In the past, little thought was given to the full impact of a disabling injury or illness – the social, psychological and economic reality faced by the worker with a disability or injury and the potential costs to workers, employers and society. However, in a changing global marketplace, employers have become increasingly aware of the importance of people as a resource, the overall cost of losing trained and experienced staff, and the increasing cost of disability when consensus-based, workplace disability management programs are not available.
Continuing education programs and courses provide essential skills to those whose responsibilities include disability management and return to work:
- Disability Management from a HR Perspective Certificate Program
- Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program
- Effective Workplace Responses to Mental Health Certificate Program
- Special and Advanced Courses
Disability Management from a HR Perspective Certificate Program
Human Resources Management Professionals play a role in ensuring that workers with the skills and work capacity to productively carry out the work of their organization are available. Many of the traditional human resources functions such as provision of benefits and insurance and recruitment and training involve aspects of disability management. Human resources practitioners may be directly or indirectly involved in return-to-work planning.
This eight-course certificate program is designed for human resources management practitioners with disability management responsibilities and focuses on knowledge and skills that they use when workers incur disabilities.
(Participants who have taken similar courses in the Disability Management Practitioner Program may use up to two of those modules towards their certificate.)
The schedule of upcoming course offerings in the program can be found at the links below:
Schedule by Course Name
Schedule by Course Date
Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program
The courses in the Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program may be taken independently or as a complete 25-course program. These courses emphasize the skills and knowledge required to return to work individuals who have incurred injuries or illnesses, and provide an introduction to the competencies that are required to introduce and administer disability management programs.
Those students wishing to obtain the Certificate of Completion for the entire program and who have previous education in a particular course subject area may apply to obtain an exemption or prior learning assessment credit. For further details, please refer to the current Continuing Education Guide which can be accessed via the link at the bottom of this webpage.
The schedule of upcoming course offerings in the program can be found at the links below:
Schedule by Course Name
Schedule by Course Date
Effective Workplace Responses to Mental Health Certificate Program
The Effective Workplace Responses to Mental Health Certificate Program consists of eight courses addressing mental health aspects and provides a holistic approach to foundational and current challenges related to evolving societal changes, the realities of a global pandemic and resultant workplace challenges. Those whose responsibilities include disability management, return to work, human resources and health and safety are on the front lines as mental health conditions represent the greatest proportion of disability management claims.
The schedule of upcoming course offerings in this program can be found at the links below:
Schedule by Course Name
Schedule bv Course Date
Special and Advanced Courses
The Special and Advanced Courses cover a range of topics in the field of workplace health and safety, human resources and labour-management relations. They will be useful to those whose responsibilities include the return to work for workers who have incurred injuries and illnesses.
The schedule of upcoming course offerings in this program can be found at the links below:
Schedule by Course Name
Schedule bv Course Date
General Information
While the Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program covers the breadth of skills and knowledge identified in the Occupational Standards in Disability Management, the other continuing education programs and courses provide an opportunity to explore related specific topics in more depth.
Each course is led by an instructor with expertise in the topic area. Materials for all courses include manuals and readings; examples and samples of forms, reports and documentation; discussion exercises; assignments and quizzes; and in some cases other media components. Depending on the length of the course, there may be more than one assignment that is submitted to the instructor for marking.
Instructors have expertise in specific topic areas and most instructors continue to practice as well as teach in the area of disability management / return to work. They come from a variety of backgrounds and are located across Canada and internationally, providing not only a national but an international perspective to these critical topic areas.
Courses are delivered with online technologies that allow adult learners with multiple commitments to carry out most study activities at a time and place that best suits their needs.
For individuals who intend to complete the entire 25-course Disability Management Practitioner Certificate Program, eligibility for enrollment is the completion of secondary school, a proficiency in English including adequate reading and writing skills, and basic computer skills.
Since first offering the courses in 1995, students have gone on to establish successful programs in countless workplaces, giving practical effect to the overall program mission of reducing the human, social and financial costs of disability to the workplace.
Registration is available directly through the University’s website as follows:
- For New Applicants who do not have a PCU-WHS student ID number, please click here to apply: https://mypcu.pcu-whs.ca
- For current students who already have a PCU-WHS student ID number, please log in through the “My PCU-WHS” in order to register and log in to courses.
- To register for new courses, once a student has a PCU-WHS student ID number and has logged in to their “My PCU-WHS” homepage, please click on the “Registration” link in the side menu, then click “Course Catalog”.
For more information, please visit: Frequently Asked Questions
The deadline to enroll in courses is 2 weeks prior to each course start date.
The PCU-WHS Continuing Education Guide is published online as a PDF document available for download. The University reserves the right to change or amend its fee structure, policies and regulations at any time from those published in the Continuing Education Guide or elsewhere. The University makes every endeavor to ensure that the information in the Continuing Education Guide is accurate at the time of publication. However, the ultimate responsibility for verifying the accuracy of such information rests with the student alone.
To download a copy of the Continuing Education Guide, please click on the following link:
PCU-WHS Continuing Education Guide 2023-2024
Previous Editions of the Continuing Education Guide
For further details, please contact Student Services at continuingeducation@pcu-whs.ca.