Marginal note:Powers of Board
16 The Board has, in relation to any proceeding before it, power
(a) to summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses and compel them to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce such documents and things as the Board deems requisite to the full investigation and consideration of any matter within its jurisdiction that is before the Board in the proceeding;
(a.1) to order pre-hearing procedures, including pre-hearing conferences that are held in private, and direct the times, dates and places of the hearings for those procedures;
(a.2) to order that a hearing or a pre-hearing conference be conducted using a means of telecommunication that permits the parties and the Board to communicate with each other simultaneously;
(b) to administer oaths and solemn affirmations;
(c) to receive and accept such evidence and information on oath, affidavit or otherwise as the Board in its discretion sees fit, whether admissible in a court of law or not;
(d) to examine, in accordance with any regulations of the Board, such evidence as is submitted to it respecting the membership of any employees in a trade union seeking certification;
(e) to examine documents forming or relating to the constitution or articles of association of
(i) a trade union or council of trade unions that is seeking certification, or
(ii) any trade union forming part of a council of trade unions that is seeking certification;
(f) to make such examination of records and such inquiries as it deems necessary;
(f.1) to compel, at any stage of a proceeding, any person to provide information or produce the documents and things that may be relevant to a matter before it, after providing the parties the opportunity to make representations;
(g) to require an employer to post and keep posted in appropriate places, or to transmit by any electronic means that the Board deems appropriate, any notice that it considers necessary to bring to the attention of any employees any matter relating to the proceeding;
(h) subject to such limitations as the Governor in Council may, in the interests of defence or security, prescribe by regulation, to enter any premises of an employer where work is being or has been done by employees and to inspect and view any work, material, machinery, appliances or articles therein and interrogate any person respecting any matter that is before the Board in the proceeding;
(i) to order, at any time before the proceeding has been finally disposed of by the Board, that
(i) a representation vote or an additional representation vote be taken among employees affected by the proceeding in any case where the Board considers that the taking of such a vote would assist the Board to decide any question that has arisen or is likely to arise in the proceeding, whether or not such a representation vote is provided for elsewhere in this Part, and
(ii) the ballots cast in any representation vote ordered by the Board pursuant to subparagraph (i) or any other provision of this Part be sealed in ballot boxes and not counted except as directed by the Board;
(j) to enter on the premises of an employer for the purpose of conducting representation votes during working hours;
(k) to authorize any person to do anything that the Board may do under paragraphs (a) to (h), (j), or (m) and to report to the Board thereon;
(l) to adjourn or postpone the proceeding from time to time;
(l.1) to defer deciding any matter, where the Board considers that the matter could be resolved by arbitration or an alternate method of resolution;
(m) to abridge or extend the time for doing any act, filing any document or presenting any evidence in connection with a proceeding;
(m.1) to extend the time limits set out in this Act for instituting a proceeding;
(n) to amend or permit the amendment of any document filed in connection with the proceeding;
(o) to add a party to the proceeding at any stage of the proceeding;
(o.1) to summarily refuse to hear, or dismiss, a matter for want of jurisdiction or lack of evidence;
(p) to decide for all purposes of this Part any question that may arise in the proceeding, including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, any question as to whether
(i) a person is an employer or an employee,
(ii) a person performs management functions or is employed in a confidential capacity in matters relating to industrial relations,
(iii) a person is a member of a trade union,
(iv) an organization or association is an employers’ organization, a trade union or a council of trade unions,
(v) a group of employees is a unit appropriate for collective bargaining,
(vi) a collective agreement has been entered into,
(vii) any person or organization is a party to or bound by a collective agreement, and
(viii) a collective agreement is in operation; and
(q) to decide any question that may arise in a proceeding under Part II, III or IV.
- R.S., 1985, c. L-2, s. 16
- 1998, c. 26, s. 5
- 2017, c. 20, s. 329
- Date modified: