Bill 190 (Working for Workers Five Act, 2024) amends six Ontario statutes to tighten rules around hiring, occupational health and safety, professional registration, workplace hygiene, immigration reviews and workers’ compensation. Key obligations include mandatory disclosures in publicly advertised job postings and a duty to inform interviewed applicants; a ban on employer-required certificates from qualified health practitioners for sick-leave evidence; explicit OHS coverage of telework and virtual harassment; new washroom maintenance and recordkeeping duties for constructors and employers; and expanded WSIB presumptions for certain firefighting workers and a presumption for primary-site skin cancer for long-serving firefighters.
These are compliance‑heavy changes: regulators get expanded rulemaking authority (including to prescribe alternative academic criteria for skilled-trades entry and to set the formats and timelines employers must use), regulated professions must create and submit new policies and parallel‑processing plans to the Fairness Commissioner, and constructors/employers must document washroom cleaning. The bill replaces several informal practices with prescriptive duties that regulated parties will need to operationalize quickly once regulations and proclamations follow.
At a Glance
What It Does
Adds job-posting and applicant-notification duties to the Employment Standards Act, prevents employers from demanding certified notes from 'qualified health practitioners' for sick leave, expands OHS coverage to telework and virtual harassment, requires washroom maintenance and cleaning records, obliges regulated professions to accept and document reasonable alternatives to proof of qualifications and parallel processing plans, and expands WSIB presumptions to include wildland firefighters, investigators and a presumption for primary-site skin cancer under conditions.
Who It Affects
Employers that publicly post jobs and interview applicants, regulated professionals and their regulators, constructors and employers responsible for site washrooms, remote workers (teleworkers) and human resources teams, the Ministry and adjudicative bodies handling WSIB claims—particularly wildland firefighting personnel and municipal/Ministry employers of firefighters.
Why It Matters
The Act turns several policy debates into enforceable compliance obligations, shifting burden onto employers, regulated professions and constructors to document processes and decisions. It also lowers certain evidentiary barriers for workers (e.g., removing mandatory physician certificates) while expanding presumptions that make it easier for specified first responders to access WSIB benefits.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill inserts targeted duties across multiple statutes to tackle three related goals: increase labour-market access, protect worker health and safety (including in modern workplaces), and streamline regulatory pathways into professions.
Under the Employment Standards Act the bill creates two new duties. First, publicly advertised job postings must disclose whether the posting is for an existing vacancy and any other prescribed details; the regulations can carve out exceptions.
Second, employers who interview applicants for such postings must provide prescribed information to those applicants within a prescribed time. Employers must keep prescribed records of information given to interviewed applicants for three years.
The Act also narrows what employers can demand as evidence for sick leave: employers may still require reasonable evidence, but they cannot demand a certificate from a listed 'qualified health practitioner.' The criminal fine ceiling for individuals is doubled to $100,000.The Occupational Health and Safety Act changes extend several long‑standing workplace obligations into modern and remote work contexts. The Act will explicitly apply to telework performed in or about a private residence.
The harassment and sexual harassment definitions are broadened to capture certain virtual conduct. Multiple posting requirements (committee member names, annual summaries, policy documents) may be met by posting in a 'readily accessible electronic format,' but the Act sets minimum criteria for what counts as readily accessible.
Constructors and employers are given new statutory duties to ensure washroom facilities provided for workers are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and to keep prescribed cleaning records; regulations can modify requirements.Regulated professions must now publish what documentation applicants must submit and the reasonable alternatives they will accept when usual documents are unavailable for reasons beyond an applicant’s control. They must adopt a written policy on acceptable alternatives and a written plan to enable parallel processing of registration steps, submit both to the Fairness Commissioner for review (and potentially approval), and update them as circumstances change.
The Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act is amended to permit regulations to set alternative criteria in place of prescribed academic standards and authorize the Registrar (or another person) to assess those criteria.The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act expands the list of workers covered by presumptions in section 14 to add 'wildland firefighters' and 'wildland fire investigators,' with transitional rules addressing timing and claim windows. It also adds a presumption that primary-site skin cancer is an occupational disease for prescribed firefighting workers, but only where a worker has at least 10 years of service.
Practical effect: selected first responders will face a lower evidentiary barrier for PTSD and certain cancer claims, while WSIB and employers will have to account for those presumptions in claims handling and cost projections.Finally, the Ontario Immigration Act amendment permits the individual appointed to conduct an internal review to delegate their powers or duties under the appointment, clarifying administrative flexibility for review processes.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Employment Standards sec. 8.5 requires publicly advertised job postings to state whether the posting fills an existing vacancy and to include other prescribed details; regulations may create exceptions.
Employment Standards sec. 8.6 obliges employers who interview applicants for publicly advertised postings to provide prescribed information to those applicants within a prescribed time, and employers must retain that information for three years (sec. 15(7.1.1)).
Sec. 50 of the Employment Standards Act allows employers to ask for 'evidence reasonable in the circumstances' for sick leave but prohibits requiring a certificate from a 'qualified health practitioner' (new subsection 50(6.1)).
The Occupational Health and Safety Act now expressly covers telework performed in or about a private residence, expands the harassment definitions to include certain virtual conduct, and allows required workplace postings to be provided electronically if 'readily accessible' to workers (new subsection 1(5)).
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act adds 'wildland firefighters' and 'wildland fire investigators' to presumptions for PTSD (with transitional filing windows) and creates a presumption that primary-site skin cancer is occupational for firefighters with at least 10 years' service (sec. 14 and sec. 15.1 amendments).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Alternative academic criteria for skilled trades
Amends the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act to let regulations prescribe 'alternative criteria' in place of prescribed academic standards and authorizes the Registrar (or another delegate) to set or assess those criteria. Practically, this creates a regulatory pathway for applicants who lack formal academic credentials to qualify through alternative assessments — but the design and rigour of those alternatives will be set in regulation and by whoever the regulations empower to assess them.
Job‑posting disclosures, applicant notices, sick‑leave evidence and fines
Adds sections 8.5 and 8.6 to the Employment Standards Act requiring disclosure in public job ads and a duty to inform interviewed applicants; prescribes a three‑year retention rule for information provided to applicants. It also amends sec. 50 to prevent employers from demanding certificates from specified health professionals while preserving a 'reasonable evidence' standard, and raises the maximum individual fine to $100,000. Employers must await accompanying regulations that will define 'interview,' 'compensation' and the required manner and timelines for notices, which is where most operational detail will arrive.
Regulated professions — acceptable alternatives and parallel processing
Requires regulated professions to adopt written policies on acceptable alternative documentation and plans to enable concurrent registration processes, submit both to the Fairness Commissioner for review (and in some cases approval), and update them as circumstances change. The practical implication is a new administrative loop between regulators and the Fairness Commissioner; regulated bodies must translate vague accessibility aims into documented procedures, timelines and definitions of what constitutes a 'reasonable alternative.'
OHS modernized: telework, virtual harassment, electronic postings, washroom duties
Extends OHS coverage to telework in private residences and adds virtual conduct to harassment definitions, so employers must consider OHS obligations beyond traditional worksites. The Act now permits many notice/posting obligations to be satisfied via 'readily accessible electronic format' but sets two baseline requirements: direction to workers on where/how to access the info and an electronic format that workers can readily access. Constructors and employers gain parallel duties to keep washroom facilities clean and maintain prescribed cleaning records; regulations can modify these duties. Enforcement and inspection regimes will have to adapt to electronic posting standards and remote workplaces.
Delegation for internal immigration reviews
Amends the Ontario Immigration Act to allow the individual appointed to conduct an internal review to delegate powers or duties under that appointment. This is an administrative clarification that permits the designated reviewer to assign tasks — helpful for resource management but also raises questions about accountability and delegation limits that regulations or internal policies should address.
WSIB expansions — wildland firefighting and skin‑cancer presumption
Adds 'wildland firefighter' and 'wildland fire investigator' to the list of workers entitled to presumptions for PTSD and sets out transitional filing windows and rules on pending claims and appeals. It also adds a presumption that primary‑site skin cancer is occupational for prescribed firefighting workers who meet a 10‑year service threshold. The amendments lower the claimant's evidentiary burden and create specific transitional mechanics that adjudicators and employers must follow when handling claims and appeals.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Applicants lacking traditional academic credentials: regulations may allow alternative criteria or assessments for skilled‑trades entry, opening registration paths previously blocked by strict academic rules.
- Job applicants interviewed for publicly posted roles: they gain a right to prescribed information about the hiring decision process and documentation that improves transparency and allows for follow‑up or complaints if standards aren’t met.
- Wildland firefighters and firefighter claimants: expanded presumptions for PTSD and a primary‑site skin cancer presumption (subject to service thresholds) reduce evidentiary hurdles when claiming WSIB benefits.
- Remote workers: explicit OHS coverage for telework clarifies that health and safety protections apply away from traditional workplaces and brings virtual harassment within OHS definitions.
- Newcomers and internationally‑trained professionals: regulated professions must accept and document reasonable alternative proof of qualifications and pursue parallel processing, potentially speeding licensure and labour‑market entry.
Who Bears the Cost
- Employers posting public jobs and conducting interviews: will need processes and recordkeeping systems to include new disclosures, provide prescribed applicant notices and retain information for three years, increasing HR compliance work and potential exposure to enforcement.
- Regulated professions and their registrars: must draft, maintain and submit policies and parallel‑processing plans, respond to Fairness Commissioner input and possibly revise procedures; smaller regulators may face resource and implementation costs.
- Constructors and employers providing worker washrooms: must establish cleaning schedules, maintain records and potentially modify facilities to meet future regulations, creating operational and procurement costs on projects.
- WSIB and employers/payers: presumptions that ease access to PTSD and skin‑cancer benefits could increase claim volumes and long‑term cost liabilities, requiring actuarial adjustments and changes to claims administration.
- Regulators and ministries: Ministry staff will absorb added rulemaking, approval and oversight duties (e.g., defining 'readily accessible electronic format,' setting alternative criteria, and specifying exceptions), likely without explicit new funding in the statute.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is between making labour markets and compensation systems more accessible and worker‑friendly (through presumptions, alternative qualification routes and reduced medical‑note hurdles) and the administrative and financial burdens those changes impose on employers, regulators and the compensation system; the bill solves access problems by creating enforceable duties, but it defers essential design choices to regulation, producing uncertainty and trade‑offs that stakeholders will contest during implementation.
The Act pushes policy detail into regulation and administrative practice, leaving several implementation pain points. Employers must await regulatory definitions of key terms (e.g., what counts as an 'interview' or a 'readily accessible electronic format') before they can fully comply; until then, different employers may take divergent approaches that raise enforcement and litigation risk.
The ban on requiring certified notes from 'qualified health practitioners' reduces barriers for employees but increases reliance on a fact‑specific 'reasonable evidence' standard, placing HR teams in the difficult role of assessing credibility without clear statutory markers.
Extending OHS to telework and permitting electronic posting solve modern workplace problems but create enforcement puzzles: how will inspectors verify electronic postings or enforce washroom maintenance in multi‑employer project sites where constructors and employers both have duties? The constructors/employers split of responsibility is conceptually clear but operational overlap (who cleans which facilities on mixed worksites) will require detailed regulatory guidance.
The Fair Access provisions aim to improve licensure access, yet delegating assessment authority (e.g., to a Registrar) and relying on Fairness Commissioner review could produce inconsistent outcomes across professions unless the regulations standardize evaluation criteria. Finally, the WSIB presumptions simplify claims for first responders but shift financial risk to the compensation system and employers; transitional windows and appeal‑routing changes add administrative complexity for pending and recently filed claims.
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