Top Row: John Heburn (CEO, Mitacs), Androu Waheeb (IP Innovation Clinic Fellow), Naseem Bawa (General Counsel, InteraXon Inc. Bottom Row: The Honourable Doug Downey (Minister of the Attorney General of Ontario), Prof Pina D'Agostino (Founder & Director of IP Osgoode), The Honourable Ross Romano (Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities)

Yesterday, the Government of Ontario formally announced their funding of thousands of student internships through Mitacs. The announcement was made during a press conference held by the Honourable Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities, and featured the Honourable Doug Downey, Attorney General of Ontario, and John Hepburn, CEO of Mitacs. As Principal Investigator of 3 projects in the inaugural year of Mitacs' Business Strategy Internship (BSI) Program, Prof Pina D’Agostino was also invited to be part of the festivities, along with Naseem Bawa, General Counsel for InteraXon Inc., and Androu Waheeb, 1L IP Innovation Clinic Fellow who will complete a BSI at InteraXon this summer.

Minister Romano announced that the Government has granted $39.5 million to Mitacs to fund internships that give students, post-doctoral researchers, and businesses more hands-on, real world experience in the field of their choice. Of the hundreds of internships offered across the country, roughly 100 are in their intellectual property stream.

Ministers Romano and Downey repeatedly stressed the importance of investing in Ontario IP rightsholders and empowering SMEs to take advantage of the intangible economy. In particular, Minister Romano pointed out that foreign entities take advantage of Ontario’s IP resources which remain inaccessible for local innovators. As such, this internship is not only an important investment for potential rightsholders, but also for students who will be business-owners commercializing IP and lawyers protecting their rights.

Mitacs CEO John Hepburn stressed the importance of this new collaboration in helping businesses to succeed at every stage of their journey. In the context of Mitacs’ goal of promoting growth and innovation in Canada, Mr. Hepburn introduced the goal of the BSI program: helping SMEs to address specific needs in order to pivot their businesses in response to the pandemic. In particular, because IP literacy is crucial in the early stages of a business, many student interns will offer valuable IP insight (with academic supervision) to help SMEs develop IP strategy in the initial stages of their business.

Prof D’Agostino spoke for the huge impact that this program will have on the students involved and the experience that it offers for them. After a quick but forceful plug for IP Innovation Clinic’s work in supporting IP strategy for SMEs to date, she highlighted our students’ growing need for employment opportunities like this. The combination of education with intention and work with grassroots organizations in turn empowers the Canadian economy.

Naseem Bawa briefly spoke about InteraXon Inc’s strategic IP investments protecting a wide range of their innovations, and the importance of protecting IP for small businesses. Businesses, according to Naseem, need a layered approach to IP that goes beyond registering it: they need support to enhance, protect, and strategically enforce their IP rights. This takes time and resources, but is critical for the future of both Canada and its companies, further stressing the impact of programs like this. Androu Waheeb rounded out the speakers, expressing his sincere gratitude for this opportunity and the ways in which it will prepare him to follow his dream of becoming an IP lawyer.

We would like to thank the Government of Ontario and Mitacs for supporting this program and our incredible students, whom we wish the best of luck in their internships!

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In a digitized world, it can be all too easy for unauthorized employees to access confidential information in the workplace, as recent at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and some have shown. Employers should be prepared to take appropriate disciplinary action against employees who snoop into personal information. In some instances, termination of employment may be appropriate. To minimize liability for wrongful dismissal claims, employers should take careful steps to prevent snooping in the first place and be ready to investigate and discipline employees appropriately if an incident occurs.

Privacy Commissioner: Consider Firing Employees with Prying Eyes

Employers will welcome the comments of Saskatchewan Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski, who recently against snooping workers, after two employees at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency were disciplined for prying into the health records of 48 people. Health information should only be accessed by staff caring for patients, and even then, only on a need-to-know basis. The agency learned of the breaches in May and conducted an investigation. The employees were asked why they had looked at the records, but no explanations were forthcoming.

“In extreme cases, I think the firing option should be considered” when an employee pokes their nose where it doesn’t belong, Kruzeniski said. He noted, however, that the “circumstances of each case are also very relevant”. For example, unintentional access may occur when names are mis-typed.

An Ounce of Prevention

Cyber-snooping should be taken seriously, and termination of employment may indeed be appropriate in serious cases. To minimize liability for wrongful dismissal claims, employers should take careful steps to prevent snooping in the first place and be ready to investigate and discipline employees appropriately if an incident occurs. By making it clear that snooping will not be tolerated, an employer may both decrease the incidence of snooping and strengthen their case for appropriate employee discipline if the rules are broken.

Consider taking the following steps:

1. Set the boundaries. Create workplace policies and rules that clearly explain the circumstances in which private or sensitive information may be accessed, and by which employees. Provide training, including refreshers at appropriate intervals, to ensure that employees know how to follow the rules.
2. Build practical barriers. Don’t make it easy to access private records: consider deploying password protection, minimal access or a system that records each time sensitive data is accessed and by whom – or a combination of all three.
3. Explain the consequences. Courts will be less likely to deem discipline, including termination of employment, to be excessive if employees are clearly put on notice of potential consequences before they decide to snoop. Policies should include a clear statement of the disciplinary action that will be taken against rule-breakers.
4. Get it in writing. If the policy is properly incorporated into the employment agreement, it may be possible to discipline or terminate an employee for breaching the policy.
5. Stick to your guns. Turning a blind eye to “minor” snooping may be fatal to an employer’s case for discipline, especially termination for just cause, if behaviour escalates. Be sure to apply policies consistently and fairly.
6. Investigate fairly. Jumping to conclusions will increase potential liability for wrongful dismissal, defamation and other potential claims. Ensure that employees have an opportunity to explain their actions.
7. Discipline proportionately. Termination of employment may be appropriate in certain circumstances but should not be done precipitously. Employers may also consider ending employment of non-union employees without cause (as long as the termination is not connected to a ground protected under human rights legislation) by providing notice or pay in lieu of notice as required under the terms of employment.

Snooping can occur for reasons ranging from the sinister to the mundane, including garden-variety curiosity or boredom. Regardless of the employee’s motivation, employers should be ready to deal with snoops fairly and decisively. This is particularly true now, as recent amendments to Canada’s privacy legislation (which we wrote about ) have introduced a requirement to document breaches of security safeguards, mandatory notification of breaches and the potential for significant fines.

© McCarthy Tétrault LLP

is an associate in the Labour & Employment Group at McCarthy Tétrault in Vancouver.

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