able to start at any time of year. However, our students have been able to obtain funding through alternate routes, including:
If you have (or are) a sponsor, please complete the sponsor registration form.
Once you click the "register now" link, you will be taken to a new page. Please select the "Certificate Program" option then click "proceed". Enter your personal information and method of payment. Please select "Prepaid" then click "submit".
Our client services team will then follow up with you regarding the next steps.
If you are ready to register and submit payment for your next course you can use our online registration portal.
If you have prepaid for your courses or are sponsored, you can send an email request to our team at customerservice@unb.ca or call us at 1-888-259-4222, option 2.
Life happens and sometimes we just need a little more time. If you need extra time to complete your course you can submit an Extension Request.
You can find these documents in your MyUNB Student Portal, where you will be able to access and download your unofficial transcript, receipts and T2202 forms.
Still can't find what you're looking for, or do you need a document sent to a third party? Submit a Document Request Form.
Yes, of course you can. To reactive an expired course, complete the Expired Course Form and our team will re-register you so that you can pick up where you left off.
If you have been inactive for a length of time, your access will close down. To reactivate your access, you will need to register in a new course.
Congratulations! We do need to verify some information with you prior to issuing your certificate. Fill out the Request to Graduate Form.
We've made it easy for you to connect with your instructors. In your D2L you will find your instructor's email address on the About Your Instructor page. Copy that address and then click on the Email tab in the top taskbar. Your instructor will respond to you in the fashion indicated in your email (i.e. email communication or a telephone call).
