LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Workplace Violence

Dec 9: First Reading for Bill C-16 adding new Criminal Code sexual violence protections, including creation of a new offence for coercive or controlling conduct toward an intimate partner and making “femicide,” or murder of an intimate partner as part of a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct, first degree murder.

Action Point: Domestic and sexual violence becomes an OHS compliance issue when it happens at the victim’s workplace. That makes it imperative to incorporate domestic violence protections into your workplace violence prevention plan. Find out how to implement an effective Workplace Domestic Violence Prevention Plan to protect your own workers.

Industry Challenges

Dec 4: The CRA lifted its moratorium on penalties against trucking companies for failing to report fees for services. Businesses with more than 50% of their primary source of income from trucking activities must report payments for services exceeding $500 in a calendar year made to a Canadian-controlled private corporation to avoid penalties. Such payments must be reported to the CRA in box 048 – fees for services – of the T4A slip by February 28, 2026. Since this date falls on a Saturday, an information return will be considered on time if the CRA receives it or it is postmarked on or before March 2, 2026.

New Laws

Dec 15: New legislation (Bill C-3) took effect providing for Canadian citizenship by descent by making all persons who were born outside the country citizens of Canada if one of their parents was a citizen before the law takes effect. Citizenship by descent beyond the first generation is also allowed for a Canadian parent who’s been physically present in the country for at least 1,095 cumulative days (i.e., 3 years) before their child’s birth or adoption.

New Laws

Jan 1: New interprovince free trade and labour mobility regulations took effect, providing that goods and services that meet the requirements of a province or territory are recognized as meeting comparable federal requirements and that workers licensed or certified by a province or territory may work in a comparable occupation in federal jurisdiction.

Transportation Safety

Jan 1: Changes to Pleasure Craft Licence regulations for recreational boats with at least 10 horsepower took effect: i. new and renewed pleasure craft licences valid for only 5 years; ii. current lifetime licences to be gradually replaced with licences that must be renewed every 5 years; iii. $24 service fee for issuing, renewing, transferring, or replacing Pleasure Craft Licences, with fee amount to be updated annually for inflation; and iv. licence holders must update their information within 30 days of a change in their name or address, rather than the previous 90 days.

New Laws

Jan 12: The federal Competition Bureau launched a market study into the state of competition in the financing sector for small and medium-sized enterprises. Key issues include the barriers faced by lenders seeking to enter the market and how to make it easier for businesses to switch lenders. Deadline to comment: Feb. 27.

New Laws

Jan 9: The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program launched a new Defence Industry Assist (DI Assist) program offering over $240 million in funding to small and medium-sized enterprises to advance made-in-Canada defence and dual-use technologies for the Canadian Armed Forces.

New Laws

Dec 11: Bill C-12 proposing a wide range of new legal measures to strengthen Canadian border security and prevent the flow of illegal drugs, human trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime has passed the House of Commons and First Reading in the Senate.

Accessibility

Dec 11: The Canadian Human Rights Commission published a new 3-year plan to make workplaces more accessible for the disabled. Current barriers cited by the report include lack of space for disabled employees to network, unclear, and inefficient accommodations processes, lack of established onboarding protocols, and failure to account for the disabled in workplace emergency response and evacuation planning.

Action Point: Ensure that your own workplace emergency response and evacuation policy accounts for the disabled so that vulnerable people don’t get left behind when fires and other emergencies happen.

New Laws

Feb 13: February 13th is the deadline to apply for government funding of up to $500,000 per year for 3 years for projects to promote safer, more inclusive, and more equitable workplaces in private sector industries that are federally regulated. Funding will be provided through 2 existing streams: the Workplace Opportunities: Removing Barriers to Equity (WORBE) program and the Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund (WHVPF). Action Point: Find out how to implement an effective Workplace Violence and Harassment Compliance Game Plan at your site.

Environmental

Feb 28: February 28th is the deadline to comment on proposed amendments to important federal Regulations that are designed to phase out the manufacture, import, and sale of 6 categories single-use plastics that are harmful to the environment and difficult to recycle.

Action Point: Find out about the sweeping federal single-use plastics regulations and how to comply with them.

CASES

Powered Mobile Equipment: Stevedore Company Fined $300,000 for Forklift Fatality

An Ontario court fined a federally regulated stevedoring company $300,000 for the death of a longshore worker who got struck by a Cary-Lift 254 vehicle transporting steel pipes. The company pled guilty to 3 COHS violations, including failure to assess the hazards of and ensure the safe operation of the vehicle and provide workers with safe means of entry to and exit from the workplace (Logistec Stevedoring (Ontario) Inc., December 30, 2025)].

Action Point: Forklift fatalities and massive OHS penalties like these happen all too often. Find out how to implement a Powered Mobile Equipment Compliance Game Plan to protect your workers and ensure compliance.

Return to Work: Injured Worker Who Bails on RTW Process Quit, Wasn’t Fired

A mail carrier tried to go back to work after a 5-month medical absence but found the work too painful to his injured eyes and left after just a day. Canada Post set up a phased accommodation period for 2 weeks later, but the carrier didn’t report to work. So, CP gave the carrier 3 more chances to either return or explain why he couldn’t do so. A month later, with no return or explanation, CP sent him a termination letter. ESDC concluded that the carrier left his employment voluntarily and rejected his claim for EI benefits. The federal court ruled that the carrier didn’t prove he had just cause to quit his job and rejected his appeal noting, among other things, his admission that he had already decided he didn’t want to go back to work before CP gave up its efforts to accommodate his return [Adegoke v. Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FCA 229 (CanLII), December 16, 2025].

Action Point: Find out how to implement a legally sound Return to Work Compliance Game Plan for injured workers.