On June 23, 2021, the federal government published Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Rules of Procedure, 2021 (Rules), following a public consultation in 2020 on the proposed rules (see our prior post). As stated in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement to the Rules, most of the rules in place at the Tribunal remain the same. The…
Business Operation: Canada
Federal Budget 2021 Tabled
On April 19, 2021, the federal government tabled its Budget 2021, “A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth and Resilience”. We are currently reviewing the Budget and an FTR Now detailing initiatives of interest to employers, human resources professionals and pension plan administrators will be available in the coming days.
Federal Government Consults on Gig Economy and Right to Disconnect
On March 18, 2021, the federal government announced that it has launched a consultation for Canadians to share their views on the following issues in federally regulated workplaces: “gig work” (a.k.a work “where workers enter into short-term contracts to complete specific and often one-off tasks, generally through digital platforms”) a “right to disconnect,” for example,…
Supreme Court of Canada Denies Leave to Appeal in Case Where Termination Clause in Employment Contract Found to be Unenforceable
On March 18, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application for leave to appeal from a decision of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal, Abrams v. RTO Asset Management. In that case, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal (Court) held an employer could not assert that dismissal was for cause where the employer’s…
Supreme Court of Canada Clarifies Principle of Good Faith in Contracts
On February 5, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision Wastech Services Ltd. v. Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, in which it commented on and clarified the principle of good faith in contracts, a principle previously recognized by the Court in Bhasin v. Hrynew. Background The case involved a contract between…
Federal Government Announces Temporary Waiver of EI Waiting Period
On January 29, 2021, the federal government announced that it will be amending the Employment Insurance (EI) regulations to temporarily waive the one-week waiting period for EI claimants who establish a new claim between January 31, 2021 and September 25, 2021. This change is in response to the ongoing restrictions on businesses arising out of…
Proposed Legislation to Ensure International Travellers Will Not Be Eligible for Recovery Benefits During Mandatory Quarantine Period
On January 11, 2021, the federal government announced that it will be proposing legislation to ensure international travellers returning to Canada will not be eligible to receive any of the recovery benefits – the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) – for their mandatory…
Ontario Announces Provincewide Shutdown
On December 21, 2020, the Ontario government announced a provincewide shutdown, effective Saturday December 26, 2020. As of that date, all parts of the province will be moved into the Grey Zone and will be subject to modified Rules for Areas in Stage 1 (Stage 1 Rules). Because different areas of the province are under…
Supreme Court of Canada Considers Duty of Good Faith Performance of Contracts
In one of its final decisions of 2020, C.M. Callow Inc. v. Zollinger, the Supreme Court of Canada held that parties to any and all contracts (which would include employment contracts) cannot lie or otherwise knowingly deceive each other about matters directly linked to the performance of the contract. This type of deceptive conduct is…
Beyond COVID-19: 2020 Year in Review – Cases and Legislation of Note
Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2020 as the “year of the pandemic.” But … there were also legal developments in 2020 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments of interest. We also identify some decisions and…