Two underlying themes for the Spring 2022 Bennett Jones Economic Outlook are supply shortages and economic uncertainty. These themes also resonate in analyzing developments and prospects in the Canadian labour market more...more
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health announced on March 9, 2022 the Province's plan for lifting the majority of the remaining COVID-19 related public health and workplace safety measures. This announcements comes just a...more
3/14/2022
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
Public Health ,
Quarantine ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, and in accordance with public health guidance, many Ontario employers have implemented vaccination policies over the past year....more
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court has dealt yet another blow to employers in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision of Justice D.A. Broad in Coutinho v Ocular Health Centre, released April 27,...more
On April 29, 2021, the Ontario Legislature passed the COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, amending section 50.1 of Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). As a result, provincially regulated employers must now provide...more
5/5/2021
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Risk Management ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in Ontario, Premier Ford announced on September 28, 2020, that Ontario "is in the second wave". As part of measures to flatten the curve during this second wave of COVID-19,...more
The Ontario government has extended the temporary relief measures under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) set out in O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave until January 2, 2021....more
On July 17, 2020, in response to public consultations, the Department of Finance, introduced draft legislative proposals which, if implemented, would extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to December 19, 2020, and...more
Ontario employers, already grappling with the challenges of managing employee costs during the COVID-19 pandemic, now face the burden of an Ontario Court of Appeal decision that could materially increase many employers'...more
The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and many employers responded by requiring or encouraging their employees to work from home. Even as Canada commences "reopening", it...more
The Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) is another part of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. Details of LEEFF were announced on May 20, 2020, the same time the application process opened....more
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) was enacted, as amendments to the Income Tax Act (Canada) (ITA), on April 11, 2020, for the purposes of assisting employers in financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and of...more
As we better understand the challenges associated with COVID-19, attention has turned to reopening the Canadian economy and retuning to work. This, in turn, raises questions about the steps that employers should be taking to...more
On April 21, 2020, the federal government announced that applications for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) will open on April 27, and provided details on the application process as well as information on (and access...more
On Saturday April 11, 2020, the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act, No. 2 received Royal Assent, thereby amending the Income Tax Act (Canada) to give effect to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) framework that the federal...more
Changes Announced on April 8, 2020 -
On April 8, 2020, the federal government disclosed updated eligibility and coverage information on its proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the preliminary details of which...more
As previously reported in our March 25, 2020 posting, in the circumstances of the current public health emergency caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus the Ontario Government issued a list of categories of essential...more
On April 1, 2020, the federal government disclosed additional eligibility and coverage information on its proposed Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the preliminary details of which were introduced in announcements made...more
On April 1, 2020, the Canadian government announced further details of the previously announced Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), including updated information about how applicants can apply for benefits. ...more
On March 25, 2020, the Canadian government announced the creation of a temporary program called the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to address the overwhelming number of Employment Insurance (EI) applications...more
The Ontario government has issued a list of categories of essential workplaces that are permitted to remain open, under the authority granted under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (Ontario), as the province...more
Ontario is ordering the mandatory closure of all non-essential workplaces to further contain the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This closure will be effective as of Tuesday, March 24 at 11:59 p.m. Premier...more
The Alberta Government has clarified that employees will be entitled to a 14-day leave that is unpaid if they are quarantined due to COVID-19. This retreats from a prior press release from Premier Jason Kenney on March 13,...more
The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. Since then, COVID-19 dominates domestic and international news sources as the virus continues to spread globally....more
3/13/2020
/ Canada ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Travel ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Workplace Safety ,
World Health Organization