Author: Hicks Morley

Employers Take Note: New Obligations under Temporary Foreign Workers Program Now in Effect

· 4 min read

Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act which came into effect on September 26, 2022 place new obligations on employers who employ temporary foreign workers (TFWs). Significantly, these obligations include the requirement for an employer to commit to having an employment agreement in place with the…

Court Finds ESA-Only Termination Clause Unenforceable Due To Wording of Conflict of Interest and Confidential Information Clauses

· 4 min read

In Henderson v. Slavkin et al., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that a termination clause in an employment contract which limited entitlements upon termination to only the minimums required by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) was unenforceable due to the wording of the provisions related to “confidential information” and “conflict of interest.”…

Class Action Dismissed in Favour of Defendant

· 3 min read

In Rebuck v. Ford Motor Company, the Ontario Superior Court recently granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff’s class action. The class action involved an allegation of misleading advertising under the federal Competition Act. Factual History In 2014, a consumer filed a lawsuit after noticing that the miles per gallon (MPG)…

Proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Labour Code (Medical Leave with Pay) Published for Comment

· 2 min read

On July 16, 2022, the federal government published Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Labour Code (Medical Leave with Pay), proposed regulatory amendments to give effect to the new paid medical leave provisions under the Canada Labour Code (Code), which are not yet in force. The leave, enacted by Bill C-3, An Act…

Appellate Court Considers Certification Under Class Proceedings Act, 1992 and Requirement That Pleadings Disclose a Cause of Action

· 5 min read

In Bowman v Ontario, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered a motion for certification of a class action under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 (CPA) which was dismissed by a certification judge. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, concluding that the judge erred in holding that the proposed class action did not…

Arbitrator Finds Two-Dose Vaccination Policy No Longer Reasonable

· 5 min read

On June 17, 2022, Arbitrator Nairn held in FCA Canada Inc. v Unifor, Locals 195, 444, 1285 that a two-dose mandatory vaccination policy (Policy) implemented by an employer was no longer reasonable going forward due to the evolving scientific evidence regarding the COVID-19 virus. In so finding, she cited a number of pre-print scientific studies…

Class Action Brought by Off-Reserve Indigenous Children and Their Families Certified

· 3 min read

In Stonechild v. Canada, Justice Phelan of the Federal Court recently certified a class proceeding brought on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children and their families. Under the Federal Court system, this avoids the necessity or prospect of up to thirteen separate provincial and territorial class actions.  The claim seeks to hold the government of Canada…

Ontario Court of Appeal Upholds Waksdale – Overturns Superior Court Decision That Attempted to Distinguish It

· 2 min read

On June 8, 2022, in Rahman v. Cannon Design Architecture Inc., the Court of Appeal reiterated that Waksdale is supreme in Ontario. The Decision Below In September 2021, a judge of the Superior Court determined on the facts of the case before him that a contractual provision in an employment agreement which denied entitlements upon…