With 2020 nearly behind us, a number of new rules and regulations are set to take effect this upcoming year. Changes include minimum wage increases, bans on single-use plastics and free vaccines.
Below are just some of the new rules and regulations set to come into effect federally and provincially in 2021:
NATIONWIDE
Bills to lose legal tender status
Hundreds of millions of $1, $2, $25, $500, and $1,000 bank notes will lose their legal tender status on Jan. 1.
Stores can still accept the bills if they choose to, however, this doesn’t mean that the bills are worthless as they can potentially be sold for more than face value to collectors.
Ban on single-use plastics
The federal government announced plastic bags, cutlery and other hard-to-recycle plastic items would be banned by the end of 2021.
Changes to workplace harassment legislation
The federal government’s new “Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations” come into effect on Jan. 1, forcing federally-regulated organizations to formulate a workplace harassment policy, with an assessment of harassment risk factors and employee harassment training to be completed by Jan. 1, 2022.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Climate accountability rules
Beginning on March 1, British Columbia will implement new measures aimed at keeping the province accountable toward its goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which will require documentation on how the government intends to meet its climate goals and how much it will cost.
The province intends to reduce its emissions to 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030.
In 2007, British Columbia released 64.76 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the province needs to reduce its output by 25.9 million tonnes by 2030.
-- with files from CTV News --