Generally, labour refers to work in unionized work settings. Labour law is a body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on unionized workers and their employers.
Each province and territory has its own legislation relating to labour law. There are also federal labour laws that apply to workers in federally regulated industries that can include inter-provincial or international transportation, radio, television, postal service, banking and some crown corporations.
Related topics include:
- Workplace health and safety
- Labour Arbitration
- Collective Bargaining
- Human rights in the workplace
- Industrial relations
- Collective Agreements
Texts
- Canadian labour arbitration, (available online) 5th ed. by Donald J.M. Brown & David M. Beatty Table of Contents.
- Canadian labour law (available online) by George W. Adams Table of Contents.
- Canadian labour relations : law, policy and practice, 2nd ed. by David J. Doorey & Alison Braley-Rattai
- Canadian master labour guide Table of Contents.
- Clarke’s Canada industrial relations board (available online) by Graham J. Clarke.
- Collective agreement arbitration in Canada, 7th ed. by Ronald M. Snyder Table of Contents.
- Evidence and procedure in Canadian labour arbitration (available online) by Morley R. Gorsky et al.
- Judicial review in labour law (available online) by Richard J. Charney & Thomas E.F. Brady Table of Contents.
- Labour and employment law : cases, materials and commentary (available online) 9th ed. by Labour Law Casebook Group Table of Contents.
- Labour law in Canada, 5th ed. by Donald D. Carter Table of Contents.
- Labour relations code : practitioner’s manual by Alberta Labour Relations Board
- Trade union law in Canada (available online) by Michael MacNeil, Michael Lynk & Peter Engelmann Table of Contents.
- Tribunal practice and procedure, 2nd ed. by Kandace Bond Wileman et al. Table of Contents.
- Willis & Winkler on leading labour cases (available online) by Elaine B. Willis & Warren K. Winkler.
Last revised Feb. 20, 2025
Case Law
For more information on finding cases see our research guide: Finding and Researching Cases
- Alberta grievance arbitration awards (available online)
- Alberta interest arbitration awards
- Alberta Labour Relations Board reports (available online)
- Canadian cases on employment law
- Canadian cases on pensions and benefits
- Canadian labour law cases
- Canadian labour law reporter
- Canadian Labour Relations Boards reports
- Dismissal and employment law digest
- Lancaster labour law reports
- Labour arbitration cases
- ICLR
- LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
- vLex Justis
- Westlaw Edge – has access to Canadian labour arbitration summaries (C.L.A.S.) & Labour cases and decisions.
- Canada (Federal) – Labour arbitration awards – Canlii
- Canlii – has arbitration awards for most Canadian provinces, coverage varies
Legislation
Federal Acts and Regulations can be found electronically at:
To access or purchase the official version go to: Alberta King’s Printer
Definitions
Journals
- Canadian labour and employment law journal (available online)
- Index to Canadian legal literature (ICLL) (available online)
- Current Index to legal periodicals (CILP) (available online)
Additional full-text articles are available electronically through:
- vLex Justis
- Lexis Advance® Quicklaw®
- Westlaw Edge – contains a collection of Canadian journals and law reviews, as well as all articles and case comments appearing in Carswell law reports.
- HeinOnline – provides full-text access to Canadian and international law reviews and legal journals.
For more information on looking for journal articles see our research guide Finding journal articles, conference materials & theses
Websites
- NATLEX – a database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the ILO’s International Labour Standards Department. Records in NATLEX provide abstracts of legislation and relevant citation information, and they are indexed by keywords and by subject classifications. NATLEX contains over 80,000 records covering 196 countries and over 160 territories and subdivisions.
- International Labour organization – provides a general understanding of how labour law works in each country.
- International Tax and Business Guides (Deloitte) – Scan for the labor relations and labor force section. Includes topics such as employee rights, working hours, wages, benefits, and labor-management relations.
- Labour Studies Index
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