June 2026 Workplace Recap - June 30, 2026
Enjoy our latest edition of Workplace Recap for Canadian employers.
Legislation Updates
- Reminder: BC minimum wage increased June 01
- Feds launch AI strategy targeting $200B in growth and 250,000 new jobs
HR News
- The job offer isn't real: Inside the rise of AI-powered hiring scams
- Health authority uses fake paid day off to test employee phishing awareness
- Police allege 4 executives used 19,000 fake invoices to obtain $48M in financing
- Employers told workers to treat AI like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Now they're cutting back as costs soar
- May Unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 6.6%
- Employees at work but struggling mentally account for 46 lost workdays a year
- Canada introduces border measures in response to fast-growing Ebola outbreak
- Your employees are sharing confidential workplace information with free personal ChatGPT tools
Case Law Round Up
- Alberta court upholds executive’s termination without notice for just cause for lying about MBA
- Ontario: CityNews fights back against ex-reporter's $650K dismissal lawsuit, alleging altered content
- Ontario tribunal orders $31K in costs over AI-made case citations
- Ontario court says income from lower-paying jobs reduces wrongful dismissal damages
- Ontario: Executive termination costs climb when contracts fall short
- Ontario: Canaccord ordered to pay $3.7 million total after wrongful dismissal court battle
Legislation Updates
Reminder: BC minimum wage increased June 01
Feds launch AI strategy targeting $200B in growth and 250,000 new jobs
Canada has launched its “AI for All” strategy, targeting $200 billion in additional growth, 250,000 AI-related jobs and a major increase in business adoption over the next five years. The plan combines AI literacy, student work placements, worker upskilling and support for small and mid-sized businesses, alongside new rules around safety, privacy and transparency. The ambition is clear, but the real test will be whether smaller organizations can turn broad policy promises into practical, affordable tools that genuinely help people work better.
HR News
The job offer isn't real: Inside the rise of AI-powered hiring scams
Job scams are becoming harder to spot as AI helps fraudsters imitate employers, personalize outreach and flood applicants with polished messages. The result is a fake hiring process that can look very real until it asks for banking details, money, personal information or a suspicious link. For employers, this is more than a job-seeker problem: impersonation can damage trust in your brand. Make it easy to verify legitimate openings, use clear recruiter contact details, and remind candidates that you will never request payment or sensitive information before a verified offer.
Health authority uses fake paid day off to test employee phishing awareness
A cybersecurity test at Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services promised staff an extra paid day off, then revealed it was a phishing exercise. For healthcare workers already dealing with mandatory overtime, denied leave and a difficult system rollout, the message landed less like training and more like a breach of trust. Security awareness matters, but so does context. Tests that exploit exhausted employees’ hopes for recognition can damage morale, engagement and retention, especially when workplaces are already asking people to give more than they have.
Police allege 4 executives used 19,000 fake invoices to obtain $48M in financing
Four former executives of an Ontario distributor face fraud-related charges after police alleged that thousands of fabricated invoices and altered records were used to secure about $48 million in financing. The case is a reminder that convincing paperwork is not the same as reliable proof. Lenders, finance teams and business partners need controls that test the details behind the documents: independent confirmation of customers and deliveries, review of unusual growth, separation of duties and regular audits. Fraud can look orderly right up until the numbers are checked.
Employers told workers to treat AI like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Now they're cutting back as costs soar
Many companies pushed employees to use as much AI as possible, treating high token use as a sign of innovation. Now the cost of intensive tools, especially coding agents and complex reasoning, is forcing a rethink. Some are capping monthly spending, while others are tracking usage more closely and testing smaller, focused use cases. The lesson is not to abandon AI, but to stop treating adoption as the goal. Teams need clear questions: which work improves, how much time is actually saved, and what is the true cost per result?
May Unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 6.6%
Employees at work but struggling mentally account for 46 lost workdays a year
New Manulife Canada data suggests health challenges affect roughly one-fifth of employees’ working time, equal to an estimated 46 working days per person each year. Most of that loss happens while people are still at work, as stress, burnout, mental fatigue and poor sleep drain focus and energy. Benefits matter, but they cannot help when employees do not know what is available or feel unable to use it. Clear communication, simple access and support that reaches people early can make a measurable difference.
Canada introduces border measures in response to fast-growing Ebola outbreak
Canada has temporarily suspended certain immigration documents for foreign nationals whose last country of residence was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan or Uganda. The measures, in place until August 28, mean affected travellers cannot board a flight to Canada, even with previously approved visas or permits. Applications will continue to be processed but not finalized. Canadian citizens, permanent residents and many other travellers can still return, subject to medical screening and public health requirements.
Your employees are sharing confidential workplace information with free personal ChatGPT tools
New research from Harmonic Security suggests the line between “personal” and workplace AI is mostly fiction. Nearly two-thirds of activity on employees’ personal or free AI accounts was business-related, creating a visibility gap for organizations that cannot see what information is being shared, stored or retained. Sales, marketing and operations showed the least use of enterprise tools. A clear AI policy is no longer enough: employees need approved tools that are easy to access, practical guidance on what can be shared, and regular communication about why personal accounts create real data, security and knowledge-retention risks.
Case Law Round Up
Alberta court upholds executive’s termination without notice for just cause for lying about MBA
An Alberta court upheld the for-cause dismissal of a senior employee who claimed he was completing an MBA despite never enrolling in a program or taking a course. The employer discovered the falsehood after concerns arose about the employee’s financial forecasting work and his explanations became evasive. The Court found the claim was intentional, material to the hiring decision and serious enough to damage the trust required in an executive role. Employers can generally rely on information applicants provide, but cause decisions still need to be proportionate and carefully assessed.
Key Take-Aways for Employers
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Resume and application information should be accurate, especially where qualifications are tied to the role.
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Employers are generally entitled to rely on applicant representations without conducting a deep review of every credential.
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A false claim may support dismissal for cause where it is intentional, material and damages the employment relationship.
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Cause is never automatic. Consider the role, the seriousness of the misrepresentation and the surrounding facts before acting.
Ontario: CityNews fights back against ex-reporter's $650K dismissal lawsuit, alleging altered content
Former CityNews reporter Tina Yazdani is suing Rogers for $650,000 after the company dismissed her for cause in April. Rogers alleges repeated breaches of its news and social media policies, while Yazdani says her reporting style had long been encouraged and that her work went through the usual editorial review process. The case has not been decided, but it is a timely reminder that “cause” is a high bar, particularly where performance expectations, policy enforcement and past workplace practices may be open to different interpretations.
Key Take-Aways for Employers
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A for-cause dismissal should be supported by clear evidence of serious misconduct, not simply dissatisfaction with performance or style.
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Apply policies consistently and ensure expectations have been clearly communicated.
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Document concerns, coaching, warnings and the employee’s response before taking serious action.
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Review the full context, including whether managers previously accepted or approved the conduct in question.
Ontario tribunal orders $31K in costs over AI-made case citations
An Ontario lawyer was ordered to pay $31,150 in costs after submitting AI-generated legal materials containing fabricated case citations and real cases that did not support his arguments. The Law Society Tribunal found that failing to verify the output was a significant aggravating factor. Read the decision: Mazaheri v. Law Society of Ontario. The lesson reaches well beyond legal work: polished AI output can sound authoritative while being completely wrong. Where a document informs a high-stakes decision, somebody still needs to own the accuracy.Key Take-Aways for Employers
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AI-generated work should be reviewed and verified before it is relied on, shared externally or used to support a decision.
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Set clear expectations for when employees may use AI and what level of human review is required.
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Treat high-stakes materials, including legal, HR, financial and client-facing documents, as requiring extra scrutiny.
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Train employees to check sources, facts and quotations rather than assuming AI-generated references are reliable.
Ontario court says income from lower-paying jobs reduces wrongful dismissal damages
The Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that income earned during a reasonable notice period will generally reduce wrongful dismissal damages, even when the employee’s new job pays less or carries less status. In Williamson v. Brandt Tractor Inc., the Court deducted more than $32,000 in earnings from a lower-paying role. But employers do not get an easy win on mitigation: they must still prove comparable work was available and the employee would likely have secured it through reasonable efforts.
Key Take-Aways for Employers
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Income earned during the notice period will generally reduce damages, including income from lower-paying work.
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Employers still bear the burden of proving that comparable employment was available.
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Start gathering job-market evidence early if mitigation may be an issue.
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Request complete information about employment income during settlement discussions or litigation.
Ontario: Executive termination costs climb when contracts fall short
An Ontario court awarded a former IBM executive 24 months’ reasonable notice after a without-cause dismissal, along with damages tied to a bonus and cancelled equity awards. In Adelman v. IBM Canada Limited, the employer had no termination clause and could not show its decision to award a zero bonus was exercised fairly. The decision shows how quickly termination exposure can grow when contracts are silent, “discretion” is treated as a blank cheque, and incentive-plan wording does not clearly limit common-law rights.
Key Take-Aways for Employers
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Clear, enforceable termination clauses are especially important for senior employees with complex compensation.
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Discretionary bonuses must still be decided fairly and reasonably.
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Review bonus, RSU and stock-option language to confirm it clearly addresses termination and notice-period entitlements.
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Keep contemporaneous records that support compensation and termination decisions.
Ontario: Canaccord ordered to pay $3.7 million total after wrongful dismissal court battle
A former Canaccord managing director was awarded more than $2.5 million after an Ontario court found that his lost bonus income should reflect what comparable replacement employees earned during his 21-month notice period, not simply an average of his past bonuses. In Warren v. Canaccord Genuity Corp., the Court considered the firm’s record-setting market performance and the employee’s specialized role. The ruling shows how quickly dismissal exposure can climb when variable compensation is tied to market conditions and an employment agreement does not clearly limit post-termination entitlements.
Key Take-Aways for Employers
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Bonus and commission damages may be based on what the employee would likely have earned during the notice period, not just past averages.
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Market growth, business performance and comparator pay can all affect the calculation.
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Clear, enforceable termination and incentive-plan language can help limit unexpected exposure.
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Account for compensation tied to future performance before finalizing a termination package.
Melina Laird is Operations Coordinator for ConnectsUs HR, a company that provides tools & resources to quickly set up a Human Resources department. You can contact her here.
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