Case information

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Constitutional law - Division of powers - Jurisdiction - Interprovincial works and undertakings - Operations of freight forwarding company that uses third party carriers for interprovincial transportation of freight - Whether Court of Appeal erred in determining that the Applicant’s Calgary operation falls within federal jurisdiction under the Constitution Act, 1867, ss. 91 and 92 and is thus subject to the Canada Labour Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. L-2.

Fastfrate is a freight-forwarding business with branches across Canada and a centrally located head office. It collects its customers’ local shipments, consolidates them at its warehouse facilities, then arranges for the interprovincial transportation of the full-truckload shipments with third-party carriers. When the shipments arrive at a Fastfrate warehouse, they are de-consolidated by Fastfrate employees and delivered to the customers. The Fastfrate employees’ association at the Calgary operation was certified by the Alberta Labour Relations Board (the “Board”) to represent the employees for labour relations. The Teamsters union was granted federal certification to represent all Fastfrate employees in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2004. Fastfrate and the Calgary employees’ association opposed the Teamsters’ certification and applied to the Board to affirm its Alberta bargaining certificate. The Board held that labour relations at the Calgary branch of Fastfrate were subject to federal jurisdiction under s. 92(10)(a) of the Constitution Act, 1867 because Fastfrate was a single undertaking connecting Alberta with other provinces. The association and Fastfrate applied for judicial review of the Board’s decision.