What is the minimum time an employer must give before cancelling work?

Question

I do sporadic work for a company. I had a shift scheduled for over a month. I messaged my manager the day before asking if there's anything else I needed to know. She told me the shift was cancelled. She said because it was more than 24 hours they didn't have to pay me anything.

Is there some law about not getting paid if warned 24 hours in advanced? Do I have a case worth pursuing or not really? I'm located in BC however the office is in Ontario. None of the paper work I signed said anything about how the company can cancel on me.

The company wants to think I'm a contractor, however I know it's not up to what the contract says if it's an employee relationship or contractor. Is this what the decision would come down to? Can regular employees have shifts cancelled with 24 hours notice? Notwithstanding the contract, I believe I would be considered an employee.

Answer 1

For both BC and Ontario, so long as the shift is cancelled before you report to work, you aren't entitled to any pay. (Ontario was to implement 48 hours notice as of January 1 this year, but there was a change in government and that got repealed.)

If you work in a federally regulated industry and thus fall under the Canada Labour Code, the situation appears to be the same. However, as of September 1, 24 hours notice will be required.