Updates and Announcements - Articles & Videos

Welcome to Part Two of our year in review. Employment law continues to evolve at a remarkable pace, often struggling to catch up with social changes. As we hinted in Part One, in Ontario this evolution is frequently packaged with the government’s Working for Workers Acts, which has now reached its seventh version. In Part Two, we dive into legislative updates across Canada and discuss what to expect in 2026.

Welcome to Part One of our 2025 Employment Law Year in Review. The Canadian employment law landscape remains highly uncertain, driven by continuous legislative evolution (like Ontario’s Working for Workers Act) and dramatic shifts in case law.

Significant changes are coming to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits that could have a major impact on you, especially if you’re a long-tenured worker or facing a job loss.

When an employee commences a claim against their employer, or vice-versa, the proper forum in which to bring the lawsuit is an important consideration. For civil claims, this is typically determined by the type of relief sought and the value of the damages being claimed.

In Ontario, the Small Claims Court has jurisdiction in any action for the payment of money or for the recovery of possession of personal property where the amount claimed does not exceed an amount prescribed by regulation. Currently, this limit is set at $35,000.00. Claims above this amount are brought to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

The Rudner Law team is honoured to be voted one of the Canadian HRReporter Readers’ Choice 2025 winners in the Employment & Labour Law Boutique category.

In our last update, we outlined the new changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (the “OHSA”), which were set to take effect on July 1, 2025 to the ESA and on January 1, 2026 to the OHSA. Since that last update, there has been further updates to the Canadian employment and labour law landscape.

Our 2024 Year in Review continues. We are in an HR Law Era where our courts remain concerned with the power imbalance in the employment relationship and will find ways to help employees.

Our HR Law Eras Tour “set list” takes us through 2024’s notable decisions and developments, with the goal of providing employers and employees with a map of the current landscape that allows them to navigate the challenges ahead.