Legislation

Retaining and engaging staff with bilingual skills can be challenging. Being compliant with The Charter of the French Language is just the beginning. HR leaders also need to be proactive about strategies and actions...

FEDERAL UPDATE – Federal Bill C-59 makes updates to employee leaves of absence under the Canada Labour Code What’s happening? Federal Bill C-59, Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (“Bill C-59”) received Royal Assent on...

What’s happening? On June 5, 2024, the federal government published final Regulations Amending the Pay Equity Regulations (Administrative Monetary Penalties and Technical Amendments): SOR/2024-101(“Amending Regulations”). The Amending Regulations amend the Pay Equity Regulations (the...

Please note that effective April 1, 2024, the federal minimum wage will increase as follows:    Current RateEffective April 1, 2024General Minimum Wage$16.65$17.30 What’s happening? On January 25, 2024, the government of Canada announced that it...

The federal government recently published an Order in Council proclaiming that specific sections of the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 (the “BIA”) will come into effect in 2024. These sections of the BIA amend the Canada Labour Code (the “CLC”) to increase the overall period of notice employers are required to provide employees they plan to terminate without just cause and require that employers provide each employee who is terminated without just cause with a statement of benefits.

Bill C-13: An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, to enact the Use of French in Federally Regulated Private Businesses Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (“Bill C-13”) received Royal Assent on June 19, 2023. Bill C-13:

On April 21, 2023, the federal government published an Order in Council (“Order”) that amends the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”), which applies to federally-regulated industries and workplaces. These amendments include new specifications for employer reimbursements of work-related expenses and employer obligations for sharing information about employment rights with their employees (“Amendments”).

Further to our HR Alert of July 12, 2022 on the federal government’s amendments to the Competition Act (the “Act”) to protect labour competition and prohibit employers from fixing wages and restricting job mobility of employees across Canada, the Competition Bureau (the “Bureau”) recently published its Enforcement Guidelines on wage-fixing and no poaching agreements (the “Guidelines”), as the Competition Act amendments (the “Amendments”) come into effect.

On February 7, 2023, the government of Canada announced the annual federal minimum wage adjustment will increase the general minimum wage rate $1.10 per hour, raising it to $16.65.

What’s happening? Amendments (“Amendments”) to the Employment Insurance Act (“EI Act”), to increase the length of EI sickness benefits, as well as to the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”), to increase the length of unpaid...