OPSEU v. Corporation of the County of Frontenac, 2026 CanLII 47870 (ON LA)
Adam Beatty, Arbitrator — May 19, 2026

A Primary Care Paramedic challenged a service-wide rebid process that designated certain positions as Advanced Care Paramedic positions. The arbitrator dismissed the grievance, finding that the Employer’s right to create the schedule included the right to classify certain positions as ACP-only before employees exercised seniority to pick among available schedules.

Background

The grievor was a full-time Primary Care Paramedic in the County’s paramedic service. Within the service, Primary Care Paramedics and Advanced Care Paramedics were separate collective agreement classifications, with ACPs having a broader scope of practice.

The grievance concerned the 2023 rebid process. Certain positions were designated as either PCP or ACP, which meant PCPs could not select ACP-designated positions regardless of seniority.

The Union argued that Article 16.06 made seniority the deciding factor for schedule picks and that the ACP-only designations unlawfully limited seniority rights. The Employer argued that Article 16.06 presupposed that a schedule had already been created, and that management rights gave it authority to determine the schedule and job classifications.

Decision

Arbitrator Beatty dismissed the grievance. He accepted that seniority is a fundamental bargaining unit right, but also recognized that management rights provisions give employers broad operational authority unless constrained by the collective agreement.

The arbitrator accepted the Employer’s argument that the right under Article 16.06’s to pick a schedule by seniority presupposed that a schedule already existed. The right to create that schedule rested with the Employer under Article 2.01. That right included the ability to determine job classifications, job content, staffing numbers, and schedules of work.

The arbitrator found that the collective agreement did not restrict the Employer from creating a schedule that reserved certain positions for ACPs. Once that schedule existed, employees’ seniority rights continued to apply within the available schedule picks.

The arbitrator also noted that the Union had accepted a 2020 rebid process, even though that process also contained limits unrelated to seniority through minimum and maximum ACP thresholds. In his view, the 2020 and 2023 limitations were not materially different for the purposes of the grievance.