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The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted in 1982, providing protection for freedom of association in Canada. However, in spite of Canada’s membership of the
International Labour Organization (ILO), the early interpretations of the Charter by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) resulted in a failure to comply with its international
obligations on freedom of association, since the right to strike and to collective bargaining were excluded from the protection of the Charter. After a period of two decades during which the initial interpretation was applied, the issue of the scope of protection granted to freedom of
association by the Canadian Charter arose once again. This resulted in important case law rulings upholding constitutional protection of the ‘right to the process to collective bargaining’ with an impact on the dialogue on freedom of association between Canada and the ILO.The
present paper examines the most recent decision of the SCC on this issue, Fraser, in connection with the dialogue between Canada and the ILO. This decision limits the constitutional protection granted to the right to the process to collective bargaining. More precisely, the paper evaluates the impact of Fraser on the dialogue and on future compliance by Canada with its international obligations relating to freedom of association.