supervisory roles and specific professionals, etc.). In the federal public service, the government is able to prioritize the hiring of veterans, persons in receipt of a war pension, and Canadian citizens for externally posted job advertisements.169 However, both the Canada Labour Code and the Public Service Labour Relations Act do not restrict the definition of “employee” for the purposes of joining a trade union on the basis of being a foreign national or a stateless person. It is also noteworthy that federal labour relations legislation prohibits trade unions or persons working on behalf of a trade union from expelling, suspending, denying membership in the trade union, or imposing disciplinary standards to an employee in a manner that discriminates on the grounds identified in the Canadian Human Rights Act.170 The grounds include race and national or ethnic origin.171 c. Provincial Legal Framework With respect to provincial labour relations legislation, each province has legislation on the making and joining of associations and trade unions in private enterprise industries, as well as in the provincial public service. Similar to federal labour legislation identified above, labour relations legislation in Alberta,172 British Columbia,173 Ontario,174 and Quebec175 allow certain “employees” to form trade unions and associations. These provincial statutes do not exclude foreign nationals or stateless persons from becoming “employees” or being able to form or join an association or trade union. Provincial labour legislation in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec also prohibit trade unions or persons working on behalf of a trade union from expelling, suspending, denying membership in the trade union, or imposing disciplinary standards in a manner that discriminates on the grounds identified in their respective provincial human rights legislation.176 III. Assessment Stateless persons who are lawfully staying in Canada, and who are considered “employees” Public Service Employment Act, SC 2003, c 22, ss 12, 13, at s. 39, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/52cjm. Canada Labour Code, supra note 166 at s. 95(g)-(h). 171 Canadian Human Rights Act, supra note 52. See Article 3 above for further discussion. 172 Labour Relations Code, RSA 2000, c L-1, at ss. 1(l), 4 & 21(1), available at: http://canlii.ca/t/52bwm [Alberta Labour Relations Code]; and Public Service Employee Relations Act, RSA 2000, c P-43, at ss. 1(l), 2, 9(1), 12, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/522rb [Alberta Public Service Employee Relations Act] 173 Labour Relations Code, RSBC 1996, c 244, at ss. 1(1) & 4(1), available at: http://canlii.ca/t/520vh [BC Labour Relations Code]; Public Service Labour Relations Act, RSBC 1996, c 388, at s. 1(1) available at: http://canlii.ca/t/lgzd [BC Public Service Labour Relations Act] 174 Labour Relations Act, RSO 1990, c L.2, at ss. 1(1), 3, 5, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/527xz [Ontario Labour Relations Act]; and Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993, SO 1993, c 38, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/l0bl [Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act]. 175 Labour Code, CQLR c C-27, at s. 1(1), 3, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/52bwh [Quebec Labour Code]; Public Service Act, CQLR c F-3.1.1, available at: http://canlii.ca/t/524tw [Quebec Public Service Act] 176 Alberta Labour Relations Code, supra note 172 at ss. 152(1); BC Labour Relations Code, supra note 173 at s. 10(2)(a); Ontario Labour Relations Act, supra note 174 at ss. 51(2)(f) & 75; Quebec Labour Code, supra note 175 at s. 47.2. 169 170 35 35