Legislative Roundup

Canada

CRA releases draft CPP amendments

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is proposing to amend Canada Pension Plan (CPP) regulations to incorporate new rules for calculating contributions, beginning next year.

It said the changes are necessary to align the regulations with CPP legislative amendments that will see contribution rates gradually rise between 2019 and 2025 to fund improvements to the plan’s retirement, post-retirement, survivor and disability benefits.

Between 2019 and 2023, the CRA will gradually raise the contribution rate for employers and employees from 4.95 per cent to 5.95 per cent for earnings up to the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE). The rate will consist of the current 4.95 per cent rate — called the “base contribution rate” — plus an extra rate called the “first additional contribution rate.”

The first additional contribution rate will be 0.15 per cent in 2019, 0.3 per cent in 2020, 0.5 per cent in 2021, 0.75 per cent in 2022, and one per cent in 2023 and later years.

Beginning in 2024, the CRA will implement another contribution rate of four per cent each for employers and employees on pensionable earnings between the YMPE and a new upper earnings limit. The new rate will be called the “second additional contribution rate.”

The proposed amendments to the CPP regulations would establish a new formula for calculating CPP contributions that includes both the base and first additional contribution rates.

As a result, the overall employee contribution rate would be 5.10 per cent in 2019, 5.25 per cent in 2020, 5.45 per cent in 2021, 5.70 per cent in 2022, and 5.95 per cent in 2023 and later years. Employers would pay at the same rate.

The regulations would also provide a formula for calculating the second additional contribution rate and set out rules for calculating contributions when employees move from Quebec to other parts of Canada.

The CRA said it would update its payroll deductions tables and formulas to incorporate the new requirements.

 Alberta

Government delays new youth employment rules

The Alberta government has delayed implementing new rules for hiring young people.

The province’s Ministry of Labour had planned to bring the changes into effect on Sept. 1, but a spokesperson for Labour Minister Christina Gray said the government was not yet ready.

The planned changes, which stem from amendments to the Employment Standards Code passed last year, include increasing the minimum age for work from 12 years to 13 years and placing restrictions on the type of work that children under 18 years old may do and on the hours they may work.

Spokesperson Michelle Newlands said the ministry spent the summer consulting on the proposed changes and heard that more work needed to be done.

“Our government believes all workers deserve a safe and healthy workplace and this includes young workers. We will continue to take the time needed to work with businesses, guardians and youth to get these changes right,” she said.  

The government has not updated its timeline on this matter.

Nova Scotia

Bill would alter leave rules

The Nova Scotia government is proposing to amend some of its labour standards leave provisions to align them with recent federal changes to employment insurance (EI) rules.

The EI changes, implemented last year, include reducing the waiting period for benefits from two weeks to one week and allowing parents to choose between receiving EI parental benefits for up to 35 weeks, at a rate of 55 per cent of insurable earnings (to a maximum amount) or for up to 61 weeks, paid at a 33 per cent rate.

Other changes included allowing family members beyond a child’s parents to claim EI benefits for caring for a critically ill child as well as creating a 15-week benefit for individuals caring for a critically ill adult family member.

Nova Scotia Bill 29, the Labour Standards Code (amended), which Labour and Advanced Education Minister Labi Kousoulis tabled in the provincial legislature in mid-September, proposes the following changes:

• The length of pregnancy leave would be reduced from 17 weeks to 16 weeks to reflect the shorter waiting period for EI benefits.

• Parental leave would increase from 52 to 77 weeks and combined pregnancy/parental leave would rise from 52 to 77 weeks.

• Eligibility for leave for a critically ill or injured child would be broadened to include family members other than the child’s parents.

• A new 16-week unpaid leave would be created for employees with at least three months of service who need to care for a critically ill adult family member.

Kousoulis said the amendments would take effect on the date that the bill receives royal assent.

Ontario

Minimum wage to remain at $14

The Ontario government will keep the province’s general minimum wage rate at $14 an hour in 2019, Labour Minister Laurie Scott announced.

Under amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 passed in 2017 by the previous government, the general minimum wage rate was scheduled to rise to $15 on Jan. 1.

However, during the province’s election campaign in the spring, the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party promised to freeze the rate at $14 if elected.

In late September, Scott told the legislative assembly that the PC government would honour that commitment.

“On January 1, 2018, Ontario’s general minimum wage for most workers jumped from $11.60 to $14 an hour. The sudden 20 per cent increase in the minimum wage hasn’t helped our economy, and an additional increase to $15 will not help it either,” she said.

“We need to give employers time to adjust to the new minimum wage, which is why we promised to keep the minimum wage at $14 an hour,” said Scott.

It is expected that other minimum wage rates will also remain at their current levels.

In addition, Scott said the government is reviewing other amendments the previous government made in Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017.

Some business groups have called for the government to repeal the bill’s amendments.

Yukon

Employment standard changes being considered

The Yukon government is considering changing some of the leave provisions in its Employment Standards Act to better align them with employment insurance benefit rules for parental leave and family caregiving.

Changes proposed include:

• The length of parental leave would rise from 37 to 62 weeks.

• A new parental sharing leave would allow for up to five extra weeks of unpaid leave for employees taking up to 35 weeks of parental leave if the second parent agreed to take at least five weeks of the leave. Parents taking up to 61 weeks of leave could take an extra eight weeks if the second parent agreed to take at least eight weeks off. The new leave would align with a proposed new EI parental sharing benefit.

• The length of compassionate care leave would increase from eight weeks over a 26-week period to 27 weeks within a 52-week period.

• A new family caregiver leave would allow eligible employees to take up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave to provide care or support to a critically ill adult family member.

• The 37-week unpaid leave for a critically ill child would be broadened to include family members beyond just the child’s parents.

Yukon residents and employers had until early October to provide feedback on the proposals. The government plans to post a summary of the feedback on its website in November.