Major changes to Ontario law on job postings coming Jan. 1

The Ontario government is introducing new rules for publicly advertised job postings in the new year, but questions remain over whether the changes will result in tangible benefits for jobseekers.

Changes under the Employment Standards Act come into effect on Jan, 1, 2026, and will apply to employers with more than 25 workers.

Among the changes, employers will be required to post information about compensation for any advertised position. If a salary range is posted, it must be within $50,000 a year or less.

Employers will be required to disclose whether artificial intelligence is used during the hiring process.

They'll also be prohibited from asking for Canadian work experience in any job posting and will be required to inform applicants whether a hiring decision has been made within 45 days of the last interview.

Kathryn Tremblay is the owner of Altis Recruitment, a staffing firm working across Canada. She applauded the Ontario government for seeking to increase transparency and equity in the hiring process but questioned whether the changes would have the desired impact.

British Columbia introduced a requirement to include wage details on all public job ads in 2023 with a view toward improving pay equity.

Since then, B.C. has reported "modest" success in closing the gender wage gap, with a report this year showing a two-per-cent decrease in pay inequality between men and women.

"So there's a little bit of a gain, but we haven't seen it really close the pay gap there," said Tremblay, who predicted similar "marginal gains" from Ontario's new rule on posting expected compensation.

"I really am happy that the government is seeking to cause more pay transparency. I just don't know if it's going to have the desired effect," she said.

In particular, allowing a band of up to $50,000 could diminish the information value of a posted salary. "It worries me that it's such a broad range," she said.

Similarly, she doubted whether the notification about the use of artificial intelligence in recruiting will allay concerns about whether the new technology could introduce hidden bias into the recruitment process.

"The problem is that all the employers are all going to say the same thing: 'We are using AI in some format to screen a select candidates and a human will call you to do an interview,'" she explained.

With unemployment rising in Ontario, Tremblay worries the new regulations could be onerous for employers.