Canadian employers facing marijuana challenges in the workplace
Canadian employers are already coping with approximately 75,000 Canadians authorized to use medical marijuana. Health Canada expects that this number will increase to about 450,000 by 2024.
Employers know that medical marijuana is a psychoactive drug prescribed to deal with medical conditions and accordingly, since many of those medical conditions constitute a disability (which employers are bound to accommodate to the point of undue hardship) medical marijuana typically necessitates an assessment and accommodative approach.
The next challenge facing Canadian employers will come with the federal government’s promise to introduce legislation in the spring of 2017 to legalize marijuana. The Task Force led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan has circulated a discussion paper entitled “Towards the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana”.
In the recent US election, the State of California opted for legalizing marijuana. This puts America on the road to allowing 1 in 5 Americans to legally use marijuana.
Employers will have to be mindful of the consequences of legalization of marijuana. Detecting marijuana usage and impairment is a lot more complicated than detecting alcohol use or drunkenness. Canadian employers will want to learn more about the topic and engage with lawmakers.
Archive
Nancy Rubin & Tiegan Scott On July 21, 2022, the Federal government announced a new investment of up to $255 million for clean energy initiatives in Nova Scotia. The funds will be allocated in two…
Read MoreBy: John Samms, Sadira Jan, Paul Kiley, Dave Randell, Alanna Waberski, and Jayna Green Now that the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador (“GNL”) has amended the Order in Council that had banned Crown titles and…
Read MoreBy Paul Smith, Dave Randell and Graham Haynes On June 9, 2022, the Government of New Brunswick (“GNB”) released a consultation paper entitled Proposal to Modernize the Business Corporations Act (the “Proposal”) which outlines several significant…
Read MoreIncluded in Discovery: Atlantic Education & the Law – Issue 10 Koren Thomson & Josh Merrigan Introduction In the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v…
Read MoreWe are pleased to present the ninth installment of Beyond the Border, a publication for employers aiming to provide the latest information and analysis on new immigration programs and immigration-related issues. In this issue, insight…
Read MoreKathleen Nash The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Law Society of Saskatchewan v Abrametz clarifies the standard of review applicable to questions of procedural fairness and abuse of process, as it relates to…
Read MoreIncluded in Discovery: Atlantic Education & the Law – Issue 10 Mark Heighton & Chad Sullivan Overview In Marcus Bornfreund v. Mount Allison University, 2022 NBQB 50 the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench…
Read MoreIncluded in Discovery: Atlantic Education & the Law – Issue 10 Richard Jordan & Jennifer Taylor As the COVID-19 pandemic surges on, so does the flow of misinformation online. Academia has not been immune,…
Read MoreJohn Samms and Matthew Craig Further to our original article published on May 17, 2022 (included below), on the changing energy policy frameworks in Newfoundland and Labrador, the government amended the Order in Council (“OC”)…
Read MoreBy Nancy Rubin & Colton Smith Wind turbine regulations in the Municipality of Cumberland are set to change. On June 22, 2022, Cumberland Council approved a second reading of amendments relating to their…
Read More