Proposed New PBGF Disclosure Requirements

On April 15, 2021, the Ontario government released draft amendments to Ontario Regulation 909 under the Pension Benefits Act (PBA), which provide new details of the Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF) reporting requirements that will soon apply to registered pension plan administrators with Ontario members. In this FTR Now, we highlight the key details of…

Ontario Extends Stay-at-Home Order; Implements Further Restrictions

On April 16, 2021, the Ontario government extended the declared emergency made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) as well as the Stay-at-Home Order until May 5, 2021. Additional restrictions for the Rules for Areas in Stage 1 (Shutdown Zone), made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020,…

Reaching Out – Fifteenth Edition

Dear Friends, We are back with another edition of Reaching Out. With 2020 behind us and some light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic tunnel, we thought it appropriate to reconnect with our Social Services clients with a Spring edition of Reaching Out. We chose not to publish Reaching Out last year as we…

Ontario Makes Emergency Order to Permit Redeployment of Health Professionals by LHINs and Ontario Health

On April 9, 2021, the Ontario government announced that it has made two orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). The first order relates to the redeployment of certain health care professionals and other workers to hospitals. The second order relates to the transfer of patients to alternative sites. The government states…

Ontario Declares Third Emergency, Again Issues a Stay-at-Home Order

On April 7, 2021, the Ontario government declared its third emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and issued its second Stay-at-Home Order under that Act, effective April 8 at 12:01 a.m. Stay-at-Home Order (Order) The Order is similar in wording to the Stay-at-Home Order issued in January 2021, with some minor modifications….

Federal Government Extends COVID-19 Leaves under Canada Labour Code

On March 31, 2021, the federal government published regulations amending the Canada Labour Standards Regulations made under the Canada Labour Code to increase the length of the existing federal COVID-19 leaves. These changes took effect on March 15, 2021.  Therefore, employees in federally regulated workplaces continue to be entitled to the following two job-protected unpaid…

Ontario Tables 2021 Budget

On March 24, 2021, the Ontario government tabled its 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy (Budget), and introduced supporting implementation legislation, Bill 269, Protecting the People of Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021.   In this FTR Now, we highlight certain aspects of the Budget that are of broad interest to…

Arbitrator Rules That Virtual Class Prep Time Arrangement Violates Collective Agreement

On March 5, 2021, Arbitrator Susan Stewart released an award (Award) between the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (Board) and ETFO dealing with preparation time (prep time) for remote learning elementary teachers in its virtual classes during the current 2020-21 school year. The grievance alleged that the Board had failed to provide prep time in…

Ministry of Education Releases New “School Board Teacher Hiring Practices” PPM

On February 22, 2021, the Ontario Ministry of Education (Ministry) released the much anticipated Policy/Program Memorandum No. 165 (PPM 165) regarding “School Board Teacher Hiring Practices.” PPM 165 comes in response to the revocation of Ontario Regulation 274/12 “Hiring Practices” and will replace the Interim policy for school board hiring practices. The PPM is effective…