Lawyer weighs in on legalities, best practices after Ottawa restricts use of streaming services by public servants
When the federal government quietly blocked streaming giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ across 45 departments last December, the move was driven by what officials called a “people management” issue.
Shared Services Canada (SSC) announced the move after thousands of hours of streaming were logged in a single month, with the Department of National Defence alone accounting for over three terabytes of data, said the CBC.
Previously, a spokesperson for SSC said "streaming services are not considered work tools and offer no business value for the government of Canada."
And SSC president Scott Jones noted that “while streaming may ultimately impact the bandwidth available to the [government], it is also more importantly a people management issue," said the CBC.
So, how should employers navigate the issue of streaming services used in the workplace?
As Toronto employment lawyer Andrew Monkhouse explains, Canadian employers are on solid ground when it comes to restricting or blocking access to streaming platforms on workplace devices or networks, but need to be careful about monitoring.
“Legally, employers are generally allowed to limit or block any website in the office through workplace policies,” he says.
“It would only be in exceptional circumstances that such workplace policy changes could be considered constructive dismissal or invalidated in non-union environments.”
According to Monkhouse, when it comes to privacy, the distinction between restricting access and monitoring employee activity is crucial, with each province having its own rules around employee privacy and policies.
“Restricting websites, such as blocking them through a WiFi system, would not generally constitute a privacy issue, so long as internet usage is not being monitored,” he explains.
“For monitoring, all provincially regulated workplaces with over 25 employees are required to have electronic monitoring policies in place since 2022, under Part XI.1 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Monitoring must comply with that policy and also be reasonable.”
Canadian privacy law, as shaped by Supreme Court decisions, recognizes that employees may have a “reasonable expectation of privacy even when using workplace devices in certain circumstances,” Monkhouse warns.
“If an employer oversteps and improperly monitors employees – revealing embarrassing or confidential personal information – the company could face liability under the legal tort of ‘intrusion upon seclusion,’ which applies to the unauthorized and secret access of private data.”
Not all streaming is frivolous. As Monkhouse explains, some employees may require access to platforms like YouTube for research, training, or troubleshooting. For this reason, practicing discretion when creating internet policies is recommended.
“Employers should recognize that many websites may have legitimate uses, even if not immediately obvious,” he says.
“By broadly blocking websites, employers risk appearing paternalistic and suggesting they don't trust their employees.”
There’s also the risk of perceived preferential treatment if exceptions are made, he adds – another reason for thoughtful application of rules, or even waiting to react to breaches instead of enforcing broad policies.
“Companies that allow managers or specific groups access to certain sites while blocking them for others may also face allegations of preferential treatment,” Monkhouse says.
“Most employers instead choose to police internet misuse after the fact – disciplining employees who breach policies – rather than proactively blocking access to certain sites via the company Wi-Fi.”
Blocking streaming services can have unintended consequences for morale and workplace culture, Monkhouse notes, when employees become aware of unequal enforcement. Therefore, he advises employers to strive for balance.
“Blocking streaming services or other platforms in an overly expansive way could certainly harm employee morale and workplace culture. That said, employers are allowed to ensure that employees are actually working during scheduled hours.” he says.
“Unless a policy, employment contract, or manager explicitly allows it, watching Netflix while claiming to be working would generally be considered misconduct.”
Monkhouse recommends transparency, consistency and flexibility for employers implementing internet use policies. They should also be distributed to employees equally, and monitoring should be limited to only what is necessary.
“Broad surveillance or hidden tracking often backfires,” he says. “Allowing limited personal use [such as] checking the news during lunch is typically better for morale than enforcing a strict ban … over-policing internet use can create bigger workplace issues than it solves.”
