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Employee Rights › Employment Litigation › Canada

Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination... more +
Most countries provide some degree of workplace protection for employees and job applicants. Depending on the jurisdiction, these protections generally include safety precautions and policies, anti-discrimination policies, collective bargaining and unionizing rights, meal and rest requirements, minimum wage rules, and medical and family leave rights to name a few. In the United States, the federal framework for employee rights stem from statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In addition, employee rights statutes are implemented and enforced by regulatory authorities such as the EEOC, NLRB, OSHA, and the Department of Labor. Further, many state and local governments provide additional and localized protections for employees that are enforced by local regulatory entities. less -
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Needle-less Dispute? BC Court Finds That Unpaid Leave Due to Non-Compliance Did Not Amount to Constructive Dismissal

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The COVID-19 litigation lag continues to play out in Canadian courts; and employers are starting to get some clarity on some of the key workplace issues that arose during the pandemic. In Clark v. City of Prince George,...more

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Ontario Court Confirms Temporary Lay-Off Clause Is Distinct From Termination Clause

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In Taylor v Salytics Inc., 2025 ONSC 3461 (Taylor), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice emphasized the importance of a substance-over-form analysis in the interpretation of employment agreements, concluding that a temporary...more

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Québec Court of Appeal Clarifies the Duty to Reassign Pregnant Workers

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In Ville de Québec v. Ouellet, a pregnant police sergeant asked her employer, the City of Québec, to assign her safe duties rather than be pulled off the job under the workers’ compensation program known as Program for a safe...more

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Canada: Off-Duty Sexual Harassment May Still Trigger a Duty to Investigate

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In a significant decision for employers, the Ontario Court of Appeal in Metrolinx v. Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1587, upheld the Divisional Court’s ruling that quashed an arbitrator’s decision reinstating five employees...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Attention Ontario Employers: Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds ESA Termination Clause in Bertsch v Datastealth Inc.

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In a rare but significant “win” for employers, the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that an employer can enforce a termination provision limiting an employee’s entitlements strictly to the minimum standards under the...more

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Workplace Investigations: Perfection Is Not the Standard

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A recent decision of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice provides helpful guidance to Ontario employers on the standard of workplace investigation in the context of a termination for cause. The Court also provides helpful...more

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Termination Provisions and the Perils of Imprecise Drafting: Key Lessons from De Castro v Arista Homes Limited

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The Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in De Castro v Arista Homes Limited, 2025 ONCA 260 (De Castro) provides Ontario employers with yet another reminder about the importance of clear and concise drafting in...more

Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Interprétation des dispositions relatives au licenciement : Approches distinctes des tribunaux de la Colombie-Britannique et de...

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Aperçu - Il est de plus en plus difficile pour les employeurs de déterminer si les dispositions relatives au licenciement incluses dans leurs contrats d’emploi seraient jugées exécutoires advenant leur contestation devant...more

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BC Court of Appeal Confirms that the Duty of Honest Performance Does Not Extend to Pre-Contractual Dishonesty

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In Ocean Pacific Hotels Ltd. v Lee, 2025 BCCA 57, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia confirmed that the duty of honest performance in contract does not extend to pre-contractual negotiations....more

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An “Exacting Standard”: the Enforceability of Termination Clauses and the “At Any Time” Conundrum

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Baker v Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc. (Baker) is the latest decision in Ontario to conclude that a termination provision permitting an employer to terminate, without cause, “at any time” is contrary to the Employment Standards...more

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The North American Trade Dispute: How to Manage Workplace Challenges for Canadian Employers

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As our readers will already be aware, since the new U.S. Administration took office on January 20, 2025, it has both proposed and implemented tariffs (the “U.S. Tariffs”) which have posed significant threats to the Canadian...more

Mintz - Employment Viewpoints

Key Employment Law Considerations for Canadian Businesses Impacted by Tariffs

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As of this writing, the Trump administration has implemented a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods imported into the United States. Canadian governments at all levels are preparing relief programs for local businesses, but...more

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BC Court of Appeal Confirms “No hire” Clause Not Intended to Injure Employees

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In Latifi v The TDL Group Corp., 2025 BCCA 45, (Latifi) the BC Court of Appeal upheld the summary dismissal of a proposed class action against the Tim Hortons franchisor in Canada. The underlying dispute between the...more

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Ontario, Canada Court Finds Employer Repudiated Employment Agreement When it Failed to Pay Employee’s Contractual Severance

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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

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Employment Termination Clauses: Lessons From Singh v Clark Builders

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In a recent decision, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta upheld a freely negotiated termination clause with a sophisticated employee despite evolution to the employee’s role over the term of employment. The employee’s...more

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Did the Punishment Fit the Claim? Employer Hit With $25,000 in Punitive Damages for Making Statutory Entitlements Subject to a...

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In its recent decision, Thompson v Revolution Resource Recovery Inc.2025 BCSC 8 (“Thompson”), the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the “Court”) made a $25,000 punitive damages award against an employer for attempting to...more

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Working for Workers Six Act, 2024: More Changes on the Horizon for Ontario’s Employment-Related Legislation

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On November 27, 2024, the Ontario government introduced Bill 229, Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229). This announcement comes just one-month after Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190) received...more

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British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal Finds Employer Discriminated Against Transgender Employee Based on Their Gender Identity...

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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

Littler

Ontario, Canada Court Orders Employer to Pay Costs to Discourage Tactical Litigation that Deters Employees from Pursuing Their...

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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

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Alberta Court of Appeal Provides Helpful Guidance Regarding Time for Employee to Claim Constructive Dismissal

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Key Highlights - - A constructive dismissal does not occur automatically just because an employer has unilaterally changed a key term of employment—the employee must reject the change. - The employee must reject the...more

Littler

British Columbia, Canada: Arbitrator Decides Employer Could Terminate Employee Who Refused Government-Ordered Vaccination

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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

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Ontario, Canada: Another Arbitration Decision Upholds Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

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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

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Canada: Arbitrator Finds Termination Consequences of Long-Term Care Home’s Mandatory Vaccination Policy Violated Collective...

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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

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Enforceability of Vaccination Policies Boosted by Recent Arbitration Decision

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Since we last wrote on the topic of COVID-19 vaccination policies, another vaccination policy was upheld at arbitration, this time, requiring employees to receive a third “booster” shot against COVID-19. ...more

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Mandatory Vaccines: Another Policy Upheld in Ontario

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In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175, the arbitrator found that a mandatory vaccination policy requiring unvaccinated unionized employees to be placed on unpaid...more

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