Canada Labour Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. L-2)

Marginal note:Definitions

• 44 (1) In this section and sections 45 to 47.1,

  business

  business means any federal work, undertaking or business and any part thereof; (entreprise)

  provincial business

  provincial business means a work, undertaking or business, or any part of a work, undertaking or business, the labour relations of which are subject to the laws of a province; (entreprise provinciale)

  sell

  sell, in relation to a business, includes the transfer or other disposition of the business and, for the purposes of this definition, leasing a business is deemed to be selling it. (vente)

• Marginal note:Sale of business

  (2) Where an employer sells a business,

  • (a) a trade union that is the bargaining agent for the employees employed in the business continues to be their bargaining agent;

  • (b) a trade union that made application for certification in respect of any employees employed in the business before the date on which the business is sold may, subject to this Part, be certified by the Board as their bargaining agent;

  • (c) the person to whom the business is sold is bound by any collective agreement that is, on the date on which the business is sold, applicable to the employees employed in the business; and

  • (d) the person to whom the business is sold becomes a party to any proceeding taken under this Part that is pending on the date on which the business was sold and that affects the employees employed in the business or their bargaining agent.

• Marginal note:Change of activity or sale of a provincial business

  (3) Where, as a result of a change of activity, a provincial business becomes subject to this Part, or such a business is sold to an employer who is subject to this Part,

  • (a) the trade union that, pursuant to the laws of the province, is the bargaining agent for the employees employed in the provincial business continues to be their bargaining agent for the purposes of this Part;

  • (b) a collective agreement that applied to employees employed in the provincial business at the time of the change or sale continues to apply to them and is binding on the employer or on the person to whom the business is sold;

  • (c) any proceeding that at the time of the change or sale was before the labour relations board or other person or authority that, under the laws of the province, is competent to decide the matter, continues as a proceeding under this Part, with such modifications as the circumstances require and, where applicable, with the person to whom the provincial business is sold as a party; and

  • (d) any grievance that at the time of the change or sale was before an arbitrator or arbitration board continues to be processed under this Part, with such modifications as the circumstances require and, where applicable, with the person to whom the provincial business is sold as a party.

Marginal note:Review of bargaining units

45 In the case of a sale or change of activity referred to in section 44, the Board may, on application by the employer or any trade union affected, determine whether the employees affected constitute one or more units appropriate for collective bargaining.

Marginal note:Board to determine questions

46 The Board shall determine any question that arises under section 44, including a question as to whether or not a business has been sold or there has been a change of activity of a business, or as to the identity of the purchaser of a business.

Marginal note:Where portion as federal business

• 47 (1) Where the name of any portion of the federal public administration specified from time to time in Schedule I, IV or V to the Financial Administration Act is deleted and that portion of the federal public administration is established as or becomes a part of a corporation or business to which this Part applies, or where a portion of the federal public administration included in another portion of the federal public administration specified in those Schedules is severed from the portion in which it was included and established as or becomes a part of such a corporation or business,

  • (a) a collective agreement or arbitral award that applies to any employees in that portion of the federal public administration and that is in force at the time the portion of the federal public administration is established as or becomes a part of such a corporation or business continues in force, subject to subsections (3) to (7), until its term expires; and

  • (b) the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act applies in all respects to the interpretation and application of the collective agreement or arbitral award.

• Marginal note:Application for certification

  (2) A trade union may apply to the Board for certification as the bargaining agent for the employees affected by a collective agreement or arbitral award referred to in subsection (1), but may so apply only during a period in which an application for certification of a trade union is authorized to be made under section 24.

• Marginal note:Application for order

  (3) Where the employees in a portion of the federal public administration that is established as or becomes a part of a corporation or business to which this Part applies are bound by a collective agreement or arbitral award, the corporation or business, as employer of the employees, or any bargaining agent affected by the change in employment, may, during the period beginning on the one hundred and twentieth day and ending on the one hundred and fiftieth day after the date on which the portion of the federal public administration is established as or becomes a part of the corporation or business, apply to the Board for an order determining the matters referred to in subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Determination of Board

  (4) Where an application is made under subsection (3) by a corporation or business or bargaining agent, the Board, by order, shall

  • (a) determine whether the employees of the corporation or business who are bound by any collective agreement or arbitral award constitute one or more units appropriate for collective bargaining;

  • (b) determine which trade union shall be the bargaining agent for the employees in each such unit; and

  • (c) in respect of each collective agreement or arbitral award that applies to employees of the corporation or business,

    • (i) determine whether the collective agreement or arbitral award shall remain in force, and

    • (ii) if the collective agreement or arbitral award is to remain in force, determine whether it shall remain in force until the expiration of its term or expire on such earlier date as the Board may fix.

• Marginal note:Application for leave to serve a notice to bargain collectively

  (5) Where the Board determines, pursuant to paragraph (4)(c), that a collective agreement or arbitral award shall remain in force, either party to the collective agreement or arbitral award may, not later than sixty days after the date the Board makes its determination, apply to the Board for an order granting leave to serve on the other party a notice to bargain collectively.

• Marginal note:Application to bargain collectively

  (6) Where no application for an order is made pursuant to subsection (3) within the period specified in that subsection, the corporation or business, as employer of the employees, or any bargaining agent bound by a collective agreement or arbitral award that, by subsection (1), is continued in force, may, during the period commencing on the one hundred and fifty-first day and ending on the two hundred and tenth day after the date the portion of the federal public administration is established as or becomes a part of the corporation or business, apply to the Board for an order granting leave to serve on the other party a notice to bargain collectively.

• Marginal note:Effect of order

  (7) Where the Board has made an order pursuant to paragraph (4)(c), this Part applies to the interpretation and application of any collective agreement or arbitral award affected thereby.

• Marginal note:Arbitral award deemed part of collective agreement

  (8) An arbitral award that is continued in force by virtue of subsection (1) is deemed to be

  • (a) part of the collective agreement for the bargaining unit to which the award relates, or

  • (b) where there is no collective agreement for the bargaining unit, a collective agreement for the bargaining unit to which the award relates

  for the purposes of section 49, and this Part, other than section 80, applies in respect of the renewal or revision of the collective agreement or entering into a new collective agreement.

Marginal note:Where notice to bargain collectively given prior to deletion

47.1 Where, before the deletion or severance referred to in subsection 47(1), notice to bargain collectively has been given in respect of a collective agreement or arbitral award binding on employees of a corporation or business who, immediately before the deletion or severance, were part of the federal public administration,

• (a) the terms and conditions of employment contained in a collective agreement or arbitral award that, by virtue of section 107 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, are continued in force immediately before the date of the deletion or severance or that were last continued in force before that date, in respect of those employees shall continue or resume in force on and after that date and shall be observed by the corporation or business, as employer, the bargaining agent for those employees and those employees until the requirements of paragraphs 89(1)(a) to (d) have been met, unless the employer and the bargaining agent agree otherwise;

• (b) the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act applies in all respects to the interpretation and application of any term or condition continued or resumed by paragraph (a);

• (c) on application by the corporation or business, as employer, or the bargaining agent for those employees, made during the period beginning on the one hundred and twentieth day and ending on the one hundred and fiftieth day after the date of the deletion or severance, the Board shall make an order determining

  • (i) whether the employees of the corporation or business who are represented by the bargaining agent constitute one or more units appropriate for collective bargaining, and

  • (ii) which trade union shall be the bargaining agent for the employees in each such unit;

• (d) where the Board makes the determinations under paragraph (c), the corporation or business, as employer, or the bargaining agent may, by notice, require the other to commence collective bargaining under this Act for the purpose of entering into a collective agreement; and

• (e) this Part, other than section 80, applies in respect of a notice given under paragraph (d).