Balancing Act

Changes in customs duties may result in an increase or decrease in the timing and cost parameters of construction contracts. According to standard construction industry practice, who bears the risk?

Nearly seven years ago, the federal government’s Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 introduced new provisions to the Canada Labour Code applicable to federally regulated employers, aimed at legislating on equal treatment and temporary help agencies. As of today, these provisions are not yet in force and await their effective date, which will be set by an order of the Governor in Council. On February 22, 2025, the federal government published draft regulations amending, among other things, the Canada Labour Standards Regulations, to support the eventual implementation of the new Code provisions. In this article, we outline the main changes to the Code, as well as the proposed new amendments to the Regulations.

With the federal election fast approaching, Canadian employers must adapt to comply with the provisions of the Canada Elections Act. Here’s a summary of the rules that apply on that day, when every Canadian citizen aged 18 and over on polling day will be called upon to vote.

When Law 5, the Act respecting health and social services information, came into force, we outlined its scope in our first article. In this second article, we will examine the similarities between Law 5 and the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector and the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information, as well as the new requirements introduced by Law 5.

In February, the Minister of Labour tabled Bill 89, An Act to give greater consideration to the needs of the population in the event of a strike or lock-out, in the Québec National Assembly. The bill aims to mitigate the repercussions of labour disputes on the Québec economy by amending the Labour Code, among other things.

Recently, in Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels en milieu scolaire du Nord-Ouest (SPPMSNO) et Commission scolaire crie (L. O.), arbitrator Éric-Jan Zubrzycki rendered an interesting ruling on the employer’s duty to accommodate for medical reasons and the worker’s duty to cooperate in the process.

The Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration recently announced the extension until November 30, 2025, of the measure to stop processing certain low-wage (less than $32.96/hr) Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. government reaffirmed the enforcement of tariffs on Canadian exports, tough with some subsequent temporary exceptions. This is an evolving situation. February 1, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump officially signed an executive order imposing new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. These protectionist measures include a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods and a 10% tariff on Canadian energy imports. Originally set to come into effect on February 4, 2025, the implementation of these new tariffs was delayed by 30 days. In response, the Canadian government has announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

The current unpredictability of business relationships between Canada and the United States has caused concern for several Québec companies. To ensure greater certainty and stability when dealing with US business partners, commercial contracts can include clauses stipulating how and where eventual disputes will be resolved.