Sep 2019 Charity & NFP Law Update
As was referenced in the Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 431, federal Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act received Royal Assent on June 21, 2018, legalizing the use of recreational cannabis in Canada. Following this, the final Regulations Amending the Cannabis Regulations (New Classes of Cannabis) (“Regulations”) were published in the Canada Gazette on June 26, 2019. The Regulations, in addressing the public health and public safety risks, will come into force on October 17, 2019 and legalize the sale of “edible cannabis, cannabis extracts, and cannabis topicals” (collectively, “cannabis edibles”) in Canada. While initially limited in supply, Health Canada has stated that these products are anticipated to be made available for sale by mid-December 2019.
Once available, employers may potentially face the challenge of employees using cannabis edibles at work and thereby having to manage workplace impairment issues. While there are restrictions on the smoking and vaping of cannabis in enclosed workplaces in Ontario, no such restriction exists for the ingestion of cannabis edibles in the workplace at either the federal or provincial levels. Regardless, employers have the right and obligation to set rules and workplace policies to ensure the health and safety of employees in their workplaces, such as under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Some examples of strategies to avoid employee workplace impairment may include setting up and implementing hazard prevention programs that prohibit the consumption of cannabis edibles in the workplace, or restriction on attending work impaired due to the consumption of cannabis edibles. Any existing policies requiring employees showing “fit” to work or relating to drug or alcohol use, should also be updated to include a new category for recreational cannabis, including consumption of cannabis edibles.
Unlike some other substances, cannabis edibles may take a longer time to take effect after consumption, and may have longer-lasting and unanticipated effects for the consumer. As such, both employers and employees need to be mindful of these potential effects, which may cause workplace impairment. Further, self-assessing impairment as both a consumer of cannabis edibles and for an employer is also harder than for other substances, creating further challenges.
The legalization and sale of recreational cannabis edibles will bring novel and challenging issues for employers to monitor employee conduct in the workplace. Charities and not-for-profits need to be aware of these challenges and take proactive measures in avoiding potential issues.