TORONTO: In a significant move to modernize the provincial workforce and promote equity, Ontario’s new employment regulations under the “Working for Workers” Acts are set to take effect tomorrow, January 1, 2026. These rules apply to all employers with 25 or more employees and introduce strict requirements for publicly advertised job postings, aiming to eliminate systemic barriers for job seekers.
Under the new legislation, employers must include the expected salary or a specific pay range in every job advertisement. To prevent vague disclosures, the law mandates that any provided pay range cannot have a spread exceeding $50,000. Additionally, the government has officially prohibited employers from requiring “Canadian work experience” in job postings or application forms—a move intended to help skilled newcomers integrate more easily into the local labor market.
Technological transparency is another cornerstone of the reform; companies using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to screen, assess, or select candidates must now explicitly disclose this in their job ads. Furthermore, to combat “candidate ghosting,” employers are required to notify interviewed applicants of the final hiring decision within 45 days of their last interview. While the government maintains these changes will foster a fairer hiring environment, some experts expressed concern that a $50,000 salary spread remains too broad for true transparency, while business groups warned that the new administrative and reporting requirements could pose a challenge for employers in the current economic climate.
