Month in Review – Newfoundland and Labrador

LAWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Workers’ Compensation

Jun 1: Effective today, Newfoundland & Labrador workers diagnosed by a physician, nurse practitioner, psychologist, or psychiatrist with a psychological injury due to workplace harassment will be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. WorkplaceNL Policy EN-18 already covers psychological injuries due to traumatic events, including presumptive coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in certain occupations.

Action Point: Find out about workers’ compensation coverage of PTSD and other mental stress claims across Canada.

New Laws

Jun 12: With Northern Cod science indicating that the stock is in the healthy zone for the first time since the 1992 moratorium, the federal government expanded the 2026 Northern cod Total Annual Catch (TAC) quota from 38,000 to 59,00 tonnes. The TAC for capelin will remain at 14,533 tonnes.

New Laws

Jun 12: In addition to raising the TAC quota by 55% in 2026, the federal government is adjusting the allocation of Northern cod shares: i. Inshore fleet: 70% of the TAC, 41,300 tonnes, up from 30,400 tonnes in 2025; ii. Offshore and Midshore fleet: 20% of the TAC, 11,806 tonnes, up from 3,800 in 2025; and iii. Indigenous and Special Allocations: 10% of the TAC, 5,895 tonnes, up from 3,801 in 2025.

Employment Benefits

Jun 2: Newly passed Bill 6 permits transfers of assets from a registered Newfoundland and Labrador pension plan to a pension plan that’s not registered in the province, subject to certain conditions. The Bill also adds new Pension Benefits Act definitions of “solvency assets” and “solvency ratio.”

New Laws

Jun 2: The federal government announced $4.5 million in funding for four energy projects in Newfoundland and Labrador: i. $2.6 million to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to implement energy-saving opportunities for industrial facilities in communities served by diesel plants; ii. $1.2 million to Aker Solutions Canada to assess the feasibility of a marine-based carbon dioxide transport and offshore storage solution; iii. $497,200 to Angler Solutions to assess the potential for developing a regional offshore carbon capture and storage hub capable of sequestering CO₂ from onshore sources; and iv. $141,500 to Tacora Resources Inc. to implement an ISO 50001-compliant energy management system at the company’s Scully Mine in Wabush.

Training

Jun 15: The province extended the deadline to apply for 2026 Job Creation Partnerships (JCP) funding to July 10. JCP support is available for community-based, not-for-profit projects that provide EI eligible individuals with opportunities to gain work experience and improve their employment prospects.

Action Point: If your company is feeling the effects of tariffs, you need to find out more about the temporary EI Work Sharing program changes.

Workplace Violence

May 27: The provincial government officially declared gender-based violence to be an epidemic in Newfoundland and Labrador and established a new 12-member task force to deal with the problem.

Workers’ Compensation

Jun 11: The province launched an independent review of the Newfoundland and Labrador workers’ compensation system. The Workplace Health, Safety, and Compensation Act, 2022, requires the government to perform such review every five years to ensure the system continues to meet workers’ and employers’ needs. The review committee is expected to submit its final report and recommendations by March 31, 2027.