Ontario confirms new regulations addressing pay transparency and job posting requirements under the Employment Standards Act, 2000

On December 2, 2024, Ontario announced the effective dates and supporting regulations for the new pay transparency and job posting requirements under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000. These requirements were introduced under Bill 190 and Bill 149 and will come into effect January 1, 2026. However, effective July 1, 2025, employers will be required to provide prescribed employment information to employees. These new requirements are addressed in further detail below.

Job posting requirements

Effective January 1, 2026, employers with 25 or more employees will have new obligations with respect to publicly advertised job postings.

A “publicly advertised job posting” is defined as an external job posting that an employer or person acting on behalf of an employer advertises to the general public in any manner, but does 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.

Publicly advertised job postings will be subject to the following requirements:

• Compensation range: Publicly advertised job postings must include information about the expected compensation for the position or a range of expected compensation, except for positions that have an expected compensation amount of more than $200,000 annually (or the high end of the compensation range is expected to be more than $200,000 annually). Any compensation range posted must not exceed $50,000 annually. “Compensation” has the same broad definition as “wages” within the meaning of the Employment Standards Act, 2000.
• Artificial intelligence: Publicly advertised job postings must include information about whether artificial intelligence is being used to screen, assess or select applicants for a position. “Artificial intelligence” is 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.
• Existing vacancy: Publicly advertised job postings must also include a statement about whether the posting is for an existing vacancy.

Also in effect on January 1, 2026, employers will be subject to the additional prohibitions and requirements set out below:

• Canadian work experience: A prohibition on including any requirements related to Canadian work ‎experience in publicly advertised job postings or any associated application form.
• Informing interviewees: A requirement that employers inform interviewees whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days after the date of the interview, or if the employer interviews the applicant more than once, within 45 days after the date of the last interview. The information may be provided in-person, in writing, or using technology.
• Record retention: Employers will be required to retain (or arrange for some other person to retain) copies of every publicly advertised job posting and any associated application form for three years after access to the posting by the general public is removed. Interview information must also be retained for three years after the day the information was provided to the applicant.

Employment information

Effective July 1, 2025, employers with 25 or more employees must provide to an employee in writing, before the employee’s first day of work or, if not practicable, as soon as reasonably possible after the employee’s first day of work, the following information:

• 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 in accordance with the “payment of wages” provision of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000.
• A general description of the employee’s initial anticipated hours of work.

The obligation to provide the employment information set out above will not apply to assignment employees.

Ontario employers should review their practices and procedures, in particular with respect to hiring and recruitment, to ensure they are acting in compliance with the new employment information and job posting requirements coming into force. If you have any questions about any of the recent legislative amendments, do not hesitate to contact a member of our DLA Piper Canadian Employment and Labour Law Service Group.