Amendments Coming to the OHSA’s Sentencing Provisions
In Bill 88, “Working for Workers Act, 2022”, the Ontario legislature has enacted noteworthy amendments to the sentencing provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) that will come…
Read more »
Owner Exposure Under Ontario’s OHSA: The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) will hear an appeal from the 2021 game-changing judgement of the Court of Appeal for Ontario (CAO)
In April, the CAO surprised many by its decision in Ontario (Labour) v. Sudbury, finding that the municipal owner of a road repair project, under the control of a general…
Read more »
Can a Sentencing Court Order Officers and Directors of a Convicted Corporation to Complete Probationary Requirements on its Behalf?
An Alberta Queen’s Bench Justice has found that, in exceptional circumstances, it can. In R. v. D&J Isley & Sons Contracting Ltd., the family owned, corporate defendant had been convicted…
Read more »
Are There Two Tiers of Criminal Liability for Strictly Regulated Organizations and Their Management Arising From Workplace or Other Operationally Related Fatalities?
On November 14, 2019 the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released its decision in R. v. Javanmardi in which it simplified the test for wrongful act manslaughter (“manslaughter”). In so doing,…
Read more »
Can The Municipal Owner Of A Road Construction Project Be Liable As An Employer For Violations Of The OHSA When It Has Contracted Out The Work?
Conventional wisdom might suggest not. But this is the very question the Court of Appeal for Ontario agreed to consider on October 28 when it granted the Ministry of Labour (MOL)…
Read more »
OHSA & Other Regulatory Offences: Do Increased Statutory Maximums Translate Into Higher Fines?
In December 2017, the Ontario legislature increased the maximum fines for offences contrary to the OHSA from $25,000 (individuals) and $500,000 (corporations) to $100,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. With an…
Read more »
Regulatory Offences: The Rarity of a Jail Sentence is No Reason Not to Order It (and other nuggets from the Court of Appeal for Ontario)
A month after the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“CAO”) re-affirmed deterrence as the primary sentencing factor for regulatory offences, the Court has released a decision that details the interplay…
Read more »
Is The Ontario Court of Justice Now A Debt Enforcement Court?
Recently, an Ontario Court Justice found that justices overseeing sentencing hearings under the Provincial Offences Act (the “POA”) have the jurisdiction, in exceptional cases, to pierce the veil of asset-less…
Read more »