On September 27, 2017, the Ontario government tabled Bill 160, Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017, omnibus legislation which addresses the delivery of healthcare services in Ontario. If passed, Bill 160 would create the following statutes: The Health Sector Payment Transparency Act, which would require disclosure of information about financial relationships within the…
Author: Hicks Morley
Appellate Court Issues Favourable Decision for Suncor on its Random Drug and Alcohol Policy
The legal saga on the issue of random drug and alcohol testing of employees continues. In Suncor Energy Inc v Unifor Local 707A, the Alberta Court of Appeal sent the issue of whether Suncor’s random drug and alcohol testing policy violated the privacy rights of its unionized workers back to a new arbitration hearing before…
Ontario Expands Access to Licensed Childcare in Schools
The Ontario government has announced that effective September 1, 2017, all publicly funded elementary schools serving students up to Grade 6 are required to provide before- and after-school programs for children aged 4-12 where there is a sufficient demand. The programs may be operated by a school board through a licensed childcare provider for children…
WSIB Announces 2018 Premium Rates
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has announced its 2018 premium rates and has approved a 3.3% reduction to the average premium rate for next year. Any increases in premium rates will relate only to costs arising from the chronic mental stress (CMS) amendment to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, which comes into…
WSIB Schedule 1 Regulation Amended
On August 31, 2017, the Ontario government filed O. Reg. 348/17 amending O. Reg. 175/98 (General) made under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. The regulation makes changes to certain industries in which Schedule 1 employers are liable to contribute to the Insurance Fund. Among other things, amendments to Class G – Construction: maintain…
Ontario Minimum Wage to Increase on October 1, 2017
On October 1, 2017, the general minimum wage in Ontario will increase from $11.40 to $11.60 an hour. This minimum wage applies to most employees. Minimum wage rates for specified students, liquor servers, hunting and fishing guides and homeworkers will increase on the same date. Note that the Ontario government has tabled legislation to increase…
WSIB Rate Framework Implementation Date Set for January 1, 2020
Further to O. Reg. 349/17 which amends O. Reg. 470/16 made under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, the new Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Rate Framework will be implemented on January 1, 2020, which is one year later than the initial targeted implementation date. As we previously reported, the Rate Framework will fundamentally change…
Ontario Court Declines to Consider Wrongful Dismissal Action Where Ontario Resident Worked in Michigan
In its recent decision in Koutros v Persico USA Inc., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice set aside the service of a Statement of Claim and stayed an action on the basis that Michigan (not Ontario) was the appropriate jurisdiction in which to dispute the termination of an employment contract. The plaintiff lived near Windsor…
Proposed Data Breach Regulations Under PIPEDA Published
On September 2, 2017, the federal government published the proposed regulatory text of the Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations (Regulations) made under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Interested persons have been invited to make representations on the Regulations. As previously reported, amendments to the PIPEDA enacted by the Digital Privacy Act…
Immunization of School Pupils Act Amendments Coming into Force September 1, 2017
On September 1, 2017, sections 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Schedule 2, Bill 87, the Protecting Patients Act, 2017, amending the Immunization of School Pupils Act (Act) will come into force. Among other things, the amendments require that the parent of a pupil complete an immunization education session with a medical officer of health…