Labour & Employment

  • July 20, 2026

    Canada’s talent problem is not attraction — it’s retention

    Canada has become very good at recruiting skilled immigrants. It has not become nearly as good at rewarding them. That distinction matters. A country that selects engineers, physicians, software developers, researchers, finance professionals and entrepreneurs on the promise of economic opportunity — but then delivers lower wages, credential barriers, punishing housing costs and weaker career mobility — should not be surprised when some of those same people leave.

  • July 20, 2026

    Judge followed wrong procedure in granting strike injunction, Ontario court says

    Ontario’s top court has ruled that a motion judge used the wrong section of the provincial Courts of Justice Act (CJA) to grant an injunction in a labour dispute, and a lawyer representing the union involved says the decision lays to rest any debate over the correct procedural avenue to follow in similar situations.

  • July 20, 2026

    Mergers and acquisitions: Assembling the right team

    An owner-manager’s decision to sell their business can represent the culmination of years of hard work, sacrifice and commitment. However, the path from ultimately deciding to sell and closing the deal is rarely straightforward.

  • July 17, 2026

    Alberta court declines to refer shareholder dispute to arbitration for lack of jurisdiction

    The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has declined to refer a shareholder redemption dispute to arbitration, finding that it lacked jurisdiction because there was no binding arbitration agreement and one party had not consented to the court determining the scope of the proposed arbitration.

  • July 17, 2026

    Hicks Morley adds labour associate Courtney March in Ottawa

    Hicks Morley has added Courtney March as an associate in its Ottawa office.

  • July 16, 2026

    Ottawa halts new parent, grandparent sponsorship applications

    The federal government has paused new applications under a program that allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence, according to a July 15 release.

  • July 16, 2026

    With jail overcrowding, everyone loses

    When jails are already breaking, why are we sending more people there? The public deserves to be protected from dangerous offenders. That is beyond dispute. But public safety is not served by passing laws that funnel more accused people into provincial jails that are already struggling with overcrowding, staff shortages, corruption risks and deteriorating security.

  • July 16, 2026

    Wrongful dismissal: The ‘damages formerly known as Wallace’ are back

    Early in my career, “Wallace damages” were all the rage. After the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Wallace v. United Grain Growers (c.o.b. Public Press), [1997] 3 S.C.R. 701, a common law notice period could be extended to punish an employer’s bad faith in the manner of dismissal, and it seemed that every wrongful dismissal claim included a “Wallace bump.”

  • July 15, 2026

    Competition Bureau seeks feedback on proposed cartel enforcement guidelines

    The Competition Bureau is seeking comments on proposed cartel enforcement guidelines that address illegal business agreements, such as bid-rigging, price-fixing, wage-fixing and no-poaching agreements.

  • July 15, 2026

    Federal Court overturns CAF refusal to refer home-equity loss claim to Treasury Board

    The Federal Court has set aside the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) refusal to refer a retired officer’s request for reimbursement of a nearly $190,000 home-equity loss arising from a military posting, ruling that the decision failed to grapple with whether the catastrophic loss and the inadequacy of the relocation policy warranted referral to the Treasury Board.