Risk & Business Magazine Lloyd Sadd Insurance Brokers Spring 2016 | Page 7

Alberta Government Passes Bill 6
What You Need to Know

BY: RYAN MILLER, ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE AT LLOYD SADD INSURANCE

O

n Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, the
Government of Alberta passed Bill
6, the Enhanced Protection for Farm
and Ranch Workers Act. The legislation,
which will impact approximately
60,000 Canadian farms and ranches,
aims to safeguard workers by extending
provincial safety regulations to the
agriculture industry and by requiring
worker’s compensation coverage.
Specifically, the bill does the following:
1. Subjects farms and ranches that
employ one or more non-family waged
workers to Occupational Health and
Safety (OHS) legislation in an effort to
prevent injury or death (effective Jan.1,
2016).
2. Makes Workers’ Compensation
Board (WCB) coverage mandatory for
farms with non-family waged workers
in order to financially protect workers

following any injuries (effective Jan.1,
2016).

3. Includes farms and ranches in
Employment Standards and Labour
Relations legislation (effective spring
2016).
4. Allows agricultural workers
unionize (effective spring 2016).

to

farmhands are not subject to the OHS
and WCB regulations outlined in the
legislation.
For more information on Bill 6, including
details on the changes as well as frequently
asked questions, visit the Government
of Alberta’s Web page on the Enhanced
Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers
act, or contact your Lloyd Sadd Executive
today.

Following its announcement in November,
Bill 6 sparked concern and protest from
farmers who argued that the proposed
legislation was an attack on their way of life.
Opponents worried that the government
was not providing enough details and that
Bill 6 did not take into account that, in
some cases, farms are more like homes than
businesses.
Following the controversy, the Government
of Alberta amended Bill 6 so that farm
owners, family members and unpaid

Source: Zywave, Inc.

SPRING 2016

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