What Happens When the CNESST Knocks on Your Door?

On a Friday afternoon in March, the HR director of a manufacturing company in Saint-Hyacinthe gets a call she wasn't expecting: a CNESST inspector wants to schedule a visit in the coming weeks to review how the organization manages psychosocial risks (PSR).

She hangs up, takes a deep breath, then turns to her filing cabinet of HR documents and wonders: where do I even start?

This scene is playing out more and more often in Quebec SMEs. Since October 6, 2025, Act 27 has required that psychosocial risks be integrated into the occupational health and safety prevention program, on equal footing with physical risks. And the CNESST is taking this seriously: in 2024, it received 6,817 complaints of psychological or sexual harassment, a 55% increase from 2021. By September 30, 2025, it had already logged 5,786. This topic is on its radar, and yours could be too.

Why an inspection could target your business

A CNESST visit rarely happens at random. The most common triggers are an employee complaint, a reported accident or incident, a sector-wide prevention campaign, or a missing pay equity declaration. In other words: even a well-intentioned company can get a visit simply because its industry happens to be targeted that year. It's not necessarily a sign that something is wrong, but it is certainly the moment of truth for your prevention efforts.

What the process actually looks like

For an SME with fewer than 200 employees, the process typically unfolds over several weeks, from first contact to a final report with an action plan. The inspector will generally ask to see your risk analyses, management decisions, proof of training and communication with your teams, and the accountability structure you have in place (a health and safety committee for companies with more than 20 workers, or a liaison officer for smaller ones).

The core of any PSR inspection is traceability: can you show, with dates and documents, that your organization acts continuously, not just reactively after something goes wrong?

Preparing is an investment in peace of mind

Complying with Act 27 isn't a box to check once a year: it's an investment in the stability of your organization.

A company that centralizes its psychosocial risk documentation, trains its managers to recognize warning signs (overload, role ambiguity, lack of recognition, isolation) and can demonstrate an ongoing process will walk into an inspection with confidence instead of panic. It also lowers the odds of a correction notice, a fine, or worse, a real mental health issue at work escalating before anyone addresses it.

Want to know where your organization stands against Act 27's requirements, and what it would take to walk into an inspection with confidence?

Book a free 30-minute consultation with our team: https://calendly.com/manonvaisse-mentalia/30min