What Employers Need to Know About Ontario’s New Hiring and Upcoming Job Posting Rules

The Ontario government has added new duties to employers when seeking to fill new roles. Employers must now provide prospective employees with information before starting the job, both in the job posting and directly to the prospective employee. 

Information to New Employees

As of July 1^st, 2025, Ontario Regulation 477/24 – When Work Deemed to be Performed, Exemptions and Special Rules under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 41 now requires that an employer with 25 or more employees must provide an employee with:

1. The legal name of the employer, as well as any operating or business name of the employer if different from the legal name.
2. Contact information for the employer, including address, telephone number and one or more contact names.
3. A general description of where it is anticipated that the employee will initially perform work.
4. The employee’s starting hourly or other wage rate or commission, as applicable.
5. The pay period and pay day established by the employer in accordance with subsection 11 (1) of the Act.
6. A general description of the employee’s initial anticipated hours of work.

All this information must be provided to the new employee in writing and must be provided either before their first day or as soon as reasonably possible.

This rule, however, does not apply to an assignment employee, meaning if an employee were to be moved temporarily to a different department they would not need to be provided with this information.

Job Postings
Coming into effect of January 1^st, 2026, pursuant to the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024, S.O. 2024, the Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 41 now requires that every employer with 25 or more employees who advertises a job opening must do the following:

1. Refrain from requiring Canadian specific work experience in job postings or application forms.
2. Disclose if AI is used to help choose or screen job applicants.
3. Clearly state whether the job is for a current opening or not.
4. Tell a prospective employee within 45 days of a job interview whether or not they were selected for the job (Ontario regulation 476/24).
5. Keep copies of job postings, application forms, and any messages sent to applicants after interviews for three years.
6. Include in the job posting the expected pay or pay range with the difference between the lowest and highest amount not being more than $50,000 (for example, $120,000 to $170,000).

• • This rule does not apply if the job pays more than $200,000 a year or if the top of the pay range is over $200,000

What should Employers do?

The best way to ensure compliance with these new rules is to speak to an employment lawyer. An employment lawyer can help review job postings and draft hiring procedures or to review existing procedures to ensure that these new laws are being followed. Please contact the Employment Law Team to discuss creating and/or reviewing hiring procedures for your business.