The ban on replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces in Canada, introduced under Bill C-58, will go into effect June 20, 2025. With strict prohibitions and requirements that will make it difficult to maintain operations, what will be the practical impact of this significant change in the law? This session will cover the nuts and bolts that comprise the new environment and explore the larger questions relating to how employers should prepare. The newly prohibited actions.

• Comparison with experience from other similar legislation in Canada.
• Narrow exceptions for emergencies.
• Penalties (up to $100,000 per day!).
• Need for Essential Services Agreements.
• What does this change mean for day-to-day operations?
• Will this change in the law improve labour relations or exacerbate tensions?
• What changes should you expect?
• How should you prepare?

• Written notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice.
• What is required for mass terminations?
• Determining severance pay.
• Requirements for group termination obligations in mass layoffs.
• Unjust dismissal protections.
• Collective agreements and unionized workers – downsizing must comply with the terms of the collective agreement and involve discussions with the union regarding severance, recall rights, and reemployment opportunities.
• Human rights and non-discrimination.

By analyzing 2024 agreements, employers can benchmark their own policies, anticipate employee demands, and align with broader industry trends to maintain a competitive and harmonious workplace.

• Current trends in compensation, flexible work, wellness and benefits, diversity, job security, automation, sustainability goals and more.
• Identify patterns in union strategies to better prepare for future negotiations.
• Align organizational goals with employee expectations.

Federal Level

The Pay Equity Act (2021) applies to federally regulated employers with 10 or more employees. It ensures equal pay for work of equal value but does not mandate salary disclosure in job postings. However, through regulations (2020) to the Employment Equity Act, the federal government introduced pay transparency measures in federal contracts that require employers with a workforce of 100 or more bidding on government contracts to report pay gap data.

Provincial Pay Transparency Laws
Several provinces have enacted or proposed pay transparency laws:

• British Columbia – Pay Transparency Act (2023).
• Prince Edward Island – amendments to the Employment Standards Act adding pay transparency provisions (2022).
• Ontario – Pay Transparency Act (2018, Not in Force); amendments to the Employment Standards Act coming into force January 1, 2026, which require pay transparency on job postings.
• Newfoundland and Labrador – Pay Transparency and Pay Equity Act (2022, Not in Force).
• Quebec – Pay Equity Act includes requirements to post wage gap data revealed through pay equity assessments in the workplace (2009).
• Manitoba – proposed The Pay Transparency Act (2022, but not yet adopted).
• Nova Scotia – proposed Pay Equity and Pay Transparency Act (2023, but not yet adopted).

Employers with 10 to 99 employees must have published their first accessibility plan by June 1, 2024, under the Accessible Canada Act. Larger employers must also publish annual progress reports by the same date, addressing accessibility achievements and feedback. These documents must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and be shared with the Accessibility Commissioner. Where are you in the process?

• Employers are required to prepare, publish, and regularly update accessibility plans in consultation with people with disabilities.
• Requirement to collect feedback.
• Deadlines have passed for organizations with 100 or more employees and organizations with 10 to 99 employees.
• Upcoming deadline for federally regulated organizations with at least 10 employees.
• Digital accessibility requirements.

With AI reporting on the proportion of employees who are performing lifting tasks the correct/incorrect way, Purolator can proactively bring in training to prevent injuries before they happen, without infringing on anyone’s privacy.

Although the date for complying with the Federal Pay Equity Act has come and gone,
organizations who are covered under the Act, regardless of where they are in the process, must meet the requirements of the Act, retroactively (September 2024).

This session will provide an overview of key steps required for compliance, and will share lessons learned from over 20 organizations, both public sector and private sector, as they have completed, or are near completion, of their pay equity plans including:

• What is the Act intended to accomplish and who does the Act apply to?
• What are the requirements to meet the Act?
• Processes and implications for having missed the deadline (requests for submissions,
• retroactivity and interest).
• Working with complex joint union management pay equity committees.
• Communications and information sharing.
• Long term maintenance and short term implications.