As courts across Canada continue to see a rising trend in self-represented litigants, it becomes increasingly important for them to understand court rules and procedures to ensure access to justice. In the recent case of Blomer v Workers Compensation Board, the Alberta Court of Appeal considered whether the motions judge could correct the procedural missteps of the self-represented litigant ...
In response to COVID-19, the federal government and the provinces have introduced various measures to mitigate the financial impact across the country. One of these measures is the introduction of a new type of type of unpaid, job-protected leave related to COVID-19. As of the date of this bulletin, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and the federal government have introduced these new leaves ...
In response to COVID-19, the federal government and the provinces have introduced various measures to mitigate the financial impact across the country. One of these measures is the introduction of a new type of type of unpaid, job-protected leave related to COVID-19. As of the date of this bulletin, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and the federal government have introduced these new leaves ...
Important new legislative changes impacting federally regulated employers will come into effect in 2021: the Pay Equity Act and a minimum wage requirement. Details on both these measures and how that will affect employers are examined below. Pay Equity Act The federal Pay Equity Act comes into effect on August 31, 2021. The Act applies to federally regulated employers who have 10 or more employees ...
In our earlier two blog posts, Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation: Part 1, Part 2, we addressed the occupational health and safety issues surrounding returning the workplace to safe operation. This blog post addresses the employment issues related to managing the return of employees to the workplace from temporary layoff or working from home ...
COVID-19 has now been characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Although the number of reported cases in Canada is currently low in comparison to some other countries, public health authorities have cautioned that this situation may change rapidly. As part of this quickly changing situation, employers need to be prepared to address related workplace issues. The following summary addresses general issues for workplaces related to COVID-19 ...
Many commercial contracts limit claims between parties, particularly for consequential losses, to instances of gross negligence. Many statutes circumscribe claims against government authorities to the same circumstances. The Police Act, for example, prohibits claims against the police except where the police have been “guilty of dishonesty, gross negligence or malicious or wilful misconduct” ...
Mask wearing indoors has become a ubiquitous part of the COVID-19 experience. The B.C. government mandated mask wearing in November of 2020 for most indoor public settings. Those orders are premised on face coverings helping to prevent, respond to or alleviate the spread of COVID‐19, when used with other protective measures. Some members of our society have physical, cognitive, or psychological disabilities that make mask wearing unduly difficult or unsafe ...
The Privacy Commissioners of Canada, Alberta and British Columbia issued a joint investigation report, finding that Cadillac Fairview did not obtain adequate consent for the collection of digital images of faces through facial recognition technology (Anonymous Video Analytics) installed in wayfinding directories in some of their Canadian shopping malls ...
The B.C. and federal government have announced new benefits for workers impacted by COVID-19. B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers The B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers will provide a one-time $1,000 payment to people who lost income because of COVID-19. B.C. residents who receive Employment Insurance (“EI”) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”, described below) will be eligible ...
Today, the federal government introduced in Parliament Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. This blog provides some background on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the new federal bill. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples UNDRIP was passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007 ...
On November 9, 2020, the federal government announced a further temporary extension to permitted layoff periods for federally regulated private-sector employees. Background In June of 2020, the federal government extended the time periods for layoffs under the Canada Labour Standards Regulations to allow federally regulated private-sector employers more time to recall laid-off employees ...
The Canadian government, concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on corporate valuations, has issued guidance that it will pay particular attention to foreign direct investments of any value (meaning, even investments that are not subject to review under the Investment Canada Act (the “ICA”)). The government’s announcement does not amend the ICA, nor any thresholds for review ...
In a judgment of 8 September 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that Member States are not allowed to exclude performers who are nationals of States outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) from perceiving the equitable remuneration provided by Article 8(2) of the Rental and Lending Rights Directive ...
Last year, we published a blog about things an employer should do before they terminate the employment of an employee. In recent years, employers are facing increasing claims for aggravated damages arising out of the manner in which the employer has carried out the termination of an employee’s employment. In order to minimize the possibility that aggravated damages will be awarded, here are our Do’s and Don’ts for employment termination meetings ...
Now that we have persevered through one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, much has been written about pandemic fatigue and associated social isolation, mental stress, and anxiety. Employers may be seeing an increase in the incidence of mental illness claims in their workplaces ...
As courts cautiously resume in-person hearings across the country, there is looming uncertainty about when—or if—civil jury trials will ever resume. For instance, B.C. and some regions in Ontario have announced that civil jury trials are suspended until at least 2021—and Ontario is considering whether to abolish them altogether ...
Workplace harassment is once again in the news given our former Governor General’s resignation from her post after a 132 page investigation report was issued following accusations of a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall. While the Government of Canada took the correct steps in hiring an independent investigator once the allegations surfaced, meeting with all witnesses, and then meeting with Ms ...
As businesses begin to reopen, many organizations will examine ways to protect their workers and attract returning customers. Various mechanisms to screen customers for COVID-19 risks will become more common. Examples include providing customers with questionnaires regarding their travel history, exposure to others, and symptoms, or temperature scanning before entry. Organizations will be permitted to screen individuals in a reasonable manner, depending on the circumstances ...
In our blog post from July 25, 2016 we highlighted the provincial government’s introduction (effective August 2, 2016) of the new 15% property transfer tax (the “Foreign Entity Tax“) on foreign buyers of residential property in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (“Metro Vancouver“). The Foreign Entity Tax has been introduced by way of an amendment to the Property Transfer Tax Act (British Columbia) (the “Act“) ...
In light of the rapidly evolving developments relating to COVID-19, and recognizing that issuers have an urgent need to focus on critical business decisions, the Canadian Securities Administrators (the “CSA”) have announced that they will grant temporary, blanket relief from the filing of certain documents required to be filed on or before June 1, 2020 ...
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, pension regulators across Canada have been announcing special measures to help protect the interests of pension plan members, assist pension plan administrators and ensure the ongoing financial health of pension plans, particularly given the negative impact that current financial market conditions have had on the funded status of pension plans. This bulletin summarizes the measures that have been announced to date ...
For consideration by owners, contractors, suppliers, and project teams towards solutions on current and/or future projects. Global pandemic. Oil trade war. Volatile FX Markets. Market collapse? East African locusts. All of these global issues, and potentially others, will impact existing and new construction projects in Canada and the world over the coming months. However, a delay to a project does not always mean the project will inevitably cost more ...
Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of businesses are seeking some form of rent relief from their landlords. When negotiating a rent relief agreement, there is a balance to be struck between providing meaningful relief to a tenant so that its business has a better chance of long term survival, while still allowing the landlord to meet its ongoing obligations, which may include mortgage payments on the property, and other costs which it may not be able to defer ...
The new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130 (the “Regulation”) and corresponding changes to the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) come into force on January 1, 2021. The amendments introduce significant changes to how federally regulated organizations are required to prevent and address workplace harassment and violence, and set out specific requirements for workplace harassment and violence policies ...
