Employment Relations in Canada

Employment relations in Canada rest on several fundamental characteristics. A large proportion of the labour force is subject to the influence of collective bargaining, either directly or indirectly, and there is strong legal protection for collective bargaining. There are traditions of adversarialism and moderate levels of strike activity. While Canada has incorporated many employer, union and public policies that originated in the United States of America (USA), it has produced a distinctive employment relations system. On a comparative basis, Canada is a liberal market economy and its employment relations exhibit characteristics drawn from that model. Enterprises rely on hierarchies and markets, bargaining structures are decentralised and unions are not generally key participants in economic and labour policy-making.