leave

Subscribe to leave via RSS

As we wrap up 2025 and look forward to 2026, here are 10 key developments Canadian employers should track:

1. Termination Clause Update

In Ontario, there continues to be judicial scrutiny of employment contract termination clauses, particularly the use of the phrase “at any time”.

The Dufault case maintains precedential value. Please see our post here for more discussion on the case here and for more discussion on the issues with the use of the phrase “at any time”.

However, the recently decided Ontario Superior Court decision, Li v. Wayfair Canada Inc., upheld a termination clause that limited the employee’s entitlements to Employment Standards Act, 2000 minimums. The termination provision in question included “at any time” language which the court determined does not automatically render a termination provision non-compliant with the ESA as long as the provision is compliant when read as a whole.

In Bertsch v. Datastealth Inc. the Court of Appeal provided support for employers when it upheld a trial level decision which indicates that termination provisions can be enforced if they are clear and unambiguous, compliant with employment standards law and exclude common law entitlements.

2. Regulation of Gig Workers

With the introduction of the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, Ontario joined British Columbia by introducing legislation regulating the gig economy. The Act provides several entitlements to employees in the gig economy including a right to minimum wage, amounts earned, and a recurring pay period and pay day. Beyond those entitlements, the Act also provides a right to information.

For more information about the requirements, please see our post here.Continue Reading Top 10 Canadian Labour & Employment Law Developments of 2025

On March 20, 2023, Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023, carried on a first reading in the Ontario legislature. If passed, Bill 79 will significantly amend several employment-related statutes and expand on legislative changes introduced in the Working for Workers Acts, 2021 and 2022.

Summary of Key Changes

The most important potential changes include:

  • Mass Termination: Employees who work remotely from home will be included in the count for mass termination provisions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA“). The result is that remote employees will receive the same eight-week minimum notice of termination or pay-in-lieu as their in-office colleagues. Currently, the meaning of “establishment” under the mass termination provisions only encompasses the physical location at which an employer carries on business, and does not include an employee’s private residence. If Bill 79 is passed as currently drafted, the proposed amendments to the mass termination provisions will come into force on the later of July 1, 2023, or the date on which Bill 79 receives Royal Assent.
  • Health and Safety: The maximum fine that may be imposed on a corporation convicted of an offence under the Occupational Health and Safety Act will increase from $1.5 million to $2 million.
  • Reservist Leave: The Employment Standards Act, 2000 will be amended to entitle an employee who is in treatment, recovery or rehabilitation in respect of a physical or mental health illness, injury or medical emergency that results from participation in certain operations or activities to reservist leave. Further, reservists who are deployed to emergency operations inside Canada will be entitled to take this leave immediately regardless of the length of their employment, and the length of employment required to take this leave for all other reasons will be reduced from three months to two months.
  • Personal Information in Post-Secondary Education: Section 15 of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act will be amended to permit the collection, disclosure and use of personal information for purposes related to certain employment programs and services. This includes disclosing personal information to persons or entities that administer, evaluate or deliver employment programs or services funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development for the purpose of administering and delivering those programs or services.
  • Temporary Foreign Workers: The Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009 will be amended to increase penalties employers and people who are convicted of taking possession of or retaining a foreign national’s passport or work permit. For individuals, the penalty will increase to a fine of not more than $500,000 and/or imprisonment for a term of not more than 12 months. For corporations, the penalty will increase to a fine of not more than $1,000,000.
  • Job Information Transparency: Employers will be required to provide employees starting a new job with information about their job, such as pay, work location and hours of work, and the date by which that information needs to be provided. These draft regulations have not been published yet, but we will continue to monitor this significant amendment closely.

Continue Reading Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 Carries on First Reading, with Potential for Major Changes Ahead

Background

The federal government passed Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code on December 17, 2021. While Bill C-2 focused on providing support for reasons specifically related to COVID-19, Bill C-3 enhances paid sick leave and bereavement leave under the Canada Labour Code (the “CLC”) not specific to…

Background

On December 9, 2021, the Ontario Government filed a regulation that extended the COVID-19 Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“Deemed IDEL“) and the temporary measures previously introduced by O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA“) until July 30, 2022. Further details…

On June 29, 2021, the Federal Government passed Bill C-30, Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, introducing a number of changes impacting federally regulated workplaces and extending existing COVID-19 related economic measures.

Changes to the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”):

  • Child Death & Disappearance Leave: The maximum period of leave for a parent of a

…