LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Laws

May 28: Manitoba’s newly passed 2026 Budget Bill (Bill 53) removes the provincial sales tax (PST) from all food items and non-alcoholic beverages sold at grocery stores, effective July 1.

Training

Jun 5: The new Canada–Manitoba Workforce Tariff Response program announced that it will invest $18.2 million over three years to support workers and employers in sectors directly and indirectly affected by tariffs, including agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade. This new funding will help over 2,100 workers in Manitoba build new skills across six targeted pathways, including direct employment services, skilled trades training, skills development training, self-employment supports, demand-led training partnerships, and employee training to help businesses retain and upskill their workforce.

Action Point: Find out about the 8 ways the U.S. tariffs affect Canadian workplaces and HR activities.

Leaves of Absence 

Jun 1: Bill 10 amending The Employment Standards Code to provide Manitoba employees who’ve been employed by the same employer for at least seven consecutive months up to 16 weeks of unpaid Attachment Leave for Adoption or Surrogacy took effect. Employees must provide employers written notice at least four weeks before leave begins, unless circumstances necessitate a shorter notice. Employers may require employees to provide, as soon as practicable “reasonable” evidence of entitlement to leave.

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

Leaves of Absence

Jun 1: Bill 11 banning employers from requiring employees to provide a “sick note” verifying absences due to injury or illness unless either the absence lasts more than a week or the employee’s been absent more than 10 scheduled workdays in the calendar year has received Royal Assent. Employers must reimburse employees for the cost of getting a sick note. Effective date: January 1, 2027.

Action Point: Find out about the rules determining whether you can ask sick employees for a doctor’s note and what you can do to verify health-related absences without such notes.

Overtime

Jun 1: Manitoba passed Bill 26 authorizing a ban on mandatory overtime for nurses. Exception: Health systems may still require overtime: (a) in a present or imminent situation that requires prompt action to avoid or limit loss of life or harm to health; or (b) when required by a law enacted to deal with a public disaster or emergency.

Action Point: Find out about the 10 most common overtime mistakes Canadian companies make and what you must do to avoid them.

New Laws

Jun 1: Bill 28 amending The Health System Governance and Accountability Act to enable the government to establish nurse-to-patient ratios by regulation, received Royal Assent. Health authorities, health care organizations, or health corporations or other persons receiving funding from a health authority that’s subject to a ratio must implement the ratio and prepare a plan to ensure compliance.

New Laws

May 20: Manitoba launched public consultations on whether the province should end seasonal time changes and, if so, whether the switch should be to permanent daylight savings time or permanent standard time.

Young Workers

Jun 9: Manitoba launched the first two programs of its new youth employment strategy. NextMB will invest $3.5 million in youth aged 18 to 29 to support two streams: one for youth currently enrolled in post-secondary, apprenticeships or recent graduates, and another stream for youth not in education, employment or training (NEET). Dreambuilders will provide $800,000 in funding to assist youth aged 16 to 29 who are facing multiple barriers to securing meaningful, long-term employment.

Action Point: Look up the youth employment laws of your province.

Health & Safety

May 15: Under newly proposed regulations, failure to report a serious incident to Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) could result in an Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) of $1,000 for a first offence, $3,000 for a second offence, and $5,000 for a third or subsequent violation. As with AMPs for other WSH offences, issuance would be discretionary.

Retaliation

Jun 1: Royal Assent for Bill 14 enhancing protections for public sector whistleblowers. Highlights: i. The chief executive of a public body must act as the designated officer when a disclosure of alleged wrongdoing involves the designated officer or another senior official; ii. A disclosure involving the chief executive must be referred to the Ombudsman or, if the chief executive is a deputy minister, to the Clerk of the Executive Council; iii. An employee may make a disclosure despite any agreement to the contrary; iv. The circumstances in which reprisals are prohibited expanded to include when the employee is suspected of making a disclosure, declines to participate in a wrongdoing, or otherwise complies with the Act; and v. The person alleged to have taken reprisal action has the burden of proving that it didn’t take reprisal action.

Action Point: Find out how to avoid inadvertent reprisals or retaliation.

New Laws

June 30: June 30 is the deadline to apply for Innovation Growth Program (IGP) grants to commercialize innovative products and processes. Eligible applicants include: i. for-profit, taxable Canadian-controlled private corporations with a permanent establishment in Manitoba that pay at least 50% of total salaries and wages to Manitoba resident employees; ii. companies with annual revenue of $15 million or less, or fewer than 100 full-time equivalent employees; and iii. companies with a cash equity position of at least $25,000.

Privacy

Jun 1: Bill 51 requiring the government, government agencies, health authorities, universities, school divisions, municipalities, and other public sector entities to comply with regulations governing the use of AI systems and cybersecurity received Royal Assent. Such regulations may include provisions requiring disclosure of information about AI use, development of accountability frameworks, and reporting of cybersecurity incidents.

Action Point: Find out how to guard against AI legal and liability risks by implementing a legally sound workplace artificial intelligence use policy.

Privacy

Jun 1: Royal Assent for Bill 2 expanding privacy protections under existing legislation banning the sharing of intimate images without consent has been reported out of Committee. Highlights: i. expanded definition of intimate image to include ‘nearly nude’; ii. new ban on threatening to distribute an intimate image; iii. ban on taking or sharing nude or nearly-nude images of a person after their death; and iv. potential liability for websites that fail to act reasonably to remove nude or nearly-nude images.

Action Point: Digital privacy and nonconsensual publication of intimate images is also a potential liability risk for employers. Find out how to protect your organization from revenge porn and cyberbullying liability.

Drugs & Alcohol

May 26: Newly tabled Bill 54 would amend The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act to ban the sale of most flavoured e-substances in businesses that children are allowed to enter which are located in major urban areas.

Workers’ Compensation

May 11: The Workers’ Compensation Board of Manitoba (WCB) will use its surplus to distribute $90 million worth of rebates to eligible employers. The money will be in the form of a credit towards the employer’s 2026 WCB premiums.

CASES

There are no cases to report on for this month.