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
Rob Aske You likely heard rumblings over the spring and summer, but now it’s here. Canada’s federal privacy law known by the acronym PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) adds privacy breach reporting…
Read MoreGuy-Etienne Richard The Nova Scotia government introduced Bill 29 on September 14, 2018 to increase pregnancy and parental leave to reflect the recent changes by the federal government to Employment Insurance (“EI”). Those EI changes…
Read MoreWe are pleased to present the third issue of Discovery: Atlantic Education and the Law, our very own legal publication targeted to educational institutions in Atlantic Canada. A new school year has begun and fall…
Read MoreKevin Landry News articles have reported Canadians being labelled as “inadmissible” or being denied entry at the United States’ border because of ties to the cannabis industry. Being labeled inadmissible by border authorities is the…
Read MoreJonathan Coady and Justin Milne On June 25, 2018, the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island (the “Supreme Court”) released its much anticipated decision in Mi’kmaq of P.E.I. v. Province of P.E.I.2 This is the first…
Read MoreKevin Landry Health Canada released the Cannabis Act Regulations (the “Regulations”) at a news conference on June 27, 2018. The Regulations will be published in final form in the July 11, 2018 version of in…
Read MoreAndrew Burke, David Randell and Divya Subramanian There is never a dull moment when it comes to cryptocurrency: whether it is the hacking of a South Korean crypto exchange, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission…
Read MoreGrant Machum and Sheila Mecking While most people think Canada Day is on July 1st, once every 6 years, July 1st falls on a Sunday. When that happens, according to federal legislation, Canada Day is…
Read MoreJames Travers, QC and Justin Milne A new Bill, the Business Corporations Act (“Act”), recently passed by the Prince Edward Island legislature, has made significant changes to the way corporations will be governed in Prince…
Read MorePerlene Morrison and Hilary Newman Municipalities in Prince Edward Island entered a new era when the Municipal Government Act (the “MGA”) was proclaimed into force on December 23, 2017. The MGA modernized the Province’s municipal…
Read More