Ontario Launches Portal to Match Health Care Workers with Health Care Employers

On April 7, 2020, the Ontario government announced that it is launching the “Health Workforce Matching Portal”. The Portal will enable available health care workers to assist in the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic by matching those workers with employers, such as hospitals, clinics and assessment centres, to help, for example, in public health functions such as case and contact management.

Significant Staffing and Deployment Flexibility Provided to Developmental Services Agencies to Alleviate the Effects of COVID-19

On April 3, 2020, the Ontario government issued an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) that applies to service agencies which provide services and supports to adults with developmental disabilities. Under the terms of the order, service agencies shall and are authorized to take, with respect to staffing and work deployment, any reasonably necessary measures to respond to, prevent and alleviate the outbreak of COVID-19.

Retirement Homes Given Staffing Powers in Light of COVID-19

On April 2, 2020, the Ontario government issued an order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act authorizing every retirement home and licensee (within the meaning of the Retirements Homes Act, 2010) to take all reasonable steps necessary to respond to, prevent and alleviate the outbreak of COVID-19 in a retirement home.

Extraordinary Times – Limitations on Liberty and Privacy under the Health Protection and Promotion Act

On April 1, 2020, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer urged his local public health counterparts to order COVID-19 patients and their contacts into quarantine. The situation, according to the Chief Medical Officer, is such that measures need to be put in place in order to manage this pandemic. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and implementing the broad order-making powers of medical officers of health under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) may be where we are headed. This means placing limitations on a person’s liberty and privacy.

COVID-19 – Continuity of Pension Plan Administration and Related Regulatory Flexibility

During these uncertain times, pension plan administrators must continue to administer their pension plans and provide benefits to members, former members and retired members. Employers and pension plan administrators face a number of upcoming filing and disclosure deadlines and may have challenges in meeting those deadlines as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advantage CPD: Going Viral – COVID-19 Advice for Employers

As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada continues to rise, so too are the challenges that employers are facing across the country. Join us for a one-hour webinar as our presenters answer frequently asked questions and provide information on some of the key issues affecting employers with respect to the virus.