With the shortage of family doctors in British Columbia and the growing movement across Canada to reduce the strain on overburdened health care providers, legislation to ban employers from asking for sick notes for short-term employee illnesses will soon be in effect in BC.
In 2022, the BC Employment Standards Act was amended to require employers to provide 5 paid days and 3 unpaid days for employee personal illness or injury, after 90 consecutive days of employment. This new leave requirement allowed employers to ask for “reasonably sufficient proof” of the illness or injury. Such proof of the requirement for sick leave can take many forms such as a doctor’s note, a note from another care provider (such as a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, counsellor or therapist), a pharmacy receipt or a medical bracelet from the hospital.
In April 2025, BC’s Minister of Labour introduced Bill 11, amending the BC Employment Standards Act to help ease the administrative burden on B.C.’s health-care practitioners by clarifying when it is appropriate for employers to request sick notes from workers. Bill 11 clarifies that employers can’t request, and employees are not required to provide, a sick note from a health practitioner to confirm an employee’s short-term health-related leave.
This ban on sick notes for employee health-related leaves on a short-term basis will come into effect in fall 2025, prior to the start of respiratory illness season. This change is anticipated to save more than 180,000 physician hours each year and reduce the burden on employees while they are sick.
Prior to this legislative change soon coming into effect, employers should be updating their sick leave policies to eliminate the need for doctor’s notes for short-term employee illness and injury. Reasonably sufficient proof from employees can still be required (e.g. written attestation from employee, pharmacy receipts, etc.). Further medical evidence can still be requested from an employee’s physician for longer-term illnesses, returns to work and to support employee accommodation requests.
Other Legislative Changes Affecting BC Employers
WorkSafeBC – Occupational Health & Safety Regulation Amendments regarding First Aid
New Occupational Health and Safety Regulations are in effect in BC to ensure employers have the appropriate first aid supplies, facilities, equipment, attendants and services in place based on the number of workers in the workplace and the hazard rating assigned to the industry.
General information on first aid requirements can be found here with new detailed minimum levels of first aid found in Schedule 3-A in the OHS Regulations.
Pay Transparency Act
With the Pay Transparency Act coming into effect in BC in 2023, all publicly advertised job postings in BC are required to include the expected pay or expected pay range for the position. Along with this requirement, a phased approach to posting annual pay transparency reports by November 1 of each year was also implemented. By November 1, 2025, all employers with 300 employees in BC or more are required to report, and by November 1, 2026, all employers with 50 employees in BC or more are required to report.
More information about the Pay Transparency Act requirements can be found here.
Minimum Wage in BC
As of June 1, 2025, the minimum wage in BC was increased to $17.85 per hour. Note that every year on June 1, the minimum wage will be automatically adjusted for inflation based on annual average changes to the consumer price index.
Current minimum wage information in BC can be found here.
Foreign Worker Programs
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) authorizes foreign nationals to work temporarily in Canada, either with or without a work permit. Those who require a work permit fall under either the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or the International Mobility Program (IMP). In March 2024, IRCC announced that the government will aim to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2026.
In recent months, changes to the TFWP and IMP have tightened program parameters to support the government’s volume reduction objectives, including:
- Reducing validity of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from 12 months to 6 months;
- Limiting the authorized period of work for low-wage workers from two years to one year;
- Reducing employer-use of lower-wage temporary workers by lowering the cap from 20% of workforce to 10%, with exemption for priority sectors (construction, healthcare and food security/processing);
- Implementing a refusal to process LMIAs for low-wage positions in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher;
- Increasing the wage threshold for the high-wage stream by 20% ($5–$8) above the provincial/territorial median hourly wage; and
- Placing restrictions on open permits for spouses of international students and temporary workers.
In September 2025, Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, in a speech to the Liberal caucus announced that Canada will continue to make changes to Canada’s immigration policies with the temporary foreign worker program needing “a focused approach that targets the needs of specific strategic sectors and needs in specific regions.” Employers who rely on temporary foreign workers can expect more changes in the months to come.
Posted by Clear HR Consulting Inc. on October 8, 2025
