News & Events

For good reason, many employers are beginning to think about how their workplace will look a few months from now.  They are considering how to assure employee safety and are wondering what impact the vaccination roll-out will have on masking and social distancing requirements over the summer and by early fall of 2021. In short,

In a seminal decision released on March 18, 2021, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has issued a finding supporting a claim of gender-based discrimination in relation to the unconscientious perception of the applicant as a woman and the gender bias which was inherent in her male-centred workplace (Cybulsky v. Hamilton Health Sciences, [2021] O.H.R.T.D.

Pension and benefit plan administrators and trustees process a substantial amount of personal information about individuals in order to provide benefits to employees, retirees, pensioners and surviving spouses. Privacy legislation, such as Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA), imposes a legal framework around how the personal information collection by pension and benefit plan

The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) recently dismissed a complaint which alleged that it was discriminatory for a grocery store to refuse to allow a customer to enter without wearing a mask. In a decision dated March 31, 2021, The Customer v. The Store, 2021 BCHRT 39 (CanLII) the Tribunal dismissed the complaint

On April 19, 2021, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the federal government’s 2021 budget, “A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience.”  In addition to confirming the federal government’s intention to proceed with certain previously announced tax measures affecting specified multi-employer pension plans (“SMEPs”) and health and welfare trusts, the 2021 budget  does contain some

In Sharma v. Toronto (City), 2020 HRTO 949 (CanLII), the Applicant alleged that By-Law 541-2020 (the “By-Law”), which requires businesses and other establishments that are open to the public to adopt a policy that members of the public are not permitted entry to, or otherwise remain within, any enclosed space unless they are wearing a

In its 2021 budget, released on March 24, the Ontario Government announced that it will amend Regulation 909 under the Pension Benefits Act (the “PBA”), to require pension plan administrators to calculate and report their plan’s Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (“PBGF”) claim exposure.  The Budget does not specify how a plan’s PBGF claim exposure will

The Koskie Minsky LLP Privacy Practice Group cordially invites you to a Complimentary Seminar Series Introducing Privacy Legislation and Best Practices.  The Complimentary Privacy Seminar Series will be held monthly over a three month period for one hour on the following dates: April 9 at 10 am EDT – Overview of Privacy Legislation May 6 at 10 am EDT – Best

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has clarified the scope of the precautionary principle, both generally and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in its recent decision Liquor Control Board of Ontario v Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 2021 CanLII 15607 (“LCBO“). In this decision, the Board reaffirmed that compliance with the precautionary principle may

On March 16, 2021, The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (“FSRA”) released “Defined Benefit Multi-Employer Pension Plans – Leading Practices,” a Guidance document that is the result of a thematic review of a selected sample of 21 Ontario-registered Defined Benefit Multi-Employer Pension Plans (DB MEPPs) conducted in 2020. The Guidance begins by acknowledging the