The Wage Earner Protection Program Act (French: Loi sur le Programme de protection des salariés; S.C. 2005, c. 47, s.1),[1] is an act of the Parliament of Canada.
[3] The issue of fairness with respect to employees terminated as a result of business failures was addressed by the Parliament of Canada as early as 1949, when the Bankruptcy Act was amended to provide a limited preferred creditor status to such claims.
From 1975, legislative proposals were actively considered for the establishment of a wage protection scheme in the event of the bankruptcy, liquidation or receivership of an employer.
The various options discussed for how this could be achieved included: In November 2003, the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce reviewed the history of these discussions and recommended that the option for super priority status be adopted.
The phrase "compensation for services rendered" in the definition for "eligible wages" was held by the British Columbia Supreme Court in 2009 to include other amounts that were earned by the employee and which were directed to be paid to a third party pursuant to a contract covering the employee.