Drug and alcohol testing is a contentious issue in Canada because addiction is seen as a disability under human rights law, and because it has been held that drug testing does not actually determine whether an employee is impaired while at work. This has led to seemingly conflicting lines of case law, one from Ontario and the other from Alberta. The federal and Ontario approach is that, in general terms, testing is inherently discriminatory under human rights law. In Alberta, pre-employment drug testing can be done for safety-sensitive positions if the candidate is made aware of the testing and subject to a strict testing regime. This is because the Alberta courts have found that health and safety is more critical than human rights issues, although if a candidate who tests positive proves a dependency, the employer may have a duty to accommodate him or her. -Employment & Labour in Alberta Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP