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International Employment Law - 2nd Edition - Looseleaf
International Employment Law - 2nd Edition - Electronic
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Introduction
Employment Law in Canadian Federal System
Canada is a federal state with a parliamentary system of government, divided
into ten provinces and three territories. The territories enjoy the legislative
powers of provinces, but by virtue of federal statutes rather than the
Constitution.
Provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over all aspects of employment relations,
except over a number of industries specified in the Constitution. However,
federal jurisdiction over employment relations remains the exception both in
terms of the industries covered and in terms of the number of employees
governed by federal law.
Provincial laws dealing with employment relations do not affect federally
regulated employees in any way, while federal laws have no effect on
provincially regulated ones. There are thus no “national standards” in the laws
relating to employment, although these laws are similar in many respects for two
main reasons.
First, the federal and provincial legislatures have tended to be influenced by
each other’s laws and, up to the Second World War, by British legislation.
Second, all jurisdictions in Canada other than Quebec (which has a civil law
system) received English common law as their fundamental legal system at the
time when they first became British colonies, and their courts were bound by the
decisions of English courts on points of common law.
This uniformity has been reinforced by the fact that all decisions of provincial
and federal courts are ultimately appealable to the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council before 1949, and to the Supreme Court since that date.
The principles of Quebec’s civil law in employment matters also have generally
been applied in a manner which has produced results similar to those in common
law jurisdictions.
Canada
Introduction
Legal Relationships of Employer and Employee
Terms and Conditions of Employment
Discrimination
Collective Bargaining and Worker Participation in Management
Health and Safety Protection in the Workplace
Workers' Compensation and Survivors' Benefits
Dispute Resolution
Termination of Employment
Retirement, Healthcare, Old Age Pensions
Summary of Social Costs
Conclusion
Roy L. Heenan and Thomas Brady, Heenan Blaikie, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
