Ontario Proposes Amendments to Long-Term Care Sector Regulations

Ontario’s Ministry of Long-Term Care has tabled a proposal to amend Regulation 246/22 made under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. The proposed amendments focus on changes to staffing qualifications, medication management and drug administration and overall resident experience. Regulation 246/22 prescribes residents’ rights, plans of care, nursing and personal support services, nutritional care, medical…

Competition Bureau Seeks Feedback on Incoming Changes to Competition Act

The Competition Bureau Canada is inviting interested parties to provide comments on new guidelines to address wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements (Guidelines). The draft Guidelines describe the Bureau’s approach to enforcing recent amendments to the Competition Act which make wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements illegal and subject to significant criminal penalties in Canada. As we previously noted,…

Ontario Repeals Bill 28, Keeping Students in Class Act, 2022

On November 14, 2022, the Ontario government tabled and passed Bill 35, Keeping Students in Class Repeal Act, 2022, which repeals Bill 28, Keeping Students in Class Act, 2022 and deems it never to have been in force. Bill 35 states that the collective agreements that were deemed to be in operation under subsection 5(1)…

Employers Take Note: Incoming Changes to Competition Act

Employers should take note of recent amendments made to the Competition Act (Act) by Bill C-19, Budget Implementation Act, 2022, No. 1 which will come into force on June 23, 2023. The amendments make it a criminal offence for an employer to conspire, agree or arrange with an unaffiliated employer to fix, maintain, decrease or…

Ontario Exploring Increase to Compensation for Workers Who Become Injured or Ill on the Job

On April, 20, 2022, the Ontario government announced it has directed the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to explore a potential increase in compensation for workers who become injured or ill on the job. Currently, the WSIB provides maximum wage compensation payments which equal 85% of the worker’s net pre-accident earnings. The government and…

Ontario Launches Review of Occupational Illnesses

The Ontario government has announced that it has partnered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to launch a review of the province’s occupational illness system. The review will be conducted by an independent research centre (the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital) and will evaluate how occupational illnesses in Ontario…

Ontario Tables Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Bill

On March 29, 2022, the Ontario government introduced A Plan to Stay Open which sets out healthcare initiatives to ensure the healthcare system is better able to respond to a crisis, among other things. On the same day, it tabled Bill 106, Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, 2022 (Bill 106), omnibus legislation which gives effect…

Ontario Seeks Input Regarding the Establishment of Minimum Standards for School Board Trustee Codes of Conduct

On September 17, 2021, the Ontario government announced that it is seeking input from stakeholders and members of the public regarding the establishment of “minimum standards” for school board trustee codes of conduct. The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2021. Section 218.2(1) of Ontario’s Education Act currently provides that a school board “may adopt…

Ontario Seeking Input on Temporary Help Agency Consultations

The Ontario government is seeking input from interested parties on a broad range of questions relating to temporary agencies and their obligations under the Employment Standards Code, 2000 (ESA). In this regard, it has posted Temporary Help Agency Consultations. The consultations focus on the non-compliance of those temporary help agencies that operate “underground”, putting “law-abiding…