The Government of Canada has a continuing strong commitment to the implementation, and where possible, the ratification of Internaltional Labour Organization, ILO, core conventions.
Although the authority to ratify an ILO convention is exclusively federal, the implementation of most ILO conventions falls under both federal and provincial jurisdictions, given the division of powers over labour matters under the Canadian Constitution.
For this reason the longstanding practice in Canada, as regards ILO conventions which fall under both federal and provincial/territorial jurisdictions, like Convention 98, has been to ratify only if all jurisdictions concur with ratification and undertake to implement the convention's requirements within their respective jurisdictions.
With respect to Convention 98, there is a high level of conformity in Canada to the convention's major principles, which include protection against acts of anti-union discrimination and workers' and employers' interference in each other's affairs, and the encouragement and promotion of voluntary collective bargaining. However, Canada has not ratified Convention 98 because there are some divergencies between the convention's requirements and the Canadian situation.
The main obstacle to ratification is that, with the exception of the armed forces and the police and “public servants engaged in the administration of the state”, Convention 98 does not provide for any exclusions from collective bargaining rights. However, in Canada, a number of jurisdictions exclude some other types of workers, such as agricultural workers and certain professionals, from their collective bargaining legislation. This has been interpreted by the ILO as not being in compliance with Convention 98.
Officials of the labour program of Human Resources Development Canada have recently sought further clarifications from ILO officials concerning Convention 98's requirements, with a view to initiating a re-examination of the potential for Canadian ratification of Convention 98, in consultation with the provinces and territories as well as the social partners.