LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Laws

Jun 10: Building materials company CGC Inc. opened a new wallboard manufacturing plant in Wheatland County that’s expected to create nearly 100 full-time jobs in the region. First announced in 2022, the $210 million project received $3.7 million through Alberta’s Investment and Growth Fund.

Training

Jun 3: Alberta launched a $4 million, two-year pilot program to support skilled trades workers preparing for certification and Red Seal exams through an advanced learning platform that personalizes training as you go. The platform, which will be provided to at least 200 workers in high-demand trades, checks what learners already know and adjusts their learning path so they can learn what they still need to know as fast as possible.

Action Point: Find out about the rules governing whether employees are entitled to be paid for training time.

New Laws

Jun 30: Alberta is gathering public feedback on its Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program, which provides a 12% non-refundable tax credit for corporations and registered partnerships that invest $10 million or more in new or expanded processing facilities. The government is reaching out to key stakeholders about their experience with the tax credit, including what is and isn’t working.

Health & Safety

Jun 1: Alberta announced that OHS inspectors will carry out proactive “focused initiative” inspections in the following sectors through March 31, 2027: Arenas, autobody, automotive repair, auto dealers, auto wreckers, residential and commercial construction, exhibitions, nail salons, swimming pools, underground garage services, restaurants and catering, hotels and convention centres, daycare centres, steel and metal fabrication, machining, wholesaling, outdoor sports, and recreation.

Health & Safety

Jun 1: Alberta is carrying out legislatively required regular three-year review of its OHS Code. Deadline to comment: July 8.

Health & Safety

May 1: Alberta OHS issued new guidance to help employers safeguard outdoor workers against exposure to heat stress hazards. Recommendations: Establish a cooling station; Educate workers on heat stress signs and symptoms; Ensure ample supplies of cool water is available; and Use a work-rest schedule – where rest is in a cool place – to control the amount of time workers are exposed to the heat.

Action Point: Find out how to implement a legally sound Heat Stress Compliance Game Plan at your workplace.

Workplace Violence

Jun 1: Effective today, Alberta licensed childcare facilities must post on-site notices of high-risk, potentially criminal incidents reported involving their programs within one business day (or as soon as reasonably possible) after incidents are reported, in areas visible to parents. A notice must also be posted on alberta.ca listing the program name and incident report date.

Action Point: Are you doing enough to protect your employees against violence at work? Find out about the 10 things you must do to prevent workplace violence.

Workers’ Compensation

May 5: The Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) issued a new policy (Policy 01-00, Part I, Policy Interpretation and Application) providing general guidance on how to interpret and apply the agency’s policies.

CASES

Discrimination: High Court Affirms Working Parents’ Case for Family Status Discrimination

Because of their work hours, two employees couldn’t get home until 30 minutes after their respective young children walked home from school and stayed in the house alone. Both employees requested adjustments to their work hours to adjust their parental needs. Both requests were denied. So, the union filed a grievance. The arbitrator ruled the employees had a valid claim for family status discrimination and that they had no duty to self-accommodate. After an unsuccessful appeal, the employer took the case to the province’s highest court. Result: The Alberta Court of Appeal agreed that the employees had a valid claim for failure to accommodate and dismissed the appeal [EPCOR Utilities Inc v International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 2026 ABCA 191 (CanLII), June 12, 2026].

Action Point: Family status discrimination complaints against employers over scheduling issues have become increasingly common. Find out how far employers must go to accommodate the scheduling needs of working parents.

Termination: CEO Text Order to Turn in Laptop & Card Key Is Constructive Dismissal

An energy company Chief Operating Officer and co-founder claimed he was constructively dismissed via text message. The company denied the charge and contended that the COO was terminated for cause for refusing a direct order from the CEO to relocate. The COO moved for summary judgment, but the Alberta court said no, finding that the conflicting evidence and credibility issues on both sides made a trial necessary to determine what really happened. The appeals court reversed the ruling citing the texts from the CEO directing the COO to turn in his laptop and key cards and advising that the legal department would prepare his termination package. Viewed objectively, these and other texts, constituted an immediate termination and, despite what the lower court said, there was no evidence to contradict it. As a result, the court should have granted the COO judgment without a trial [O’Donoghue v Fluid Energy Group Ltd, 2026 ABKB 428 (CanLII), June 5, 2026].

Action Point: The moral of the O’Donoghue case is that the things you say to employees in the heat of a moment might cross the line of constructive dismissal even if that’s not the intent. Find out about the 13 most common constructive dismissal liability pitfalls and what to do to manage each one.

Health & Safety: Lumber Company Fined $355,000 for Machine Fatality

A timber worker was using a pike pole to clear a blocked photo eye in a Canter 4 machine. Suddenly, the pole contacted the energized rotating side heads causing the pole to hurtle toward the worker and inflict fatal injury. The victim’s employer was fined $355,000, the highest reported OHS fine in Alberta this year, for a machine safety violation with the money to go to Northwestern Polytechnic to develop a comprehensive training program for new and inexperienced workers in forestry, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. The Crown dropped 11 other charges under the plea bargain [Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, Govt. Press Release, May 26, 2026].