In Karim v. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 2024 HRTO 1231, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed a probationary employee’s claim that they were discriminated against with respect to employment because...more
2/26/2025
/ Canada ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Rights ,
Ontario ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
In Timmins v. Artisan Cells, 2025 CanLII 2387, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found, in an undefended claim, that the employers “by their correspondence and actions” repudiated the employee’s employment agreement when...more
2/21/2025
/ Breach of Contract ,
Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Notice Requirements ,
Ontario ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Termination
The 2025 Ontario provincial election will take place on February 27, 2025. Voters will elect their Member of Provincial Parliament to represent them at Queen’s Park.
In most of the province, polls are open on election day...more
In 2024, Canada saw significant legislative and case law developments in labour and employment law. This Insight provides an overview of notable developments and links to our more detailed articles and commentary....more
1/10/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Job Ads ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Strike ,
Unions ,
Workplace Safety
On October 28, 2024, Ontario’s Bill 190, Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190), received Royal Assent. Among other things, Bill 190 amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), Occupational Health and Safety...more
10/31/2024
/ Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Harassment ,
OHSA ,
Ontario ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Safety
In Aguele v. Family Options Inc., 2024 HRTO 991, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed an employee’s application alleging discrimination with respect to employment because of family status and reprisal...more
In a significant decision focused on public employers, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently held that Ontario public school boards are “government” and, as such, they are subject to the provisions of the Canadian...more
A new General Labor Law (NGLL) was enacted by Law No. 12/23, of 27 December 2023, which came into force on March 26, 2024.The NGLL repealed the former General Labor Law (approved by Law No. 7/15, of June 15, 2015),...more
In Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found that a restaurant and its managers that refused to use a server’s pronouns, among...more
3/21/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Transgender
In Giacomodonato v. PearTree Securities Inc., 2023 ONSC 5628, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ordered the employer to pay to the employee the costs of the proceeding in the amount of $830,761 to dissuade employers from...more
Earlier this year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) revised its guideline, Privacy in the Workplace, which addresses employee rights and workplace obligations with respect to employee personal...more
8/17/2023
/ Canada ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
International Labor Laws ,
Personal Information ,
PIPEDA
UPDATE: On November 3, 2022, Bill 28, Keeping Students in Class Act, 2022, received Royal Assent.
On October 31, 2022, in an unprecedented bid to prevent school board employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public...more
11/4/2022
/ Canada ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Ontario ,
Pending Legislation ,
School Boards ,
Strike ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Unions
On May 31, 2022, Alberta’s Bill 17, Labour Statutes Amendment Act, 2022, received Royal Assent, and the following amendments to Reservist Leave and Bereavement Leave in the province’s Employment Standards Code came into...more
The 2022 Ontario general election will take place on June 2, 2022. Voters will elect members of the provincial government to serve in the Legislative Assembly.
Under Ontario’s Election Act, every employee who is...more
On April 4, 2022, in Fraser Health Authority v British Columbia General Employees’ Union, 2022 CanLII 25560, Arbitrator Koml Kandola of the British Columbia Labour Relations Board dismissed the union’s grievance respecting...more
4/13/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Grievance Process ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In Unifor Local 973 v Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited, 2022 CanLII 20322, Arbitrator Mark Wright made another contribution to the “weight of authority” in Ontario labour arbitration awards pertaining to mandatory COVID-19...more
3/25/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On the heels of the passage of the Working for Workers Act, 2021, Ontario introduced Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022 (Bill 88) on February 28, 2022, and carried it at First Reading....more
3/3/2022
/ Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Ontario ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Wage and Hour
On February 24, 2022, Ontario announced that later this month, in an effort to protect the privacy of employees, it will be the first province to introduce legislation requiring employers to tell their workers if and how they...more
2/24/2022
/ Canada ,
Electronic Communications ,
Employee Monitoring ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Tracking ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Notice Requirements ,
Ontario ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda
In Chartwell Housing REIT v. Healthcare, Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 2220, 2022CanLII 6832 (ON LA) (Chartwell), Arbitrator Gail Misra considered a provision in a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy that...more
2/24/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175 (Bunge), Arbitrator Robert J. Herman dismissed a union grievance challenging the employer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination...more
1/20/2022
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Grievance Process ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On November 11, 2021, only two days after Arbitrator Von Veh upheld a mandatory vaccination policy in United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Canada Local 333 v. Paragon Protection Ltd. (Paragon), Arbitrator Stout struck...more
11/17/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
OHSA ,
Ontario ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On November 9, 2021, Ontario’s Bill 38, Remembrance Week Amendment Act, 2021, received Royal Assent and became law. Accordingly, the Remembrance Week Act, 2016 was amended, effective November 9, 2021, to provide that every...more
British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) recently released A human rights approach to proof of vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic (Guidance), which offers general advice on how employers and...more
8/17/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Rights ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Ontario recently enacted Bill 284, COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, 2021, which amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to require employers to provide employees up to three days’ pay if they miss work for certain...more
6/4/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Rights ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Ontario ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Reimbursements ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Wage and Hour
Employees in Canada who want to get vaccinated but lack a contractual or statutory right to paid time off to do so may be unable to afford the reduction in income that would ensue if they took time off work to get...more