As we head into the New Year, most provinces have taken the opportunity to make changes to legislation that will come into effect in January 2022. Here is a summary of some of the changes that Dealership's should be aware of.
B.C- As recently posted in our previous post , January will bring new permanent sick leave provisions, and the end to the temporary COVID paid sick days provisions.
Alberta- Effective December 1, 2021 there have been changes made to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. For detailed information on these changes, see our post here.
Saskatchewan- As a general reminder, the minimum wage increased on Oct 1st of 2021 to $11.81, the province is also projected to have another increase in Oct of 2022.
Manitoba- Private Sector businesses have until May 1, 2022 to complete the compliance requirements for the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA), January is a great time to review and ensure that your policies and processes meet the standard. As a reminder, Manitoba also increased the minimum wage in October to $11.95 and will possibly do so again in October of 2022.
Ontario- The province has seen multiple recent regulatory changes including the implementation of the Working for Worker's Act that will come into effect in January. The provisions that will impact Dealership's the most can be reviewed here . Ontario also follows the October schedule for minimum wage changes, the current minimum wage is $14.35 for most workers.
Quebec- Quebec is anticipated to increase their minimum wage in May of 2022. Additionally, there have been changes to privacy legislation (Bill 64) and the language law (Bill 96) .
NFLD & Labrador- In keeping with the October minimum wage trend, the minimum wage went up to $12.75. Other legislative updates include the Accessibility Act(Bill 38) that is on target to come into effect in early 2022. The act is anticipated to include accessibility standards that will include having an accessibility plan.
Nova Scotia- The minimum wage is projected to increase in April of 2022, this is one of the earliest changes to minimum wage for 2022 across the country.
New Brunswick- The province is also set to increase the minimum wage in April. The province has announced that the rate will increase to $12.75 an hour, with an additional increase in October of 2022 that will bring the minimum wage to $13.75 at the end of 2022.
PEI- The province is also scheduled to review their minimum wage in April of 2022. Additionally, PEI has also announced that the WCB assessment ratees for 2022 will have an average decrease for Island employers. This announcement also indicated that there may be consideration for a surplus distribution, should the funding status be greater than 140%.
Yukon- Although the minimum wage just increased at the end of the summer to $15.20, the minimum wage will be reviewed again for an April increase. The WCB has announced the maximum wage rate for 2022 is $94, 320. as an additional reminder, the Violence and Harassment Prevention Regulation is now in force.
NWT- The NWT recently increased their minimum wage to $15.20. As well, the deadline for COVID related termination complaints from previous employees is January 2, 2022.
If you would like more information on how any of these, or other changes, may impact your operations, please contact us at info@dealerpilothr.com to learn more.