An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code (S.C. 2021, c. 27)
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Assented to 2021-12-17
An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code
S.C. 2021, c. 27
Assented to 2021-12-17
An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Criminal Code to, among other things,
(a) create an offence of intimidating a person in order to impede them from obtaining health services, intimidating a health professional in order to impede them in the performance of their duties or intimidating a person who assists a health professional in order to impede the person in providing that assistance;
(b) create an offence of obstructing or interfering with a person’s lawful access to a place at which health services are provided, subject to a defence of attending at the place for the purpose only of obtaining or communicating information; and
(c) add the commission of an offence against a person who was providing health services and the commission of an offence that had the effect of impeding another person from obtaining health services as aggravating sentencing factors for any offence.
It also amends the Canada Labour Code to, among other things,
(a) extend the period during which an employee may take a leave of absence from employment in the event of the death of a child and provide for the entitlement of an employee to a leave of absence in the event of the loss of an unborn child;
(b) repeal the personal leave that an employee may take to treat their illness or injury;
(c) provide that an employee may earn and take up to 10 days of medical leave of absence with pay in a calendar year; and
(d) authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations to modify, in certain circumstances, the provisions respecting medical leave of absence with pay.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.S., c. C-46Criminal Code
1 Paragraph (a) of the definition offence in section 183 of the Criminal Code is amended by adding the following after subparagraph (lxxi):
(lxxi.1) section 423.2 (intimidation — health services),
2 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 423.1:
Marginal note:Intimidation — health services
423.2 (1) Every person commits an offence who engages in any conduct with the intent to provoke a state of fear in
(a) a person in order to impede them from obtaining health services from a health professional;
(b) a health professional in order to impede them in the performance of their duties; or
(c) a person, whose functions are to assist a health professional in the performance of the health professional’s duties, in order to impede that person in the performance of those functions.
Marginal note:Obstruction or interference with access
(2) Every person commits an offence who, without lawful authority, intentionally obstructs or interferes with another person’s lawful access to a place at which health services are provided by a health professional.
Marginal note:Punishment
(3) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) is
(a) guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years; or
(b) guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Marginal note:Defence
(4) No person is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) by reason only that they attend at or near, or approach, a place referred to in that subsection for the purpose only of obtaining or communicating information.
Marginal note:Definition of health professional
(5) In this section, health professional means a person who is entitled under the laws of a province to provide health services.
3 Paragraph (c) of the definition secondary designated offence in section 487.04 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subparagraph (xi):
(xi.01) subsection 423.2(1) (intimidation — health services),
4 (1) Subsection 515(4.1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b.1):
(b.11) an offence under subsection 423.2(1) (intimidation — health services),
(2) Paragraph 515(4.3)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:
(b) an offence described in section 264 or 423.1 or subsection 423.2(1);
5 (1) Paragraph 718.2(a) of the Act is amended by adding the following after subparagraph (iii.1):
(iii.2) evidence that the offence was committed against a person who, in the performance of their duties and functions, was providing health services, including personal care services,
(2) Paragraph 718.2(a) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of subparagraph (v), by adding “and” at the end of subparagraph (vi) and by adding the following after subparagraph (vi):
(vii) evidence that the commission of the offence had the effect of impeding another person from obtaining health services, including personal care services,
R.S., c. L-2Canada Labour Code
6 Paragraph 206.6(1)(a) of the Canada Labour Code is repealed.
6.1 Subsection 210(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Employee entitled
210 (1) Except when subsection (1.01) or (1.02) applies, every employee is entitled to and shall be granted, in the event of the death of a member of their immediate family or a family member in respect of whom the employee is, at the time of the death, on leave under section 206.3 or 206.4, a leave of absence from employment of up to 10 days that may be taken during the period that begins on the day on which the death occurs and ends six weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service of that deceased person occurs.
Marginal note:Employee entitled — child
(1.01) Every employee is entitled to and shall be granted, in the event of the death of a child of the employee or the death of a child of their spouse or common-law partner, a leave of absence from employment of up to eight weeks that may be taken during the period that begins on the day on which the death occurs and ends 12 weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service of the child occurs.
Marginal note:Employee entitled — stillbirth
(1.02) Every employee is entitled to and shall be granted, in the event of a stillbirth experienced by them or their spouse or common-law partner or where they would have been a parent, as defined in subsection 206.7(1), of the child born as a result of the pregnancy, a leave of absence from employment of up to eight weeks that may be taken during the period that begins on the day on which the stillbirth occurs and ends 12 weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service in respect of the stillbirth occurs.
Marginal note:Definitions
(1.03) The following definitions apply in subsections (1.01) and (1.02).
- child
child means
(a) a person who is under 18 years of age; or
(b) a person in respect of whom the employee or their spouse or common-law partner, as the case may be, is entitled to the Canada caregiver credit under paragraph 118(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act. (enfant)
- stillbirth
stillbirth means the complete expulsion or extraction of a fetus from a person on or after the twentieth week of pregnancy or after the fetus has attained at least 500 g, without any breathing, beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or movement of voluntary muscle from the fetus after the expulsion or extraction. (mortinaissance)
7 (1) Subsection 239(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Leave with pay
(1.2) An employee earns,
(a) in the case of an employee whose employment with an employer begins on or before the day on which this subsection comes into force, in the calendar year in which this subsection comes into force, after completing 30 days of continuous employment with the employer, three days of medical leave of absence with pay and, after 60 days of continuous employment with the employer, at the beginning of each month after completing one month of continuous employment with the employer, one day of medical leave of absence with pay, up to a maximum of 10 days;
(b) in the case of an employee whose employment with an employer begins after the day on which this subsection comes into force, in the calendar year during which they were employed, after completing 30 days of continuous employment with the employer, three days of medical leave of absence with pay and, after 60 days of continuous employment with the employer, at the beginning of each month after completing one month of continuous employment with the employer, one day of medical leave of absence with pay, up to a maximum of 10 days; and
(c) in each subsequent calendar year, at the beginning of each month after completing one month of continuous employment with the employer, one day of medical leave of absence with pay, up to a maximum of 10 days.
Marginal note:Rate of wages
(1.3) Each day of medical leave of absence with pay that an employee takes must be paid at their regular rate of wages for their normal hours of work, and that pay is for all purposes considered to be wages.
Marginal note:Annual carry forward
(1.4) Each day of medical leave of absence with pay that an employee does not take in a calendar year is to be carried forward to January 1 of the following calendar year and decreases, by one, the maximum number of days that can be earned in that calendar year under subsection (1.2).
Marginal note:Division of leave with pay
(1.5) The medical leave of absence with pay may be taken in one or more periods. The employer may require that each period of leave be of not less than one day’s duration.
Marginal note:Certificate — leave with pay
(1.6) The employer may, in writing and no later than 15 days after the return to work of an employee who has taken a medical leave of absence with pay of at least five consecutive days, require the employee to provide a certificate issued by a health care practitioner certifying that the employee was incapable of working for the period of their medical leave of absence with pay.
Marginal note:Certificate — leave without pay
(2) If a medical leave of absence without pay is three days or longer, the employer may require that the employee provide a certificate issued by a health care practitioner certifying that the employee was incapable of working for the period of their medical leave of absence without pay.
(2) Subsection 239(13) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Regulations
(13) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) defining terms for the purposes of this Division, including “regular rate of wages” and “normal hours of work”; and
(b) modifying any provision of this Division respecting the medical leave of absence with pay for the purposes of applying this Division to any class of employees if, in the opinion of the Governor in Council,
(i) the application of the provision without the modification would be unreasonable or inequitable in respect of the employees in that class or their employers, due to the work practices of that class, and
(ii) those employees will, despite the modification, earn periods of medical leave of absence with pay at a rate that is substantially equivalent to the rate provided for in subsection (1.2).
Coming into Force
Marginal note:30th day after royal assent
8 (1) Sections 1 to 5 come into force on the 30th day after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.
Marginal note:Order in council
(2) Sections 6 and 7 come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
Marginal note:Order in council
(3) Section 6.1 comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.
- Date modified: