Canadian Labour Standards Review Launched

The Canadian government has started a review of the federal labour standards under Part III of the Canada Labour Code.

Earlier this month, the head of the Commission for Review of Federal Labour Standards, labour law expert Harry Arthurs, released a Consultation Paper that will serve as the basis for public consultations on how federal labour standards should be modernized.

The consultation document borrows heavily from the 2004 Law Commission of Canada report Is Work Working? Work Laws that Do a Better Job. That report examines the impact brought about by the 'disappearance' of the standard, full-time permanent job as a norm for Canadian workers, and the emergence of new forms of work arrangements, characterized by a dramatic increase in part-time, term, temporary, self-employed/independent, and casual and on-call employment.

The government task force invites comment on such issues as:

• the scope of the Labour Code, and whether it should be extended to cover non-traditional types of employment;
• the adequacy of current enforcement and administrative mechanisms;
• whether the Code should address family leave, human rights obligations, and the demands for skills upgrading and workplace learning opportunities;
• and possible responses to the increasing importance of the quest for work-life balance, as well as changing workplace demographics - for example, the emergence of an aging workforce population, the rise in dual earner families and lone parent families

The consultation process is expected to end in a final report and recommendations to the government early next year.