In 2023, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law. This Insight provides an overview of notable 2023 developments.
Alberta court finds an employee placed on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the employer’s reasonable, mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy was not constructively dismissed.
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.
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.
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice issued the first judicial decision to find that a non-union employee’s refusal to comply with a COVID-19 vaccination policy imposed by a third party amounted to frustration of an employment contract.
Court of Appeal for British Columbia decides Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments issued to those who stopped working due to the pandemic should not be deducted from wrongful dismissal damages awards.
In Empower Simcoe v. JL, the operator of a publicly funded residential facility sought judicial review of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s findings that its policies during COVID-19 were discriminatory.
