HR Home › Forums › Answer for If we are a provincially regulated employer based out of Ontario, but we have truck drivers that travel into the US, do they fall under provincial or federal legislation?
That’s a very tricky Q. The basic rule: Federal jurisdiction applies to “federal works, undertakings or businesses.” And a plant in Ontario would not qualify as such. So you’re subject to Ontario OHS laws. BUT to the extent you engage in interprovincial transport, those operations would be subject to FEDERAL law; but transport operations done just within Ontario would remain subject to Ontario law. Of course, things are rarely this simple and there have been all kinds of court cases trying to disentangle which jurisdiction’s OHS law applies depending on factors like where an incident or injury occurred, whether the worker/victim was an independent contractor or employee, etc.
I guess the takeaway is to recognize that your plant and operations within Ontario are subject to Ontario OHS laws but that your interprovincial transport operations are subject to Canada Labour Code and federal transportation rules. I know this is confusing but I hope that helps. Glenn