Category: Northern Exposure

Employment law articles for U.S. companies with employees in Canada. Written by the attorneys at Fasken Martineau law firm.

Canada Wrestles with Medical Pot’s Impact on Safety-Sensitive Jobs

Perceptions of marijuana have changed dramatically in Canada. What used to be an illegal drug is now a recognized medical treatment and is soon to be a legal recreational activity.  Canada’s Cannabis Act—making recreational marijuana legal—will take effect on October 17, 2018. Employers have struggled to balance the changes against legitimate health and safety issues, […]

Canada Ready to Roll: Marijuana Becomes Legal in October

Canada’s Cannabis Act—making recreational marijuana legal—will take effect on October 17, 2018. The country’s federal parliament passed the measure on June 19, 2018, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly announced the new law’s effective date. Medically prescribed marijuana had previously been legalized.

Dismissals for incompetence: Are we moving backward or forward?

by Rhéaume Perreault and Michael Adams It appears that employers in Quebec who wish to dismiss employees for incompetence may now need to accomplish an additional step before doing so. Indeed, the Superior Court of Quebec, in Commission scolaire Kativik v. Ménard, 2017 QCCS 4686, recently confirmed an arbitration decision in which an additional criterion […]

Alberta workers’ compensation: a refocus

by Theodore Fong This year has seen many developments in the labor and employment fields in Canada. One recent development concerns the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), one of several public agencies across Canada to administer an insurance plan for injured or ill workers. Its no-fault insurance system has been in place for nearly a […]

Canadian government enhances maternity leave benefits, proposes to strengthen harassment and violence prevention

by Clayton Jones On November 9, the federal government announced that changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) program relating to parental, maternity, and caregiving benefits will come into effect on December 3. The EI program provides temporary income support to partially replace lost employment income to individuals who are off work for various reasons. On […]

Changes to rules regarding Canadian citizenship

by Arlin Sahinyan In a time when immigration rules and regulations in many jurisdictions are becoming more stringent, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has made changes to the citizenship guidelines making grants of Canadian citizenship more accessible to permanent residents of Canada. On June 19, Bill C-6 received Royal Assent resulting in immediate changes […]

A win for employers: Supreme Court rejects union’s effort to obtain right of consultation in accommodation process

by John Craig and Matthew Larsen Do unions have an independent legal right, separate and apart from their collective agreement rights, to be involved in every unionized employee’s accommodation request? This question was answered earlier this year by the British Columbia Court of Appeal, which ruled that unions have no such right. Recently, in Telecommunications […]

Avoiding liability risks when you fire a sexual harasser

by Theodore Fong The risks to employers in sexual harassment cases can be big. Potential liability can arise from any decision. Employers may then find themselves having to make tough decisions on tight timelines. The key to ensuring an appropriate response is to be prepared. Preparation will permit an employer to take a proactive approach, […]

The erosion of employers’ managerial rights

by Mikael Maher In a recent arbitration case, Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc. v. Steelworkers, Local 7065-75, the arbitrator, Bruno Leclerc, and the Superior Court of Quebec challenged a well-established principle in labor relations, which is that an employer retains managerial rights in the absence of limiting provisions in the collective agreement. In this case, the […]