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e-4038 (Employment and labour)

E-petition
Initiated by Ayaan Virani from Markham, Ontario

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • A large majority of Canadians, including 65% of millennials, report that they lack an adequate work-life balance;
  • Everyone should have an adequate amount of time off from work to spend with their family and those they love without feeling stigmatized or otherwise negatively pressured;
  • The government has committed to improving work-life balance for workers under its jurisdiction;
  • The government's consultations on modernizing federal labour standards in 2018 showed that a majority of stakeholders were in favour of adding more paid vacation days for employees;
  • Research shows that more paid vacation is beneficial to the health, happiness and productivity of workers, the tourism sector and the economy at large; and
  • Peer nations of Canada, such as France, have had labour laws providing for four weeks of paid vacation since the 1970s.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to amend the Canada Labour Code to provide a basic entitlement of four weeks of paid vacation, up from the current two weeks, for every completed "year of employment", increased to five weeks of paid vacation after five consecutive years of service with the same employer, and six weeks of paid vacation after ten consecutive years in order to:
1. Allow people to spend more time making memories for a lifetime with their families and those they love;
2. Reduce burnout, the massive economic costs of absenteeism and improve employee health and productivity;
3. Rebuild Canada’s tourism and hospitality sector in the post COVID-19 era; and
4. Make Canada an even better place to live, work, grow and play.

Response by the Minister of Labour and Seniors

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Terry Sheehan

Our government strongly believes that workers should benefit from workplace policies that promote work-life balance.  To that end, since 2015, we made more changes to federal labour standards that will support federally regulated private sector employees than at any comparable period in recent memory.

We improved the amount of vacation leave federally regulated private sector employees are entitled to in two ways. First, by reducing from six to five years the number of years an employee must work for their employer to access their third week of vacation. Second, by adding a fourth week of vacation to employees who complete their tenth year of employment with their employer.

We also provided a right for employees to request flexible work arrangements through, for example, changes to the scheduling and number of work hours. Our government also expanded the length of several leaves and introduced a range of new ones that specifically support employees’ need to take time off to address various life circumstances. Examples of such leaves include:

•         a new medical leave with pay of ten days;

•         the extension of the length of unpaid leave from 17 to 27 weeks;

•         a new personal leave of five days, including three paid days;

•         the extension of parental leave from 37 to 63 weeks;

•         a new leave for traditional Aboriginal practices of five days;

•         the extension of bereavement leave from three to 10 days

•         a new leave for victims of family violence of ten days, including five paid days;

•         a new leave for court or jury duty;

•         a new leave related to critical illness of an adult of 17 weeks; and

•         the expansion of the leave related to the death or disappearance of a child.

In addition, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, includes amendments that will provide a leave related to pregnancy loss of three days with pay. In the event of a stillbirth, employees will be able to prolong their leave to a maximum of eight weeks without pay. Furthermore, employees who adopt a child will be entitled to take a leave of 16 weeks for carrying out responsibilities related to the placement of the child.

Taken altogether, federally regulated private sector employees benefit from the most generous set of leaves that can support work-life balance compared to their predecessors, and any of their provincially and territorially regulated counterparts. These leaves and other labour standards represent a floor of benefits that employers must offer under the Code. However, many federally regulated private sector employees benefit from more favourable arrangements in their collective agreements or through employers’ internal policies. 

The Government of Canada thanks the petitioners for their engagement on this shared goal of improving Canadians’ work-life balance.

Open for signature
June 17, 2022, at 4:04 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
October 15, 2022, at 4:04 p.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches—East York)
June 4, 2024 (Petition No. 441-02525)
Government response tabled
July 17, 2024
Photo - Nathaniel Erskine-Smith
Beaches—East York
Liberal Caucus
Ontario