Employment Regulations in Canada

Workplace Health and Safety

Under the Canada Labour Code and the respective labour codes and employment laws of each province and territory, employers are expected to make every effort to provide a safe and healthy workplace. This includes, among other things, making sure that:

1. Buildings, equipment and vehicles meet prescribed standards, along with needed protective barriers, fences, etc.;
2. Employees are provided with sanitary facilities and clean drinking water; that there are first-aid facilities;
3. Employees have whatever safety equipment, devices and clothing are required on the job;
4. Ventilation, lighting, temperature, humidity, sound and vibration meet prescribed standards;
5. The operation complies with fire safety standards;
6. Employees get all needed safety training;
7. They establish a health & safety committee and provide it with whatever is needed to ensure employee safety; and
8. Many more, depending on the industry.

Additional regulations apply to health and safety standards in particular industries where work conditions present hazards to employees (such as oil exploration, fishing, etc.) Employers, including directors of corporations, who violate health and safety standards that pose risk to their workers can be prosecuted under federal or provincial laws and face large fines and even imprisonment. Therefore, if you plan to operate a business in Canada, you should be aware of these obligations.

Provinces differ in the specifics, but in general as a worker you have three basic rights for safety in any workplace in Canada:

• You have the right to know about hazards in your workplace and to be trained in how to protect yourself from harm.
• You have the right to refuse unsafe work, including situations where you are worried about workplace violence. You can’t be fired for asking your employer to solve a health or safety issue, for refusing unsafe work or following health and safety laws as set down by the province’s labour ministry. You should report hazards and violations to your supervisor; if necessary you can call the provincial labour ministry’s health and safety contact centre.
• You have the right to participate in identifying and fixing health and safety concerns in your workplace, such as by raising concerns or joining the health and safety committee.

In some provinces a slightly lower minimum wage can be applied to children under 18 who work part-time while attending school. It is illegal for employers to pay less than the minimum wage, and employees cannot agree to work for less.

Deductions from Wages

Employers are generally required to pay employees on a biweekly or sometimes monthly basis and to provide a proper pay statement (also called a “pay stub”) that shows: the regular wage and number of regular hours worked in the pay period; overtime wage and any overtime hours worked; deductions from wages, with a date and reason for each deduction; and total wages paid. The employer is required to keep accurate records of these items as well as vacation time accrued and used, and other employment-related details about the employee. It’s in your best interest as an employee to keep accurate records of your work time as well; in case of a dispute, they come handy.

Deductions are legally taken from your wages for one of three reasons:

1. They are legally required (such as federal and provincial income taxes and Canada Pension Plan contributions);
2. For extras that benefit the employee, such as premiums for an extended health plan, insurance or a company pension, for which the employee pays a portion; or
3. Deduction that has been ordered by a court.

It’s generally illegal for your employer to deduct things such as cheque-cashing fees, cost of damage to company property or broken tools, personal safety equipment, and uniforms (with some exceptions). The employer can deduct a reasonable amount for housing and food if the employee is, for example, working in a remote location and has no other option; check your provincial laws to be sure the amount deducted is permitted.

Hours of Work

A typical work week in Canada is 8 hours a day, 40 hours per week. In many provinces, working longer hours requires a written agreement between the employer and employee, but this is subject to limitations. Most provinces also restrict the amount and type of paid work that can be done by youths under 18.

Overtime pay

Typically, employers across Canada are required to pay 1.5 times the regular hourly wage when employees are asked to work beyond the usual work hours, but this can get tricky in certain industries where irregular work hours are required. Also, salaried employees may not be entitled to overtime pay, depending on the nature of their employment contract.

These rules differ among provinces. In Ontario, for example, the threshold for hourly workers is 44 hours per week. A worker normally earning CAD $15 per hour must be paid $22.50 for any hours worked above 44. However, an employee and an employer can agree in writing that the employee will receive paid time off instead of overtime pay. An employee who agrees to bank overtime hours must be given 1.5 hours of paid time off work for each hour of overtime worked. In some industries, employers are allowed to average overtime over a longer period of 4 weeks or less.

Holidays

Canadians enjoy a number of holidays for which they are entitled to receive time off with pay. Depending on the province, these typically include:

All provinces observe Remembrance Day (remembering the war dead) on Nov. 11, but it is a paid holiday only in some provinces. The federal government recently designated Sept. 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (reflecting on the history of Canada’s Indigenous peoples). Federal employees get the day off, but this is not yet treated as a holiday in all provinces.

If the holiday falls on a day the employee doesn’t normally work, or while they are on vacation, they are usually entitled to a different paid day off. People who must work on the holiday (for instance, in a hospital or hotel) are typically entitled to receive pay at 1.5 times the regular rate, or may receive another paid day off in lieu. (This can often be advantageous for employees who wish to take a religious holiday off that is not observed as a public holiday in Canada.)

Vacation

Generally speaking, all workers in Canada are entitled to at least 10 working days (effectively 2 weeks) of paid vacation after 12 months’ employment. In some provinces this increases to 3 weeks after a certain number of years in the job (5 years in Alberta and British Columbia, for example, and 8 years in Nova Scotia). Many employers provide additional paid vacation time as an employee benefit, based on a contract or collective agreement.

Employees can usually decide when to take their vacation, but employers may disallow it at a particular time for operational reasons. Generally, they must allow the employee to take the full vacation allotment in one piece, but it can be broken up if the employee so requests. Vacation pay is generally based on the employee’s normal wages, not including additions such as overtime pay or tips.

Sick Leave

While many employers provide paid sick leave as an employee benefit, under the terms of a contract or collective agreement, most provinces do not mandate any paid time off for short-term illness. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the issue of sick leave to prominence in Canada, with most provinces instituting or extending sick leave provisions and subsidising employers to make sure their workers who are experiencing possible symptoms can isolate at home without risking their jobs or income. It’s too early to say whether these provisions will result in permanent changes to the laws.

Most provinces do require employers to grant unpaid sick leave to care for themselves or a sick family member; this ranges between 3 and 12 days, depending on the province. Employees wishing to take sick leave can be required to provide a doctor’s note or other proof of their need for the time off.

Maternity and Parental Leave

Workers in Canada are entitled to take partially-paid leave when they give birth to or adopt a child and return to their jobs afterward (or to a similar job, if the original one is no longer available).

Other Types of Leave

The Canada Labour Code, which covers federally regulated employees, mandates a wide variety of unpaid and paid leaves.

Federally regulated employees are entitled to five days’ personal leave each year, three of them paid, for specified reasons such as personal injury or illness, urgent family matters, or to attend their citizenship ceremony. Employees may take an unpaid medical leave of up to 17 weeks if they aren’t able to work because of an illness or injury, donating an organ, or medical appointments. If the injury or illness was work-related, the employee may be absent for an indefinite period. Bereavement leave of up to 10 days, 3 days paid, may be taken after the death of a close family member.

The federal code also provides for unpaid leaves for compassionate care (up to 28 weeks to care for a family member with a serious medical condition); victims of domestic violence (up to 10 days, to obtain counselling, relocate, appear in court, etc.); engaging in traditional Aboriginal practises (up to 5 days); jury or court duties (time necessary); or to serve in the military reserve.

Provincial labour codes may differ somewhat, but they typically offer similar opportunities for unpaid leaves. While this time may be unpaid, the law ensures that the employee’s job is protected while they deal with important issues.

Right to Collective Bargaining

Historically, many of the rights that Canadian employees enjoy — including minimum wage, holiday pay, maternity leave, and overtime premiums, as well as workplace health & safety regulations — were won by collective action through unions.

Unions continue to play an important role in Canadian life, with about 30% of workers belonging to one of more than 100 unions in the country, according to UFCW Canada, the largest private-sector union. Unionised workers include nurses, teachers, postal workers, journalists, many government workers and professional athletes, as well as retail store workers, manufacturing workers, miners, electricians and people in construction trades. The Canadian Labour Congress, an umbrella organisation for unions, is currently campaigning for a national “pharmacare” plan to ensure all Canadian workers can afford the medications they need.

Federal and provincial legislation regulates how unions in Canada operate. They are required to be democratic and financially accountable to members, and to have constitutions that are registered with government labour boards. The process for organising and certifying a union in Canada depends on regulations set out in the Canada Labour Code and provincial laws such as the Ontario Labour Relations Act, usually including a secret-ballot vote by workers.

The right to collective bargaining has been determined by the Supreme Court of Canada to be constitutionally protected under the guarantee of freedom of association enshrined in Canada’s  Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Termination Rights

An important part of employment rights involves what happens when an employer wants to lay off or fire an employee. Whether, when and how this can happen may be governed by the federal or provincial labour code, depending on the employer.

The Canada Labour Code says an employer must:

• Give the employee 2 weeks’ notice of termination, or pay the employee 2 weeks’ wages if no notice is given, unless the employee quits, was working on a contract that has ended, has worked less than 3 months, the notice is of a lay-off and the job is not terminated, or the dismissal is for just cause.
• Pay severance to an employee who has served at least 12 months, for a minimum of 5 days’ pay or 2 days for each year of service.

If the employee is being laid off because of a strike or lockout, or the lay-off is for less than three months, or the employee maintains recall rights under a collective agreement, the lay-off is not considered a termination. If the employer can’t recall the employee, severance must be paid to the employee.

If an employee feels he or she was “unjustly dismissed,” under the Canada Labour Code they can request a written statement giving reasons for their dismissal and the employer must reply within 15 days. They can then file a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). The case may then be referred to an adjudicator who will hold a hearing and render a decision; in most cases, it’s up to the employer to justify the dismissal. They need to show that the employee showed a pattern of unacceptable behavior — incompetence, negligence and/or misconduct — and that the employer took progressive steps to correct the problems before deciding to fire the employee. Employees who have been unjustly dismissed may be able to get reinstatement or back pay.

Employees who are not federally regulated do not necessarily have these protections from “unjust dismissal.” Instead, there is a concept of “wrongful dismissal,” which means only that the employer has not provided the proper notification or pay in lieu of notification — they do not need to explain why the employee has been let go. Note, however, that unionised employees typically have additional protections against being fired from a job without justification.

Digital and Privacy Rights

Rapidly expanding technology presents a whole new set of concerns for workers, with the law still evolving in Canada.

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has warned employees about their personal use of social media, pointing out that, subject to existing workplace policies and rules, some organisations can monitor their employees’ social media. When using social media in the workplace context, employees’ personal information can be collected and disclosed by the employer — including off-duty comments and postings that reflect on the employer. At the same time, employers are warned that tracking their employees through social media may be subject to privacy legislation in their province.

Canadian courts generally have been reluctant to acknowledge a worker’s right to digital privacy in the workplace when, for example, it involves communications made using a work computer, and especially when it involves wrongdoing. For example, pornography stored on a teacher’s laptop is not subject to right to privacy. Employers are generally advised to have very clear policies about digital privacy so that employees are aware that their emails, etc., may be monitored by their employer, if that’s the case.

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) of 2001 provides private-sector privacy legislation that applies to federally regulated workplaces and sets out ground rules for how all companies across Canada should handle their employees’ personal information.

For example, the employer must specify why the company is collecting personal information from employees, and gain the employee’s consent for its collection, use, or disclosure. Employers may only collect information that's necessary for the purpose they've identified, and use it only for that purpose. They may keep the information only as long as it is needed for lawful purposes. The information must be accurate and up-to-date and safeguarded with appropriate security.  Employees must be able to access personal information about themselves, and be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of it to the person the company has designated as being responsible for privacy.

Many provinces have passed very similar private-sector personal information laws that apply to all employees.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is currently undertaking a review of PIPEDA to make it more reflective of evolving digital technologies and bring it in line with current data protection regimes such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).