The Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229) amends multiple Ontario statutes to expand employee leave entitlements, tighten workplace safety standards, impose new duties on drivers near stopped work vehicles, strengthen oversight of immigration representatives, and add targeted presumptions and funding rules for first responders' occupational diseases.
For employers and HR teams the Act creates two substantive new unpaid leaves (placement of a child and long‑term illness), attaches notice, evidence and timing rules, and adjusts parental leave ceilings. For regulators and safety professionals it shifts training policy and equivalency assessments to the Chief Prevention Officer, mandates PPE fit, raises corporate fines for repeated fatal/serious‑injury offences, and establishes move‑over obligations (with fines and possible licence suspension) for drivers approaching stopped work‑related vehicles.
Municipal employers and WSIB stakeholders face new surplus‑distribution and immunity provisions tied to firefighter cancer presumptions.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Act adds a 16‑week unpaid "placement of a child" leave and a 27‑week unpaid long‑term illness leave with specified notice, certificate and timing rules; amends the Highway Traffic Act to require drivers to slow and, when safe, change lanes for stopped work‑related vehicles; expands the Chief Prevention Officer’s authority over training standards and equivalency; and strengthens penalties and banning powers in the Ontario Immigration Act while creating presumptions and distribution rules under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
Who It Affects
Employers across sectors (HR and payroll), constructors and project owners subject to worker trades committees, training providers and out‑of‑province credential evaluators, insurers and Schedule 1/2 WSIB employers (including municipalities), drivers and municipalities responsible for roadside works, and immigration representatives and recruiters.
Why It Matters
The Act creates concrete operational obligations (new leaves, notice and evidence regimes; PPE fit and assessment requirements; driver duties) and transfers substantial discretionary rule‑making and enforcement power to ministers and the Chief Prevention Officer — shifting both compliance exposure and administrative oversight burdens onto employers, training providers, municipal employers and representatives in the immigration sector.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Act creates two employee leaves that sit outside existing pregnancy and parental leaves. Placement of a child leave gives employees with 13 weeks’ tenure a single continuous unpaid leave of up to 16 weeks for adoption or a child arriving via surrogacy, with start‑date windows that can begin up to six weeks before the expected placement and end no later than 17 weeks after placement.
The statute prescribes written notice and change procedures, allows employers to request reasonable evidence of entitlement, and restricts the leave to a single period; it also changes the length of parental leave where placement leave is taken.
Long‑term illness leave requires 13 consecutive weeks’ employment and a certificate from a “qualified health practitioner” confirming a serious medical condition and the period during which the employee will be unable to perform their duties. The leave cap is 27 weeks (total), but where a certificate specifies a shorter period the leave is limited to that period; a 52‑week ceiling limits extensions tied to the same certificate period.
Employers may require copies of certificates, and the Act permits the employer to treat any part‑week taken as a full week for entitlement counting.On roadside safety the Highway Traffic Act change imposes a statutory duty to slow and proceed with caution when approaching stopped emergency, tow or work‑related vehicles with flashing lamps, and to move into another lane if safe on multi‑lane highways. Construction zones with reduced speed limits are carved out.
The change creates fixed minimum fines for first and subsequent offences, authorizes licence suspensions up to two years, and gives regulation power to define “work‑related vehicle.”The Occupational Health and Safety Act amendments centralize training policy and equivalency determinations with the Chief Prevention Officer: the CPO can set equivalency criteria for out‑of‑province programs and approve accredited providers to assess them; adopt codes by reference; publish training policies that are not subject to Part III of the Legislation Act; and delegate many powers, potentially outside the ministry. Employers must ensure PPE fits appropriately, and the Act re‑frames corporate fine exposure by setting a $2 million maximum and a $500,000 minimum for second or subsequent offences that cause death or serious injury.
The CPO may collect limited personal information for strategy and reporting, subject to necessity and disclosure limits.The Ontario Immigration Act updates mandate that representatives comply with ministerial standards, criminalize making or counselling misrepresentations about prescribed approval criteria, and expand banning powers so the director or Minister can bar recruiters or representatives (permanent bans for convictions, 3–10 years otherwise). The Act removes the automatic right to a hearing in many banning cases (subject to ministerial regulation) and introduces no‑personal‑liability protections for officials acting in good faith.
Finally, the WSIA changes add presumptions that primary‑site kidney and colorectal cancers are occupational diseases for (volunteer and career) firefighters with at least 10 years’ service, create a mechanism to distribute WSIB fund surpluses to Schedule 2 municipal employers in narrowly circumscribed circumstances, and grant statutory immunities tied to those distributions.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Placement of a child leave: single continuous unpaid leave of up to 16 weeks, may begin no earlier than six weeks before an expected placement and ends no later than 17 weeks after placement.
Long‑term illness leave: up to 27 weeks total based on a qualified health practitioner’s certificate, with a 52‑week limit on certificate periods that can cap extensions and a rule allowing employers to count any part of a week as a full week of leave.
Highway Traffic duty: drivers must slow and proceed with caution when approaching stopped emergency, tow or work‑related vehicles with flashing lamps and must change lanes if safe on multi‑lane roads; first offence fines start at $400, subsequent at $1,000, and courts may suspend licences up to two years.
OHSA enforcement and PPE: Chief Prevention Officer may approve out‑of‑province training as equivalent, adopt codes by reference, delegate powers outside the Ministry, and the Act sets a $2,000,000 corporate fine maximum and a $500,000 minimum for second/subsequent offences causing death or serious injury.
Immigration enforcement: director or Minister may ban representatives or recruiters (permanent ban for a convicted representative; 3–10 year bans otherwise), make misrepresentation an offence, and the statute allows bans without a pre‑order hearing subject to ministerial regulations.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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New placement and long‑term illness leaves; parental‑leave interaction
This Schedule adds section 47.1 (placement of a child) and section 49.8 (long‑term illness) to the Employment Standards Act, 2000. The placement leave is strictly limited to a single continuous period of up to 16 weeks per child (or group of children placed concurrently) with explicit notice, change and evidence rules; parental leave end dates are adjusted where placement leave is taken. Long‑term illness leave is certificate‑driven: an employer can require a qualified health practitioner’s certificate specifying the period of incapacity, and statutory caps (27 weeks total; procedural limits tied to 52‑week certificate periods) control extensions and subsequent leaves. Transitional/regulatory authority is built in to manage rollout, with some provisions deferred to proclamation or a six‑month delay.
Move‑over and lane‑change duties for stopped work vehicles, new penalties
Replaces s.159 of the Highway Traffic Act to create a duty to slow and proceed with caution when approaching stopped emergency, tow or work‑related vehicles displaying flashing lamps, and to move lanes when safe on multi‑lane highways. Construction zones with reduced speeds are exempt. The Schedule sets criminal penalties and fines with minimums and maximums, authorizes licence suspension orders (up to two years), and gives government regulation‑making authority to define ‘work‑related vehicle’ — which will determine the measure’s practical scope for municipal crews, utilities, and private contractors.
Chief Prevention Officer authority over training, PPE fit, and higher corporate fines
Expands the Chief Prevention Officer’s regulatory and policy toolbox: the CPO can set equivalency criteria for out‑of‑province training, designate approved providers to assess equivalency, publish training policies (outside typical regulatory processes), adopt external codes by reference, and delegate many powers to persons including entities outside the ministry. Employers now must ensure PPE fits appropriately and the Lieutenant Governor in Council can require PPE assessment programs. The Schedule also re‑frames fines for corporations — a $2 million maximum and a $500,000 minimum for second/subsequent offences causing death or serious injury — creating sharper financial exposure for non‑compliance.
Standards for immigration representatives, misrepresentation offence and expanded banning powers
Adds ministerial standard‑setting authority for immigration representatives, creates a standalone misrepresentation offence (and counselling to misrepresent), and expands the director’s and Minister’s power to ban persons or bodies from acting as recruiters or representatives. The Minister may impose permanent bans on convicted representatives, and 3–10 year bans otherwise; the statute permits orders without a hearing subject to regulations and removes certain procedural protections (Statutory Powers Procedure Act does not apply), while adding broad no‑personal‑liability protections for officials acting in good faith.
Skilled Trades Week proclamation
Enacts the Skilled Trades Week Act, 2024, which proclaims the first full week in November each year as Skilled Trades Week. This is a declaration statute with no operational regulatory apparatus but signals government priority for outreach and promotion of trades careers.
Firefighter cancer presumptions, WSIB surplus distribution and immunities
Adds primary‑site kidney and colorectal cancer to the list of diseases presumed occupational for firefighters and investigators, subject to a 10‑year minimum service requirement. It also creates a narrowly framed mechanism requiring the WSIB Board to distribute insurance‑fund surpluses to Schedule 2 municipal employers in prescribed circumstances tied to claims diagnosed by the commencement date, while prioritizing fund sufficiency and other statutory distribution duties. The Schedule grants immunities to the Board and limits appeal rights in respect of surplus payments, and clarifies overpayment recovery rules.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Employees starting or expanding families (adoptive parents, intended parents via surrogacy) — they gain a statutory 16‑week placement leave with clear notice and evidence rules that protect job attachment during placement.
- Employees with serious medical conditions — those meeting tenure and certificate requirements obtain up to 27 weeks of protected unpaid leave with defined extension and return‑to‑work mechanics.
- Firefighters and fire investigators — narrower evidentiary burdens for claims involving primary‑site kidney and colorectal cancers due to statutory presumptions (subject to the 10‑year service rule).
- Training providers that meet equivalency criteria — out‑of‑province programs deemed equivalent can access Ontario labour markets and clients once approved by the Chief Prevention Officer or an approved assessor.
- Municipal Schedule 2 employers — a new, conditional path to recover WSIB‑linked benefit costs from fund surpluses in specified circumstances tied to firefighter occupational disease claims.
Who Bears the Cost
- Employers and HR/payroll functions — they must implement new leave processing, notice tracking, certificate handling, job‑protection logistics, and possible back‑pay/benefit coordination when leaves interact with parental provisions.
- Municipalities and Schedule 2 WSIB employers — they face administrative burden and potential liability interactions when surplus distributions are triggered, plus the practical impact of immunities and overpayment recovery rules.
- Constructors, utility and roadside contractors — the move‑over duty and definitions of work‑related vehicles will require new signage, traffic control plans and worker protection practices, and expose them to enforcement risk if crew vehicles are covered by the definition.
- Training providers and credential evaluators — the CPO’s equivalency framework creates a new approval pathway but also a gatekeeper role that may require resubmission or program changes to meet Ontario criteria.
- Immigration representatives and recruiters — expanded banning powers, criminalization of misrepresentation and possible bans without pre‑order hearings significantly increase compliance and enforcement risk for representatives and recruiting firms.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The Act pits stronger, more accessible worker protections and public‑safety rules (expanded leaves, firefighter presumptions, PPE fit and move‑over duties) against concentrated administrative discretion, expanded enforcement powers and significant compliance costs for employers, municipalities and representatives — forcing a choice between swift, protective action and the procedural safeguards, transparency and predictability that regulated parties typically require.
The Act centralizes a lot of discretion in executive offices: the Chief Prevention Officer gains broad authority to adopt codes by reference, set equivalency criteria for out‑of‑province training and delegate powers (including to external bodies), while the Lieutenant Governor in Council and Minister retain extensive regulation‑making authority (defining “work‑related vehicle,” prescribing PPE assessment rules, and setting standards for representatives). Those delegated and regulatory powers speed implementation but create hard administrative questions about oversight, appeals and transparency—especially where policy instruments are expressly removed from Part III of the Legislation Act or where ministerial orders can alter worker trades committees without the usual participatory processes.
Several provisions trade procedural safeguards for speed and enforcement teeth. The immigration provisions allow bans without a pre‑order hearing subject to ministerial regulations and carve Statutory Powers Procedure Act protections out of the banning regime; the Act also grants broad no‑personal‑liability protections to officials.
Those choices raise judicial‑review and fairness questions because the Act layers punitive outcomes (long bans, permanent bans after conviction) on processes that limit pre‑deprivation procedural rights. Similarly, the WSIA surplus distribution rules prioritize a one‑time remedy to municipal employers but subordinate that duty to the Board’s fund‑sufficiency mandate and other distribution priorities, creating discretion and legal uncertainty about when payments will actually flow and how overpayments will be reclaimed.
Operational tensions also appear at the employer level. The new leaves require proof and timing coordination that can complicate workforce planning, especially for small employers with thin HR capacity; counting any part‑week as a full week and the 52‑week certificate rule in the long‑term illness leave both create tricky payroll and accommodation calculations.
The move‑over obligations and the regulation to define work‑related vehicles will determine whether small contractors or a broad range of municipal crews are practically covered, affecting the scope of enforcement and compliance costs.
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