Industry: Colleges

Arbitrator Finds Co-ordinator Duties Should Be Considered in Assessing Whether a Professor Has Sessional Status

· 4 min read

An arbitration award in St Lawrence College and OPSEU Local 417 rendered on March 26, 2018 is potentially very significant to the distribution of work between full-time, sessional, partial load and part-time professors by a college. This College Update reviews the award and its possible impact on college staffing decisions going forward.

The (Funding) Future is Here: Ontario Releases Pension Funding Reform Details

· 2 min read

On December 14, 2017, the Ontario government published the long-awaited details to support the proposed reforms to funding rules for Ontario pension plans. The proposed regulations describe the amendments to the Pension Benefits Act Regulations that will, among other things: Alter solvency funding obligations, by reducing the solvency deficiency required to be funded (such that…

Colleges and Universities: Who is the Health Information Custodian under PHIPA?

· 2 min read

This is a short note to our college and university clients – all of whom provide various services to their communities that are properly characterized as “health care” and therefore governed by the Personal Health Information Protection Act. Recent amendments to PHIPA give rise to questions about personal health information governance and the proper identity…

HRTO Decision Clarifies Family Status Accommodation Test and Finds Reasonable Investigation Conducted

· 10 min read

In Ananda v. Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, a recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal), the Tribunal confirmed its approach to assessing claims of family status discrimination (in this case, involving eldercare) and described some of the features of a picture-perfect human rights investigation…

Ontario Human Rights Commission Releases New Inquiry Report on Post-Secondary Student Mental Health Accommodations

· 3 min read

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (Commission) has released an Inquiry Report regarding its inquiry into the systemic barriers facing post-secondary students with mental health disabilities entitled “With Learning in Mind.” Find out more about the Commission’s initiative and its impact on Colleges and Universities in this FTR Now…

Are You Properly Authorized to Make that Freedom of Information Decision?

· 2 min read

This is a short reminder to our college contacts about an often overlooked feature of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) – the assignment of formal powers and duties to the Chair of the Board of Governors. These powers and duties include those related to the processing of freedom of information requests…

Ontario Budget 2017

· 10 min read

On April 27, 2017, the Ontario government tabled its 2017 Budget “A Stronger, Healthier Ontario” (Budget) and Bill 127, Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017 (Budget Bill), omnibus legislation designed to implement some of the proposals contained in the Budget. In this FTR Now, we highlight key proposals that are of particular interest to…