Ontario updates rules on job postings and more

Ontario has announced effective dates and supporting regulations for a number of workplace legislation changes adopted earlier this year. Most importantly, Ontario has clarified that new job posting rules will come into force on January 1, 2026.

Earlier this year, the Ontario legislature passed two workplace law amendment bills ‒ Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 and Bill 190, Working for Workers Five Act, 2024. These two bills amended several employment-related statutes. For a summary of each bill, see our earlier updates:

• Ontario’s Working for Workers Four Act receives royal assent
• Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act receives royal assent

Some of these changes were delayed until a date to be proclaimed by the government. The government has now announced these dates for several amendments.

Job postings

Bill 149 and Bill 190 created a new Part III.1 in the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). Part III.1 contains five new rules related to how employers go about advertising jobs and hiring new employees. Ontario has set the effective date for Part III.1 as January 1, 2026. 

Ontario has also issued regulations clarifying the scope of the new Part III.1 requirements. The information below is what we now know about the new job posting requirements.

Affected job postings. A “publicly advertised job posting” will mean an external job posting that an employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer advertises to the general public in any manner but will not include,

• a general recruitment campaign that does not advertise a specific position,
• a general help wanted sign that does not advertise a specific position,
• a posting for a position that is restricted to existing employees of the employer, or
• a posting for a position for which work is to be,
  • performed outside Ontario, or
  • performed outside Ontario and in Ontario and the work performed outside Ontario is not a continuation of work performed in Ontario

Excluded employers. Part III.1 job posting requirements will not apply to employers who have fewer than 25 employees on the day a publicly advertised job posting is posted.

Clarified job posting requirements. Taking the new regulations into account, these are the job posting rules that will come into effect on January 1, 2026:

• Pay transparency. Job postings must include information about the expected compensation for the position or the range of expected compensation for the position.

This requirement will not apply to job postings for a position that has expected compensation equivalent to more than $200,000 annually, or a range of expected compensation that exceeds $200,000 annually. The maximum range of expected compensation that a job posting may include is $50,000.

“Compensation” will defined to mean “wages.” Under the ESA, the definition of wages is very broad, and includes all monetary remuneration for work. In determining whether a position is above or below the $200,000 cutoff, employers should consider not only annual salary, but also non-discretionary bonuses or other monetary compensation the employee is likely to earn.

• AI disclosure. Job postings must disclose whether the employer uses artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess or select applications for the position.

“Artificial intelligence” will be defined as “a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers from the input it receives in order to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.”

• Canadian experience. Job postings and application forms must not include any job requirements related to Canadian experience.
• Vacancy. Job postings must include a statement disclosing whether the posting is for an existing vacancy or not.
• Follow up with interviewees. An employer who interviews an applicant for a publicly advertised job posting must, within 45 days of the interview (or within 45 days of the last interview, if there is more than one), inform the interviewee as to whether a hiring decision has been for the job posting. This information may be provided in person, in writing or using technology.

Employers will also be required to retain or arrange for some other person to retain copies of the information provided to interviewees for three years after the day the information was provided to the applicant.

For the purposes of this follow-up requirement, “Interview” will be defined as “a meeting in person or a meeting using technology, including but not limited to teleconference and videoconference technology, between an applicant who has applied to a publicly advertised job posting and an employer or a person acting on behalf of an employer where questions are asked and answers are given to assess the applicant’s suitability for the position, but does not include preliminary screening before the selection of applicants for such a meeting.”

Information about employment

As of July 1, 2025, employers will be required to provide employees with information about employment before their first day of work, or, if that is not practicable, as soon as reasonably possible. This requirement will not apply to:

• Employers who employ fewer than 25 employees on the employee’s first day of work.
• Employees who are assignment employees (i.e. workers engaged through a temporary help agency).

The information that must be provided is:

• The legal name of the employer, as well as any operating or business name of the employer if different from the legal name.
• Contact information for the employer, including address, telephone number and one or more contact names.
• A general description of where it is anticipated that the employee will initially perform work.
• The employee’s starting hourly or other wage rate or commission, as applicable.
• The pay period and pay day established by the employer.
• A general description of the employee’s initial anticipated hours of work.

Washroom cleaning

As of July 1, 2025, employers and constructors, as defined under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, must ensure washroom facilities provided by the employer or constructor for use of workers are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Employers and constructors will be required to maintain and make available records of washroom cleanings.

As of January 1, 2026, employers and constructors will be able to satisfy the requirement for washroom cleaning records by ensuring that:

• the record is posted in a conspicuous place in or near the washroom facility to which the record pertains where it is likely to come to the attention of workers; or
• the record is posted electronically where it can be accessed by workers, and workers are provided with direction on where and how to access the record.

Washroom cleaning records must include the date and time of the two most recent cleanings.

Ongoing workplace law changes in Ontario

Ontario continues to make frequent changes to workplaces laws. We summarized the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 in our recent update.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team will continue to provide updates as new developments arise.