Ontario Creating Job-Protected Leave for Injured Military Reservists

Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, was joined by General Rick Hillier (retired), Former Chief of the Defense Staff of Canada, to announce how the government is introducing new legislation that, if passed, would guarantee military reservists can return to their civilian jobs after deployment, even if they need additional time off to recover from physical or mental injuries.

In addition, the proposed legislation would make Ontario among the first in Canada to allow reservists to respond and deploy to domestic emergencies – including search and rescue operations, recovery from national disasters such as flood relief, and military aid following ice storms – even if they just started a new job. Similarly, reservists would be eligible for job-protected leave when deployed abroad or upgrading their military skills after just two months – as opposed to the current three.

Of the Canadian 40,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, nearly 1 in 7 developed a mental injury attributed to trauma from their mission.

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