BC becomes first province with official Paid Sick Leave in Canada – here’s what to know

November 28, 2021

Talk about a beautiful idea, British Columbia! Today, the BC government announced that it is becoming the first province to offer official Paid Sick Leave in the entire country. The new plan, which goes into effect next year, applies to full-time, part-time and even casual workers. Here’s what to know about it.

Starting on January 1st, 2022, all workers in BC that are covered by the Employment Standards Act will be entitled to 5 paid sick leave days a year, in addition to 3 unpaid days. While this doesn’t cover every employee in the province (federal employees and independent contractors are a couple of exceptions), it does apply to over 1 million workers in BC that currently don’t have paid sick leave. That’s a win in our books.

Source: Curiocity