In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd., 2024 ONCA 354, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) upheld the Superior Court of Justice – Ontario (SCJ)’s summary judgment decision that an employee’s refusal to comply with their employer’s...more
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently held that an employee’s failure to meet COVID-19 vaccination requirements imposed by a third party amounted to frustration of the employment contract. As a result, there was no obligation...more
An arbitrator recently issued the first award in Ontario to address and uphold the reasonableness of a hospital vaccination policy that provides for the termination of employment for non-compliance. In Lakeridge Health and...more
On March 23, 2023, Ontario released its 2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario (2023 Budget). The Budget provides that Paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (Paid IDEL) will expire on March 31, 2023....more
In Croke v. VuPoint Systems Ltd., 2023 ONSC 1234, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice decided that an employee’s refusal to comply with mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements resulted in the frustration of the parties’...more
As of October 14, 2022, Ontario made the following changes to its COVID-19 requirements for long term care (LTC) homes, as set out in its COVID-19 guidance document....more
In Regional Municipality of York v Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 905 (Long Term Care Unit), 2022 CanLII 78173, Arbitrator Stephen Raymond decided that a mandatory vaccination policy (Policy) requiring employees in...more
Deemed IDEL No Longer Available - In May of 2020, Ontario filed O. Reg. 228/20, which provided that a non-unionized employee who did not perform their job duties during the “COVID-19 period” because their work hours were...more
On July 21, 2022, Ontario filed Regulation 464/22, which amends O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Regulation to extend the availability of Paid Infectious Disease Leave (Paid IDEL) until March 31, 2023. ...more
In Public Health Sudbury & Districts v. Ontario Nurses’ Association, 2022 CanLii 48440 (ON LA), Arbitrator Robert J. Herman decided that the grievor was discriminated against on the basis of creed under the Ontario Human...more
Employers in Ontario have been waiting for clarification on the interpretation of COVID-19 leave provisions throughout much of the pandemic. Employers had hoped that the Court of Appeal’s decision in Taylor v Hanley...more
On April 22, 2022, Ontario announced that its Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) is maintaining the existing provincial masking requirements in select higher-risk indoor settings, and the CMOH Directives currently in...more
In The Toronto District School Board and CUPE, Local 4400 (Re: PR734 COVID-19 Vaccine Procedure) (TDSB and CUPE), Arbitrator William Kaplan upheld the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) mandatory COVID-19 vaccination...more
On March 9, 2022, the Ontario government announced a plan to bring an end to all COVID-19 restrictions by April 27, 2022. Below is a summary of the upcoming employment-related changes. . . ...more
On March 1, 2022, Ontario moved to the Roadmap Exit Step, as amended. We provided a summary of the restrictions that were eliminated on that date and those that would continue to exist....more
On March 9, 2022, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, announced that the province’s mask mandate will end in most settings on March 21, 2022, along with remaining regulatory requirements for...more
Last May, Ontario released its Roadmap to Reopen, a three-step plan to safely and gradually reopen the province and loosen certain public health restrictions. In July, Ontario filed O. Reg. 541/21, which added a new “Roadmap...more
Ontario first released its plan to follow a cautious and phased approach to lifting COVID-19 public health and workplace safety measures on January 20, 2022. On February 14, 2022, however, Ontario announced that with key...more
On February 14, 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that continued improvement in public health indicators means that COVID-related restrictions can be relaxed ahead of schedule. The first major changes take effect on...more
With key public health indicators beginning to show signs of improvement and expected to continue, Ontario announced on January 20, 2022, that commencing January 31, 2022, it would begin to take steps to cautiously and...more
On January 27, 2022 Ontario filed Regulation 25/22, amending Ontario Regulation 364/20, Rules for Areas at Step 3 (the “Step 3 Regulation”). On January 31, 2022, all public health units in Ontario will again move to Step 3...more
With key public health indicators beginning to show signs of improvement and expected to continue, Ontario announced that commencing January 31, 2022, in the absence of concerning trends, it would begin to take steps to...more
The following is a complete accumulation of our blog postings on Ontario COVID-19 restrictions since 2020, in reverse chronological order. ...more
On January 20, 2022, the Government of Ontario announced that, beginning on January 31, 2022, restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic will gradually be eased. While the province’s plan could change in response to...more
In Bunge Hamilton Canada, Hamilton, Ontario v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175, the arbitrator found that a mandatory vaccination policy requiring unvaccinated unionized employees to be placed on unpaid...more