Labour & Employment

  • July 03, 2026

    Canada ratifies protocol for U.K.’s accession to Pacific trade pact

    The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will come into force between Canada and the United Kingdom on Sept. 1, Global Affairs Canada says.

  • July 03, 2026

    Court dismisses multiple appeals in labour contempt case over working hours

    The Federal Court of Appeal has largely dismissed seven appeals in a case in which an employer was found in contempt for not adhering to an arbitral order to cut employee hours.

  • July 03, 2026

    Milestones and practice: Commentary on the IBA’s Canada report on women and equality

    The International Bar Association’s (IBA) recent report marks a meaningful demographic milestone: women now form a majority of the Canadian legal profession. Combined with the historic female majority on the Supreme Court of Canada, it signals progress that deserves recognition.

  • July 02, 2026

    Canada, B.C. partner to fast-track energy and trade corridors

    Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby have signed a new Canada-British Columbia Cooperative Prosperity Agreement to speed up construction of major energy and trade corridors. They will also establish a new National Carbon Credit Framework and Oceans Protection Plan.

  • July 02, 2026

    Faster criminal & child welfare cases, more family law settlements among reforms led by new SCC judge

    The Supreme Court of Canada’s newest judge says his key areas of legal expertise are constitutional and criminal law, including the rules of evidence and procedure, though he has also presided over many civil and administrative law cases in his generalist trial court. Glenn Joyal, a former federal and Manitoba prosecutor and the longtime chief justice of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, was elevated by the prime minister to the top court on June 30, succeeding Supreme Court Justice Sheilah Martin of Alberta, the highly respected constitutional and criminal law litigator, academic and judge who retired from the bench May 30.

  • July 02, 2026

    B.C. highlights Trade Recognition Act, infrastructure approval reforms in annual regulatory review

    Legislation to boost interprovincial trade, reforms to streamline project approvals and reduced regulatory requirements are helping lower costs and improve productivity in British Columbia, according to the province’s annual Better Regulations for British Columbians report released on June 30.

  • July 02, 2026

    A Ukrainian lesson for lawyers

    Well, not exactly a lesson in the language or culture, although a tip of the hat is due to a host of Ukrainian-Canadian lawyers, not the least of whom were my former partner Ron Tomosk and the brilliant jurist John Sopinka.

  • June 30, 2026

    Women now a majority in legal profession, but barriers to equality persist: international report

    The ranks of Canada’s bench and bar numbered slightly more women than men last year, yet many female jurists still reported gender-based and sexual harassment at work and don’t “feel seen as equals to their male colleagues,” according to a new report from the International Bar Association (IBA). The IBA’s investigation into the state of gender parity in Canada’s legal profession reported on June 30 that women make up 53 per cent of lawyers overall — with half of these working in senior positions as lawyers and partners, among the organizations surveyed.

  • June 30, 2026

    P.E.I. schools adopt new sexual misconduct policy — as called for in report

    Public schools in P.E.I. have adopted a new sexual misconduct policy in a bid to better protect students by focusing on prevention, early intervention and a uniform complaints process.

  • June 29, 2026

    Northern premiers call on Ottawa to invest in infrastructure, stronger workforce

    Premiers from Canada’s territories are calling on the federal government to invest in infrastructure and workforce development to build a “strong and resilient North” in the face of global economic uncertainty.