Legislation, language and cultural values play a part
By Brian Kreissl
Every country has a unique legal and regulatory environment, as well as its own business practices, culture, language, demographics and economy. All of those factors impact human resources management and make the practice of HR somewhat unique and different in each country.
Canada is no exception, and I think it is important to understand how the HR profession here differs from that of other countries. This is important to understand not only in relation to the United States, but also with respect to other countries.
HR practitioners on international assignments need to understand such differences. It is also important for multinational organizations doing business internationally to understand that they cannot simply adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to human resources management in different countries.
Employment protection legislation
In many ways, the culture of the U.S. is more individualistic than just about anywhere else on earth. In spite of the fact Canada is somewhat more collectivist than our neighbour to the south, we still have a lot in common with our American cousins, and that is one of the reasons why our employment protection legislation, for example, doesn’t go as far as most European countries.
Having said that, employment law differs considerably from the United States and is tilted much more in favour of employees than it is south of the border. For example, we don’t have at will employment here in Canada. In the absence of just cause, it is generally required to provide reasonable notice on termination — or at least minimum notice as stipulated in the governing employment standards legislation.
We also don’t have so-called right to work legislation, meaning employees generally don’t have a choice not to join a union. Union security in Canada is governed by several different models depending on the provisions of the collective agreement and the industry in question.
I find it strange how so many U.S. employers require new hires to take a drug test as part of the selection process even for white collar jobs. As we all know, drug and alcohol dependency is considered a disability under Canadian human rights legislation, and because of that (as well as for privacy reasons) drug and alcohol testing is generally frowned upon in Canada other than for highly safety-sensitive positions. Our courts and tribunals also tend to take a much more dim view of testing that doesn’t measure actual impairment.
However, I just think our culture is such that employers generally don’t think it is any of their business if someone decides to smoke a joint on the weekend. In spite of the fact that marijuana still isn’t legal in Canada (as it is in some states south of the border), the “war on drugs” never quite reached the same level here as it did in the United States.
In general, I would say Canadian employers are less worried about what people do in their spare time than their American counterparts. Because of that, we don’t see as many employers rejecting candidates because there are pictures on their Facebook pages of them with a drink in their hand, and we don’t hear about employers requesting passwords to employees’ social media accounts.
Language and cultural diversity
Because Canada is a bilingual country with a long history of immigration and an official policy of multiculturalism, diversity is a big thing in most Canadian organizations. We tend to attract a larger number of immigrants and refugees on a per capita basis than most countries, with the result that employers need to do their part in helping to integrate newcomers into society.
Language is also an issue for many employers not only with respect to the recruitment of newcomers, but also in terms of bilingualism, particularly if they operate in Quebec. The practise of human resources management becomes a little more challenging when everything needs to be translated and support is required in two or more languages.
Professionalization and regulation of HR
With regard to the professionalization of HR in Canada, obtaining HR certifications appears to be more popular in Canada than elsewhere and a large percentage of HR practitioners are members of a provincial HR association. Employment is mostly regulated provincially in Canada and therefore there isn’t just one HR association across the country.
However, HR isn’t a licensed profession and people are free to practise HR without being a member of an association or obtaining a designation in human resources.
