• First Reference
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Blog Signup 📨

First Reference Talks

Discussions on Human Resources, Employment Law, Payroll and Internal Controls

  • Home
  • About
  • Archives
  • Resources
  • Buy Policies
You are here: Home / Human Rights / Air Canada’s mandatory retirement practice upheld

By Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD | 2 Minutes Read August 7, 2012

Air Canada’s mandatory retirement practice upheld

co-authored with Yosie Saint-Cyr LLB

Image: www.aircanada.com
A recent decision by the Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the mandatory retirement practice for Air Canada pilots. This decision overturns earlier findings by the Federal Court of Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that contractual provisions forcing Air Canada pilots to retire at 60 violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.

We wrote about it in previous blog posts here and here, and on HRinfodesk here and here (login required).

The Federal Court of Appeal found that the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark 1990 decision McKinney v. University of Guelph—that mandatory retirement for university teachers did not violate the Charter—was a binding precedent that the Federal Court and tribunal ought to have followed.

The Supreme Court ruled in McKinney that although mandatory retirement is a breach of the constitutional protection against age-based discrimination, the provision was nonetheless constitutionally valid because it was saved by Section One of the Charter. In other words, mandatory retirement can be justified as an exception to the prohibition against age discrimination when it is a mutually advantageous arrangement between employers and employees that permits the workplace to be organized in a manner accommodating the needs of both parties.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the McKinney analysis applied in the Air Canada pilots’ case.

Accordingly, the Federal Court of Appeal allowed Air Canada’s appeal, set aside the decision of the Federal Court and returned the matter to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal with a direction to dismiss the complaints.

The lawyer for the pilots has filed for leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but is worried that the high court might consider the issue beyond debate because of the pending repeal of the relevant sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act that ban mandatory retirement effective December 15, 2012.

The decision, the lawyer said, “leaves my clients in the lurch” because the change in the law isn’t retroactive and won’t apply to anyone forced into retirement before the change comes into force. “It basically says all those people whose rights were violated are denied their Charter rights.”

Christina Catenacci and Yosie Saint-Cyr
First Reference Human Resources and Compliance Editors

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Follow me
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on privacy and surveillance topics. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.
Follow me
Latest posts by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD (see all)
  • Hefty GDPR fine for Meta - January 20, 2023
  • 2022 report: More data breaches and costs rising - November 1, 2022
  • Bill C-27: a look at proposed AI provisions - August 9, 2022

Article by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD / Human Rights / age, age discrimination, age-based discrimination, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Canadian Human Rights Act, discrimination, employment law, federal court of appeal, Labour Law, landmark 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision, mandatory retirement, mandatory retirement practice, McKinney, pilots, retirement

Share with a friend or colleague

Get the Latest Posts in your Inbox for Free!

Electronic monitoring

About Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD

Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on privacy and surveillance topics. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.

Footer

About us

Established in 1995, First Reference is the leading publisher of up to date, practical and authoritative HR compliance and policy databases that are essential to ensure organizations meet their due diligence and duty of care requirements.

First Reference Talks

  • Home
  • About
  • Archives
  • Resources
  • Buy Policies

Main Menu

  • About First Reference
  • Resources
  • Contact us
  • 1 800 750 8175

Stay Connected

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

We welcome your comments on our blog articles. However, we do not respond to specific legal questions in this space.
We do not provide any form of legal advice or legal opinion. Please consult a lawyer in your jurisdiction or try one of our products.


Copyright © 2009 - 2023 · First Reference Inc. · All Rights Reserved
Legal and Copyright Notices · Publisher's Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Accessibility Policy