Changes are coming to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) in January, 2026. These changes are aimed primarily at recruiting practices and are intended to promote a better candidate experience and to enhance workplace transparency and fairness.
While many employers are familiar with the pending changes, its time to get refreshed and start preparing to integrate these requirements into your regular practices to ensure compliance.
Starting in January 2026, employers with more than 25 employees will be required to amend their recruiting practices to include:
Wage Transparency
When posting jobs outside of their organizations, employers will be required to include the expected wage range for the role. The spread of the wage range cannot be more than $50,000. If the expected range for the role starts at $200,000 or more, or if the high end of the range is over $200,000, then the wage information can be excluded from the posting.
Existing Vacancy
Employers will be required to include a statement in every publicly advertised job posting disclosing “whether the posting is for an existing role or not.”
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Employers who use artificial intelligence to screen, select, or assess job applicants will be required to include a statement in their publicly advertised job postings advising of the use of artificial intelligence in the recruiting process.
In this instance, artificial intelligence is defined as “a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers from input it receives to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.”
Canadian Experience Requirement
Employers will be prohibited from including any requirements related to “Canadian experience” in publicly advertised job postings or in any associated job application forms.
Record Keeping
Employers are required to retain information on all public job posting including the posting, application forms, and documentation of communications with the candidates.
Duty to Inform Applicants
Employers who interview an applicant for a publicly advertised job will need to advise the applicant of whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days of the applicant’s interview (or the last interview if there are multiple). Documentation of this activity should also be kept for three years.
Next Steps
Employers and HR practitioners should:
- review and update job posting practices, templates and application forms to align with these changes
- review compensation practices to ensure ranges are consistent and equitable
- ensure managers and HR team are trained and aware of their obligations
- adjust systems and processes to ensure records are properly maintained and accessible
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