Liberals eyed rules for cannabis use by workers, drug testing, documents show
OTTAWA — Federal officials have quietly probed possible new workplace rules for employees who show up to work high after cannabis is legalized next week, newly released documents show.
The documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the access-to-information law show Labour Minister Patty Hajdu was given options to deal with cannabis impairment in the workplace in early June as officials ironed out the details of any new policy.
Among the issues being debated was a common definition of “safety sensitive” jobs, which determines which employees can be subjected to drug testing.
Federal departments were wrestling at the time with their own response to workers who may smoke or vape pot, but were also quietly told Hajdu was considering changes to the Canada Labour Code — including whether and how to allow for mandatory drug testing for employees.