Respiratory protection program template
A complete written respiratory protection program, in 14 editions: one for each province and territory and one for federally regulated workplaces. It makes sure every respirator your workers wear protects them, from disposable N95 respirators and half-facepieces to powered respirators, supplied air and SCBA: the hazard assessment and selection, medical clearance, fit testing, seal checks, cartridge change schedules, care and breathing air. Each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations, and takes the name that law uses, from a respiratory protection program in most jurisdictions to a code of practice in Alberta and New Brunswick. Every purchase includes all 14, in English and in French: 28 editable Word files you make your own.
A look inside
Sample pages from the program, marked and cut short. Your copy has no watermark.
What’s in the program
1. Purpose, scope and the law
Why a program, the respirators it covers, from disposable respirators to SCBA and escape respirators, where it applies and the procedures you use, the law that applies in your jurisdiction with pinpoint citations (section 1.3), and how the program fits your safety program.
2. Responsibilities
The employer, the program administrator, supervisors, respirator users, the committee or representative, the person who assesses hazards and selects respirators, the health professional, fit testers, and contractors and other employers.
3. Respiratory hazards, respirators and when they are needed
Respiratory hazards and how they harm the body, the kinds of respirator and the ones you use, when respirators are needed, and when a respirator is worn by choice.
4. Hazard assessment and respirator selection
When and how the hazard is assessed and who assesses it, protection factors and maximum use concentration, your selection rules, the procedure for selecting a respirator, and when you reassess.
5. Medical fitness to use a respirator
The rule, who is cleared and when, what the employer receives and what it never receives, the medical clearance procedure, people not cleared or cleared with limits, and re-evaluation.
6. Fit testing
Who is fit tested and when, the methods, nothing at the seal, the qualitative (bitter or sweet) and quantitative fit test procedures, and results and records.
7. Using respirators
Rules for every user, cartridge and filter change schedules, escape respirators, and procedures for the user seal check, disposable respirators, changing cartridges and filters, powered air-purifying respirators, supplied-air respirators and SCBA, and work in IDLH conditions and rescue.
8. Inspection, cleaning, maintenance and storage
Who looks after respirators, procedures for inspecting, cleaning and disinfecting, and storing them, maintenance and repair, and taking a respirator out of service.
9. Breathing air quality
Sources of breathing air, the quality required, compressors and air systems, cylinders, testing breathing air, and checks before each use.
10. Program evaluation and worker feedback
When the program is evaluated, field checks, feedback from the people who wear respirators, and what the evaluation covers and what is done with it.
11. Training
Who is trained and when, what the training covers, how it is given and checked, and training records.
12. Emergencies and respirator failures
What counts as a respirator failure or emergency, what to do at once, rescue and first aid, emergency and escape respirators, reporting and investigation, and follow-up.
13. Records and review
The records you keep, sharing the program, consulting your committee or representative, and reviewing the program.
Appendix A. Regulatory cross-reference
Every provision of your jurisdiction’s law the program is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want your records. Each entry links to its section.
Appendix B. Forms
8 print-ready forms, each with a form code: the respirator hazard assessment and selection, the medical clearance record, the fit test record, the cartridge and filter change schedule, the respirator inspection log, the supplied-air and SCBA check, the program evaluation and review record and the training record.
One program, 14 editions
The program is written once and fitted to the law of each of Canada’s 14 jurisdictions: the ten provinces, the three territories and federally regulated workplaces under the Canada Labour Code. Each edition takes the name its law gives the document, and its own rules, terms and citations.
Every purchase includes all 14, each in English and in French: 28 Word files. The French editions follow the English section for section and form for form, and their cross-reference matches row for row. Laws published only in English keep their English titles.
Written to the law where you work
Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls the program (a respiratory protection program, a protective equipment program or a code of practice), the respirator standard it refers to, and its rules on selection, fit testing, medical fitness, breathing air and review. Appendix A lists every provision the program is written to meet, in plain words, with the section that meets it and whether an inspector will also want to see your records. Each entry links to its section.
Every legal reference was checked against the official texts between October 5 and October 6, 2026, and each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked. A template can’t make you compliant on its own, and we don’t claim it does: the program works once a qualified person adapts it to your work.
Who it is for
Employers whose workers wear respirators at work, whether a hazard calls for one or a worker asks to wear one: concrete cutting and sanding, spray painting, welding, mould remediation, tank and confined space entry, health care, and emergency response.
You tick the procedures you use in section 1.2. If you use only disposable and reusable air-purifying respirators, a Tailor note shows how to shorten the sections on powered respirators, supplied air and breathing air and keep the numbering.
Lifetime updates
When the law changes, we publish a new edition and email everyone who bought the template, on its own or in the Construction exposure control plan pack and 10 other bundles. Every update is free, for as long as we publish it.
Version 1.0 October 6, 2026
- First edition, in 14 jurisdiction editions (one for each province and territory, and one for federally regulated workplaces), each in English and French.
- Every legal reference checked against the official texts between October 5 and October 6, 2026. Each edition lists its sources and the date each was checked.
More exposure control plans
Get all six in the Construction exposure control plan pack for $449.95, $269.75 less than buying them separately. Or buy templates together and save on the whole order: 2 for 10% off, 3 for 15% off, 4+ for 20% off.
All provinces, territories and federal
Construction exposure control plan pack (silica, asbestos, lead, noise, heat stress, respiratory protection)$449.95
All provinces, territories and federal
Health care exposure control plan pack (infectious disease, hazardous drugs, hazardous substances, mould, heat stress, respiratory protection)$449.95
Questions
Which edition do I use?
The one for the law that covers the workplace: the province or territory where the work is done, or the federal edition if your business is federally regulated under Part II of the Canada Labour Code (for example, interprovincial trucking, airlines, railways, banks and telecommunications). If you are not sure which law covers you, confirm it with your regulator before you rely on an edition. All 14 come with every purchase, in English and French, so you never pay twice for the right one.
Is this legal advice? Will it make us compliant?
No. It is a template, not legal advice: a complete program written to the law with every requirement cited, as a starting point. The program only works once a qualified person adapts it to your work (your hazards, your respirators and the people who wear them) and you put it in place and follow it, so no template can promise compliance. If you want help with that, our team does it too.
Does it cover my province’s own rules?
Yes. Section 1.3 of each edition sets out the law that applies there, with pinpoint citations: what that law calls this document, the respirator standard it refers to, and what the law adds to the program, such as fit testing, medical assessments, breathing air tests or review. Where the law changes something in the program’s general text, section 1.3 says what and where. Appendix A then lists every provision the program is written to meet, with the section of the program that meets it.
What if we work in more than one province?
Use the edition for each place you work: every purchase includes all 14. Each edition is complete on its own, and they share the same sections and form codes, so crews moving between provinces work to the same program and only what the law changes is different.
What format is it in, and can I edit it?
Editable Microsoft Word (.docx) files on US Letter pages: 28 of them, one for each of the 14 jurisdictions in English and in French. Type your company name once and desktop Word puts it on the cover, in every header and through the text. Shaded “Tailor” notes say what to check or change in each section, and highlighted placeholders mark every name, date and place you fill in. The files also open in Google Docs and Word on the web, where you use Find and replace to put your company name in.
What happens when the law changes?
We update the program, and you get every update free for as long as we publish it: lifetime updates at no extra charge, for all 14 editions in both languages. We email you when a new edition is ready, with what changed and a link to download it.
Can I use it for more than one company?
Each purchase is licensed to one company. Consultants setting up programs for several clients should contact us.
Want it built for you?
Our safety advisors assess the hazards in your work and help you tailor the program to it, from the hazard assessment and respirator selection to the procedures your crews follow.
Hazard assessments and control