IAPA History

Operating in Ontario since 1917, IAPA has grown from an organization with literally a handful of staff (a manager, two stenographers, and four field representatives) and several dozen volunteers to more than 210 employees and several hundred volunteers. Accordingly, IAPA’s offices have expanded from one location to six: Head Office and the Health & Safety Materials Centre in Mississauga, as well as regional offices located in London, Ottawa, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay.

A not-for-profit, member driven organization, it’s not just IAPA’s employment and volunteer numbers that have significantly grown over the years. Early records of IAPA’s operations state that in 1930, IAPA’s membership included 8,000 firms, which in turn represented 200,000 people. Ninety years later, IAPA represents more than 50,000 member firms and in excess of 1.5 million Ontario workers.

From 1917 to present day, IAPA continues to be one of Canada’s leading workplace health and safety organizations, focused on providing industry-leading training, consulting, educational products, and informational services that meet members’ needs and the needs of those in their communities.

IAPA continues to build on the foundation established in 1917, sustained over the years by successive generations of staff, volunteers, and members who are as passionate about preventing workplace injuries and illness today as the founders of IAPA were then.