Toronto Electric Commissioners V. Snider - Subsequent Jurisprudence

Subsequent Jurisprudence

In 1979, the Supreme Court of Canada, in Northern Telecom v. Communications Workers summarized post-Snider jurisprudence into the following principles:

1. Parliament has no authority over labour relations as such nor over the terms of a contract of employment; exclusive provincial competence is the rule.
2. By way of exception, however, Parliament may assert exclusive jurisdiction over these matters if it is shown that such jurisdiction is an integral part of its primary competence over some other single federal subject.
3. Primary federal competence over a given subject can prevent the application of provincial law relating to labour relations and the conditions of employment but only if it is demonstrated that federal authority over these matters is an integral element of such federal competence.
4. Thus, the regulation of wages to be paid by an undertaking, service or business, and the regulation of its labour relations, being related to an integral part of the operation of the undertaking, service or business, are removed from provincial jurisdiction and immune from the effect of provincial law if the undertaking, service or business is a federal one.
5. The question whether an undertaking, service or business is a federal one depends on the nature of its operation.
6. In order to determine the nature of the operation, one must look at the normal or habitual activities of the business as those of "a going concern", without regard for exceptional or casual factors; otherwise, the Consti­tution could not be applied with any degree of continuity and regularity.