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Source: digiday.com With the return to the office at hand, more companies are making the wellness of their people a priority — and that includes physical fitness. Now, some employees have a high-profile workout buddy to help keep them on course. Wayfair, Samsung, SAP, Accenture Interactive and Sky are among the companies joining Peloton’s new Corporate Wellness program, which provides employees access to the Peloton app and exclusive benefits on its connected fitness products to support team building and healthy habits.

Source: cbc.ca Ontario will eventually follow Quebec’s lead, Bryan Thomas predicts Ontario Premier Doug Ford has rejected adding vaccination certificates and mandating immunizations in workplaces, but one legal expert who’s argued in favour of so-called vaccine passports believes they’re inevitable. “I think the tide is really turning,” with more people supporting the idea, said Bryan Thomas, a research associate with the Centre for Law, Policy and Health Ethics at the University of Ottawa.

Source: cbc.ca No one-size-fits-all approach will work — and companies that aren’t flexible will suffer It’s been more than 500 days since millions of Canadian employees were forced to suddenly work from home because of COVID-19. While the pandemic is far from over, some workplaces are starting to tackle the tough questions of when and whether to come back into the office again — and what work life will look like for people, no matter where they do it. CBC News reached out to dozens of business leaders across the country for their thoughts on the return to work.

Source: kitchenertoday.com New survey suggests many Canadian workers unsure about return to workplace Canadian workers are unsure about a return to the workplace post-pandemic as many companies have started or are in the middle of developing what their return to workplace strategies may look like. LifeWorks conducted an online survey from May 28 to June 4 where 3,000 people responded to the online survey.

Source: ctvnews.ca A shortage of skilled workers is intensifying in Canada, potentially threatening the pace of the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that has policymakers looking at a largely untapped market for new construction workers: Women. But attracting and retaining women in the skilled trades has long proven difficult, with tradeswomen and advocates citing challenges balancing childcare and on-site work, the stubborn sexism still ingrained in some workplaces, and a lack of opportunities for women to get a foot in the door.

Source: ctvnews.ca New data from Statistics Canada shows that while youth unemployment has risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding full-time work has been increasingly precarious since the late 1980s. The federal agency reported on Monday both male and female workers between 15 and 30 were less likely to have a full-time job in 2019 compared with 1989, a period marked by a rise in part-time employment for the age group.

Source: globenewswire.com Dependability and Problem-Solving Skills Sought by Employers As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, soft skills are becoming more valuable to employers, according to a new Harris Poll survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. The pandemic is expected to have long-lasting impacts on employers, with a new normal that requires employers to be flexible, adapt to change quickly and be innovative. In the short-term, companies are anticipated to face acute labour shortages and high employee turnover, as many employers were already struggling to find qualified employees even before the pandemic.

Source: www.cbc.ca Companies may find transactional-only relationships with employees won’t work The early days of the pandemic caused a major disruption in how we work and those ripple effects are still being felt today. Multiple surveys continue to warn of a mass departure across the Canadian workforce. According to one survey by the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation, 42 per cent of Canadian employees say they’re considering changing their job or entire career in the next year.

Source: financialpost.com ‘The market expects you to be 25 to 30 years old, it doesn’t expect you to be someone with dependants and a mortgage’ Jay Smith Hayward is at a significantly different life stage than many of her peers. An associate at a family law firm, she enrolled in the University of Alberta’s law school in her late 30s, and did her articling placement at 40, all while raising two children as a single mom.

Source: cbc.ca SafeTO-Do has drawn its share of online hate, says Toronto lawyer who created website A new website aims to help Ontarians safely navigate the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing them with a list of businesses that have fully vaccinated staff or require customers to show proof of vaccination. Brandon Mattalo, a Toronto lawyer who works mostly in commercial litigation on a freelance basis, created the website, SafeTO-Do. It went live last week. A Twitter account, @safetodo, announces new additions to the website.

Source: globalnews.ca As more Canadians get vaccinated against COVID-19 and society starts its climb back to normal, businesses and institutions are facing a difficult question: are they going to require people to be fully vaccinated before they can walk through the door?

Source: www.hcamag.com Almost half of Canadians are nervous about contracting COVID-19 on returning to their workplaces. According to emerging research from Canada Life, 46% of Canadian employees currently working from home have expressed anxiety over office reopening and what that means for health and safety.

Source: www.ctvnews.ca TORONTO — Racism is harming workplace dynamics in Canada, with nearly 80 per cent of Black Canadians saying racism has damaged their relationship with their employer, according to new research released Tuesday. That’s nearly double the reported response from the general population and is followed closely by South Asian employees, with nearly two-thirds also reporting that workplace racism has damaged their employer relationship.

Source: www.cp24.com Ontario will move to the third step of its summer reopening plan on July 16, reopening indoor dining, indoor fitness activity, cinemas and nightclubs for the first time in months, but capacity restrictions will remain until August. The Ford cabinet met on Friday morning to confirm the measures, which will allow indoor dining to resume across the province (except in Waterloo Region) with capacity limited to the number of people who can maintain physical distancing of two metres.

Source: www.canada.ca By getting vaccinated, you benefit from the protection you get against COVID-19 and the easing of restrictive measures in your community. You still need to follow local public health advice in public settings (e.g., workplaces, public transit). Their advice considers community risk levels.

Source: www.theglobeandmail.com In 1984, Canadian judge Rosalie Abella, later appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, chaired a commission that explored equality in Canadian workplaces. Her report became the 1986 Employment Equity Act, and its stated goal was “to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and … to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, [Indigenous] peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.”

Source: www.consulting.ca Most Canadians (77%) want to be able to work both remotely and in the office, according to a March survey of 2,003 respondents by KPMG Canada. The idea of a hybrid workplace is popular among Canadians, with 71% saying it should be the standard model for all organizations.

Source: www.newswire.ca 80 per cent feel they’ve been treated fairly, although heavy workload, isolation and COVID-19 exposure are among biggest challenges, finds a new KPMG in Canada survey TORONTO, April 26, 2021 /CNW/ – Amid the elevated anxiety, stress, and exhaustion during COVID-19, the pandemic has also resulted in improved loyalty to employers and a stronger sense of purpose in the workforce, finds a new poll by KPMG in Canada. The biggest workplace challenges, say full-time Canadian employees, include work/life balance, isolation, COVID-19 exposure, and a heavy workload.

Source: financialpost.com Feb. 2021 saw the economy add 259,200 jobs. Are you ready to get back to work? The pandemic wreaked havoc in the job market. Company shut-downs and economic restrictions sent unemployment rates soaring. However, with lockdowns lifting, Canada has seen some relief, with over 250,000 jobs added this past Feb. Not surprisingly, there will be huge competition vying for each of these positions.

Source: news.ontario.ca NEWS RELEASE Implementing Stronger Enforcement, Travel Restrictions, Public Health Measures to Stop the Spread of COVID-19 and Save Lives TORONTO — The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is strengthening enforcement of the province’s Stay-at-Home order while imposing new travel restrictions and further strengthening public health measures. These urgent actions are targeted at stopping the rapid growth in COVID-19 case rates and relieving mounting pressures on the province’s health care system. Details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Source: news.ontario.ca NEWS RELEASE Additional measures needed to protect health system capacity and save lives during third wave of COVID-19 TORONTO — The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is immediately declaring a third provincial emergency under s 7.0.1 (1) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMPCA). These measures are being taken in response to the rapid increase in COVID-19 transmission, the threat on the province’s hospital system capacity, and the increasing risks posed to the public by COVID-19 variants.