An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (bereavement leave)

How it changed on the way

94% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (355 words introduced, 297 passed). A committee amended it.

transformative changeintent changed direction

The bill switched entirely from extending compassionate care leave under section 206.3 to extending bereavement leave under section 210 and broadening who qualifies for it. Nearly all of the original text was removed and replaced with new provisions on leave length, timing, and eligibility tied to a family member's death.

• The bill title changed from compassionate care leave to bereavement leave.

  Before: “An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (compassionate care leave)”

  After: “An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (bereavement leave)”

• The stated purpose shifted from extending compassionate care leave to extending bereavement leave and expanding eligibility.

  Before: “This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to extend the period during which an employee may take compassionate care leave.”

  After: “This enactment amends the Canada Labour Code to extend, by five unpaid days, the period of bereavement leave to which an employee is entitled and to expand eligibility for the leave to include employees who, at the time a family member dies, are on compassionate care leave or leave related to critical illness in respect of the deceased person.”

• The core amendment moved from detailed rules on compassionate care leave end dates to new bereavement leave entitlements.

  Before: “Paragraph 206.3(3)(b) of the Canada Labour Code is replaced by the following:”

  After: “Subsection 210(1) of the Canada Labour Code is replaced by the following:”

• A coming-into-force clause was added that did not exist in the introduced version.

  After: “This Act comes into force on the day that, in the third month after the month in which it receives royal assent, has the same calendar number as the day on which it receives royal assent or, if that third month has no day with that number, the last day of that third month.”

How precisely it is written

preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Hard

The bill sets fixed numerical entitlements and objective time windows tied to specific events like death and services. It references existing leave sections without adding subjective standards or official discretion.

Clear-cut

• “a leave of absence from employment of up to 10 days”

  Uses a clear numerical maximum rather than a flexible or subjective amount.

• “ends six weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service of the deceased person occurs”

  Anchors the end date to verifiable calendar events with a fixed six-week multiplier.

• “on leave under section 206.3 or 206.4”

  Limits eligibility by cross-reference to two specific, pre-existing statutory leaves.

Discretion. No power is delegated to ministers, officials or regulations; the entitlement and timing rules are set directly in the statute.

Challenging the law itself. The text contains no vague or overbroad language that would readily support a Charter challenge on vagueness or overbreadth grounds.

Disputing a charge under it. Eligibility turns on objective facts such as dates of death and services plus cross-referenced leave status, leaving little room for interpretive dispute.

Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.