In an increasingly globalized economy, Canada’s domestically oriented labour and employment laws must now adapt to novel circumstances. This topic is a top research priority for the Queen’s Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace.

“The Centre is ahead of the curve on internationalization,” says Hugh Christie, Law’81, co-chair of the CLCW’s advisory board and managing partner of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart’s new Canadian operations. “It started out as a project to re-vitalize the practice of labour and employment law, both in the academy and in private practice. It is doing just that. But in the process, through strong recruitment and visiting international scholars, it has changed the way the area of law is perceived.”

The CLCW, he explains, aims to examine the role of Canadian labour relations and minimum standards laws in helping (or hindering) workplaces in their adaptation to global economic integration, and the role of international and transnational law in protecting fundamental rights at work.

According to Christie, “Canada has a good story to tell about the public policy choices we have made around laws governing the workplace. We have a far less adversarial, and therefore less expensive, system of resolving workplace disputes than many countries, and it is exciting to get that message out to the world.
 
“The workforce is increasingly mobile, world-wide,” he adds. “Whether it is Canadian companies with operations abroad, or international employers with operations in Canada, borders are becoming less important than they once were, though the law is by and large still a local set of rules.” There is a current trend for international law firms to come to Canada to provide legal services to these businesses that are navigating multi-national operations.

As one example, the international labour and employment law firm Ogletree Deakins, which has 49 offices across the U.S., Europe and Mexico, entered the Canadian market in January by opening its first office in Toronto. For Christie, who had previously been part of a large full-service firm, joining Ogletree Deakins was the right move at the right time. Being part of a firm with the singular focus on labour and employment law, he points out, minimizes potential conflicts of interest that can arise in firms that have previously acted for both parties.

Additionally, given the large number of American clients with operations in Canada that need cross-border representation, a firm that can represent a client’s interests in all the jurisdictions in which it operates is a boon to businesses. For Christie, “To add our network of Canadian clients to Ogletree’s worldwide human resources contacts and expertise and to provide useful employment law advice wherever decision-makers are in the world is truly exciting.”