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EDMONTON — Alberta has taken steps to ban employers from requiring people to wear high heels at work.

Labour Minister Christina Gray says the province is amending the occupational health and safety code that currently allows employers to make high heels mandatory.

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“Our government has the back of every worker and today we are also looking out for your feet,” Gray said Friday.

Ontario and British Columbia banned mandatory high heels in 2017 and Manitoba did the same this year. Alberta’s changes are to come into effect Jan. 1.

Gray said she heard from servers who said high heels were causing them pain and putting them at risk of tripping and falling.

Lisa Caputo, co-owner of Cibo Bistro in Edmonton, said her previous experiences in the restaurant industry included wearing two-inch heels.

“Working almost half my industry career in a workplace that demanded unsafe and uncomfortable footwear has left my feet in the shape of diamonds from the shoes that I wore eight to 10 hours,” she said.