For employers who are involved with the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development is seeking feedback on the employer job offer streams as well as employer experience with the Program, among other things. Employers wishing to provide feedback may do so by completing the Ministry’s survey, found on…
Insights
Federal Post
On November 9, 2023, the federal government tabled legislation which would ban the use of replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces to do the work of striking or locked out workers once notice of bargaining has been given. This ban would be subject to certain exceptions. If passed, Bill C-58, An Act to amend the…
FTR Now
As we reported previously, paid infectious disease emergency leave (Paid IDEL) ended on March 31, 2023. On April 28, 2023, the Ontario government updated its guidelines regarding when eligible employers can apply for reimbursement payments.
FTR Now
On March 23, 2023, the Ontario government tabled its 2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario. Of significance to employers, the Budget announced that the paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (Paid IDEL) will expire on March 31, 2023. By way of background, the Paid IDEL is a form of paid leave available under the Employment…
HR HealthCheck
On February 21, 2023, the Ontario government tabled Bill 60, Your Health Act, 2023 for First Reading. The government states that the objective of the Bill is to reduce wait times for surgeries, procedures and diagnostic imaging ‘while enabling its new “As of Right” rules to automatically recognize the credentials of health care workers registered in other provinces and territories.’ If passed, Bill 60 would enact the Integrated Community Health Services Centres Act, 2023 (Proposed Act) which would create integrated community health services centres, among other things.
FTR Now
Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2022 as another year shaped by the pandemic.
But…there were also legal developments in 2022 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the past year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments.
FTR Now
Ontario Revokes More COVID-19 Orders
· 2 min readOn March 24, 2022, the Ontario government revoked certain Orders made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 (ROA), effective March 28, 2022. The remaining ROA Orders have been extended to April 27, 2022. This action is further to the province’s current plan to lift all remaining directives, Orders and measures…
Human Resources Legislative Update
On December 17, 2021, the Ontario government announced it is taking further public heath measures in light of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant. The new measures significantly expand upon the December 15 announcement reducing capacity limits to 50% in certain settings with a usual capacity of 1000 or more. Effective December 19, 2021, the following…
Human Resources Legislative Update
Federal COVID-19 Leaves Now Repealed
· 1 min readEffective November 20, 2021, the leaves relating to COVID-19 under the Canada Labour Code have been repealed. The first leave was up to four weeks to be taken in prescribed circumstances related to COVID-19. The second leave was up to 42 weeks where the employee was unable to work because they must care for a…
Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Eases Capacity Limits in Select Settings
· 2 min readOn October 8, 2021, the Ontario government announced that would be “cautiously” lifting capacity limits in select settings where proof of full vaccination is required, effective October 9, 2021. O. Reg. 698/21, amending O. Reg. 364/20, the Rules for Areas at Step 3 and at the Roadmap Exit Step, gives effect to these changes. For…
FTR Now
Ontario Moves to Step 3 of Reopening Plan
· 8 min readEffective July 16, 2021, all public health units in Ontario will be permitted to move to Step 3 of the province’s Roadmap to Reopen. This move comes ahead of schedule and is the result of improvements to key health indicators including decreasing COVID-19 case rates and high rates of vaccination. Once this occurs, all public…
Case In Point
In Hawkes v Max Aicher, the Divisional Court set aside an Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) decision and found that the calculation of payroll for the purposes of determining an employee’s severance entitlement under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) should be based on the combined payroll of the Ontario employer and its global parent…
Reaching Out
Reaching Out – Fifteenth Edition
· 12 min readDear 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…
FTR Now
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 Post
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…
FTR Now
Ontario Announces Provincewide Shutdown
· 12 min readOn 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…
School Board Update
In this edition of our School Board Update, we discuss two recent and significant developments relating to school boards:
Federal Post
COVID-19 Leave in Canada Labour Code to be Extended
· 4 min readEarly on September 30, 2020, the federal House of Commons passed Bill C-4, COVID-19 Response Measures Act. It amends the Leave Related to COVID-19 provisions of the Canada Labour Code to extend the leave to September 25, 2021. It also enacts the Canada Recovery Benefits Act which establishes certain benefits as a result of COVID-19….
Human Resources Legislative Update
Note: this post has been modified from its original publication on September 18, 2020 The Ontario government has imposed restrictions on the number of people who can attend unmonitored social gatherings and public events across all Ontario regions in light of the increase of COVID-19 cases in these areas. These restrictions are directed to private…
Federal Post
The COVID-19 leave available under the Canada Labour Code has been extended an additional 4 weeks, from 24 weeks to 28 weeks, effective September 4, 2020. This change is to align the leave with the recent increase to the number of weeks an employee can receive the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
FTR Now
On Thursday, September 3, 2020, the Ontario government announced that it would be extending the temporary relief measures from the termination and severance provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) until January 2, 2021. The temporary measures are found in Ontario Regulation 228/20, Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL Regulation), and had been set to expire today (September 4, 2020). The IDEL Regulation has been amended to define the “COVID-19 period” as that period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on January 2, 2021
Human Resources Legislative Update
The federal government has announced a temporary policy change that will permit visitors currently in Canada who have a valid job offer to apply for, and receive, an employer-specific work permit without having to leave Canada, effective August 24, 2020.
Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Extends Orders Relating to COVID-19
· 1 min readOn August 20, 2020, the Ontario government announced that most orders made as a result of COVID-19 are extended to September 22, 2020 (subject to exceptions below). These orders were initially made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and, with the end of the declared emergency on July 24, 2020, were extended under…
Human Resources Legislative Update
Today, the Ontario government announced that the City of Toronto and Peel Region can move into Stage 3 of the provincial reopening, effective July 31 at 12:01 a.m. The rules regarding Stage 3 are set out in Regulation 364/20 which has been continued under the recently enacted Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act,…
FTR Now
On July 21, 2020, Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020 received Royal Assent. The Ontario government has announced that the new Act will be proclaimed in force on July 24, 2020. As set out in greater detail in our FTR Now of July 15, 2020, this means that the COVID-19 declared emergency will come to an end on July 24, 2020.
FTR Now
On Thursday, July 16, the Ontario government published a regulation that amends the existing Stage 2 Closure Order (Order) made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). The amendments took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 17, 2020, and are therefore already in force.
Human Resources Legislative Update
The federal Labour Program website related to COVID-19 states that the COVID-19 Canada Labour Code leave may be extended an additional 8 weeks (currently at 16 weeks) effective July 10, to align the leave with the recent increase to the maximum number of weeks a worker can receive the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). This…
FTR Now
Ontario Extends Declared Emergency to July 24, 2020
· 1 min readFurther to our FTR Now of July 15, 2020 in which we outlined the changes proposed by Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2000, it has come to our attention that by motion in the Legislature on July 13, 2020, the Ontario government extended the declared emergency under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) to July 24, 2020.
FTR Now
Premier Ford recently signaled that he is hopeful another extension of the declared emergency made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) will not be needed. Presumably to this end, on July 7, 2020, the government introduced Bill 195, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2000 (Bill 195) which, if passed, will enable it to continue Orders made under sections 7.0.2 or 7.1 of the EMCPA even after the declared emergency comes to an end.
FTR Now
On July 13, 2020, the Ontario government filed two Orders made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act regarding Stage 3 of the reopening of the province. The first Order, Stages of Reopening, is a new regulation that identifies which regions of the province are at Stage 1, 2 or 3 of the reopening plan.
FTR Now
On Monday, July 13, the Ontario government announced that 24 regions in Ontario are moving to the Stage 3 of the provincial re-opening plans effective Friday, July 17, 2020. The Orders made under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act giving effect to this announcement have not yet been published and we will provide further updates on the Stage 3 reopening as may be necessary. In order that you may continue your Return to Work planning, however, here is what we know as of today.
Human Resources Legislative Update
The Ontario government has announced that the City of Toronto and Peel Region will move to Stage 2 of re-openings on June 24, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. For a summary of the conditions and restrictions on businesses re-opening, see our Human Resources Legislative Update post of June 9, 2020, Ontario Announces Stage 2 Regional Reopening….
Human Resources Legislative Update
COVID-19 Update: More Businesses Permitted to Reopen
· 3 min readThe last week has seen numerous announcements and regulatory changes as the Ontario government continues to ease restrictions and permit more businesses to resume their operations. Effective June 19, 2020, Durham, Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, Lambton, Niagara and York have been moved to Stage 2.
Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Announces Stage 2 Regional Reopening
· 2 min readOn June 8, 2020, the Ontario government announced that most public health unit regions outside of the “Golden Horseshoe” will be moving to Stage 2 effective June 12, 2020 at 12:01 a.m. The government’s online document sets out the complete list of regions which can move to Stage 2.
FTR Now
New Order Clarifies Scope of Pandemic Pay
· 3 min readOn April 25, 2019, the Ontario government announced that it would be providing temporary pandemic pay to frontline workers fighting COVID-19. At the time, we observed that there were some key unknown elements about pandemic pay that required further direction from the government.
FTR Now
There have been two developments this week in relation to pandemic pay: a temporary amendment to Bill 124, the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019 (Bill 124) and the publication of a page entitled “COVID-19: Temporary pandemic pay” on the government website. However, key details, including how pandemic pay is to be operationalized, have yet to be announced. We therefore continue to advise employers to wait for the government to communicate this information before taking steps to implement any form of pandemic pay.
FTR Now
In this FTR Now: Province allows businesses to reopen; Ontario announces workplace health and safety guidance; Ontario expands the list of essential workers eligible to receive free emergency child care; Further amendments to the Employment Insurance Act and New Canada Emergency Student Benefit; and more!
HR HealthCheck
Ontario Updates COVID-19 Provincial Testing Guidance
· 4 min readIn its “COVID-19 Quick Reference Public Health Guidance on Testing and Clearance” of March 27, 2020, the Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) stated that only symptomatic individuals should be tested.
Federal Post
The federal Labour Program has been holding consultations on the scheduling and hours of work provisions in the Canada Labour Code (Code) that came into force on September 1, 2019. The first round of consultations took place in the fall of 2019.