Limit Values Canada/Québec - VEA

In Quebec (Québec), Canada’s largest province by area, occupational exposure limit values (valeurs d'exposition admissibles, VEA) are compiled in the Règlement sur la santé et la sécurité du travail (French version).

The bipartite Board of Directors of the Quebec Commission for Occupational Health and Safety (Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail – CSST) has given the task of revising the OEL list to a Joint Technical Committee (JTC). The JTC consists of employers, labour representatives and expert advisers. In principle, all substances listed by the U.S. organisation ACGIH are taken into account.

There are four different types of occupational exposure limits:

  • Time-weighted average (valeur d’exposition moyenne pondérée – VEMP) for a conventional 8-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek;
  • Short-time excursion limit (valeur d'exposition de courte durée – VECD);
  • Ceiling value (valeur plafond);
  • Permissible exposure limit for non-traditional work schedules (valeur d'exposition moyenne ajustée – VEMA) according to the “Guide for the adjustment of permissible exposure values (PEVs) for unusual work schedules – 3rd edition revised and updated” (Download). In no case, the VEMA shall exceed the VEMP.

OELs and the underlying criteria are published in the Quebec Official Gazette (Gazette officielle du Québec). They have legal force.

August 2013