Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has announced two consultations on proposed changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Regulations related to two occupational health and safety issues: protecting workers from heat stress and heat-related illnesses and poor outdoor air quality and workplace health and safety. The MLITSD…
Practice Area: Occupational Health
Ontario Announces Changes to Mandatory Working at Heights Training Requirements for Programs and Providers
On May 17, 2023, Ontario announced changes to the training requirements for working at heights. The province has updated both the program and provider standards for mandatory working at heights training, noting that falling from heights is one of the leading causes of workplace fatality in a number of industries including construction. Currently, workers on…
Ontario Introduces Bill 91, Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023 and Announces Additional Amendments to Reduce Red Tape
On April 3, 2023, the Ontario government announced a range of measures related to pensions and employment (amongst other matters) in the province. On the same day, the government introduced Bill 91, Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023 (Bill 91) to implement some of those measures. Bill 91 and the additional measures are of…
Amendments to OHSA Regarding Naloxone Kit Requirement Proclaimed into Force – June 1, 2023
The amendments Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022 made to the Occupational Health & Safety Act, which require certain employers to have a naloxone kit in the workplace, have been proclaimed into force effective June 1, 2023. As a result, starting on June 1, 2023, employers who become aware or ought reasonably to be…
Arbitrator Finds University’s Vaccination Policy to be Reasonable
On July 22, 2022, Arbitrator Wright released a preliminary award, Wilfrid Laurier University v United Food and Commercial Workers Union, in which he found that the University’s mandatory vaccination policy (Policy) was reasonable. In so finding, he cited the fact that the University implemented the Policy in accordance with the instructions and advice issued by…
Arbitrator Finds Two-Dose Vaccination Policy No Longer Reasonable
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…
Ontario to Lift Most Masking Requirements and Certain Other COVID-19 Measures on June 11, 2022
On June 8, 2022, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced that most of the province’s remaining masking requirements will expire on June 11, 2022. Similarly, all remaining directives issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH) in response to COVID-19 will be revoked on June 11, 2022….
Ontario to Maintain Masking and Certain Other COVID-19 Measures Until June 11, 2022
On April 22, 2022, the Ontario government announced that the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH) will be maintaining existing masking requirements in select higher-risk indoor settings, as well as all remaining directives issued by the OCMOH in response to COVID-19, until June 11, 2022. This marks a change from the government’s…
Remaining COVID-19 Orders to be Revoked
The Ontario government has filed a regulation which will revoke all remaining COVID-19 regulations (Orders) made under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, effective April 27, 2022. This action is further to the government’s previous announcement of its intention to lift all remaining COVID-19 measures, directives and Orders by this date….
Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022, Passes – Key Dates to Watch For
On April 11, 2022, Bill 88, Working for Workers Act, 2022, received Royal Assent and is now law. Bill 88 enacts the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 and makes amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act, 2006….