Ontario’s New Job Posting Rules Are Now in Force: A Compliance Reminder for Employers

Ontario employers have now been operating for several months under significant new rules governing publicly advertised job postings.

Effective January 1, 2026, amendments to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) introduced new transparency requirements affecting compensation, artificial intelligence, job vacancies and Canadian experience requirements. Employers must also provide certain information to candidates who are interviewed.

For employers that updated their practices at the beginning of the year, now is a good time to confirm those changes have actually made their way into day-to-day recruitment practices. For employers that have not yet reviewed their job postings and hiring procedures, the requirements are already in force.

The rules are particularly important because they regulate the employment relationship at an unusually early stage: before an individual has even been hired.

Which Ontario Employers Are Covered?

The job-posting requirements generally apply to employers with 25 or more employees on the day the publicly advertised job posting is posted.

Importantly, this is not a full-time-equivalent calculation. Part-time and casual employees are generally counted as individual employees for purposes of determining whether the 25-employee threshold has been reached.

The rules apply to a “publicly advertised job posting,” which generally means an external job posting advertised to the general public by an employer or someone acting on its behalf. Certain postings are excluded under the applicable regulation.

Employers should therefore be careful not to assume that using a recruiter or another third party removes their compliance obligations.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour’s guidance on publicly advertised job postings provides additional information regarding the application of the requirements.

1. Salary and Compensation Information Must Generally Be Disclosed

One of the most visible changes is Ontario’s new pay-transparency requirement.

Covered employers must generally include either the expected compensation or a range of expected compensation in a publicly advertised job posting.

Where a range is provided, the difference between the top and bottom of the range generally cannot exceed the equivalent of $50,000 annually.

For example, an employer could generally advertise compensation of:

$80,000–$110,000 per year

because the difference is $30,000.

A range of:

$70,000–$130,000 per year

would generally not comply with the prescribed $50,000 limitation.

There is an important exception for higher-paying positions. The compensation-disclosure requirement generally does not apply where the expected compensation exceeds the equivalent of $200,000 per year, or where the upper end of the expected compensation range exceeds that amount.

Employers should also remember that “compensation” can involve more than base salary. Where the expected compensation package contains multiple forms of compensation—for example, an hourly wage plus commission—the Ministry’s guidance indicates that information about each form of compensation must be included.

For employers, this makes compensation planning part of the recruitment process itself rather than something that can necessarily be deferred until an offer is made.

Once a candidate is selected, employers should also ensure that the eventual offer and employment agreement accurately reflect the agreed compensation and other terms. See our guide, Do You Need Written Employment Contracts? A Guide for Employers, for more information about documenting the employment relationship.

2. Employers Must Say Whether There Is Actually a Vacancy

The new rules also address what are sometimes called “ghost jobs”—job advertisements that appear to solicit applicants even though there may not be an immediate position available.

Ontario has not simply prohibited employers from advertising where there is no current vacancy. Instead, covered employers must disclose whether the posting is for an existing vacancy.

This is an important distinction.

An employer may have legitimate reasons to advertise for future opportunities or build a pool of potential candidates. The new regime focuses on transparency: applicants should be able to understand whether they are applying for an existing position.

Employers using evergreen job advertisements, talent pools or continuously advertised positions should therefore review their standard language carefully.

3. Using AI in Recruitment Must Be Disclosed

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being incorporated into recruitment systems, including tools used to screen applications, rank candidates or assess whether applicants satisfy particular criteria.

Where a covered employer uses artificial intelligence to screen, assess or select applicants, the employer must include a statement in the publicly advertised job posting disclosing the use of AI.

The obligation can also apply where a third party—such as a recruiting company—uses AI on the employer’s behalf.

Employers do not have to provide applicants with a technical explanation of the particular AI system. The Ministry’s guidance indicates that a statement that AI is being used to screen, assess or select applicants is sufficient for this particular ESA requirement.

That does not mean, however, that AI should be treated as a compliance-free hiring tool.

Automated recruitment technologies can potentially interact with other areas of employment law, including human rights obligations, depending on how they are designed and used. Employers should understand what their recruitment technology is actually doing rather than assuming that a third-party platform has addressed every legal issue.

The increasing role of AI in workplace decision-making is not limited to recruitment. We recently considered some of the broader issues surrounding algorithmic workplace decisions in Meta AI Layoff Lawsuit: What Ontario Employees and Employers Should Know.

4. “Canadian Experience” Requirements Are Prohibited

Covered employers are prohibited from including requirements relating to Canadian experience in publicly advertised job postings or associated application forms.

The prohibition can extend beyond an explicit statement that an applicant must have worked in Canada. According to the Ministry, Canadian-experience requirements can include requirements relating to work experience, educational credentials, or an established professional network or client base where those requirements relate specifically to Canadian experience.

This does not prevent an employer from identifying legitimate qualifications required to perform a job. Professional licensing or registration requirements, for example, are treated differently under the ESA regime.

The practical point for employers is to distinguish between the skills and qualifications actually required for the position and unnecessary requirements about where those skills were obtained.

5. Interviewed Candidates Must Receive an Update

The obligations do not necessarily end when the job advertisement comes down.

Where an applicant is interviewed for a publicly advertised position, covered employers must provide the applicant with information about whether a hiring decision has been made.

That information must generally be provided within 45 days after the interview. If the applicant participates in more than one interview, the 45-day period generally runs from the final interview.

The requirement does not necessarily mean that every unsuccessful candidate must receive a detailed explanation of why another person was selected. Rather, the employer must provide information about whether a hiring decision has been made.

For employers accustomed to contacting only the successful candidate, this is an important procedural change.

A Practical Compliance Check for Employers

With the rules now in force, employers may wish to review more than the wording of a single job advertisement.

A useful compliance review should consider whether:

  • standard job-posting templates contain the required compensation information;
  • compensation ranges fall within the prescribed limits;
  • postings clearly state whether an existing vacancy exists;
  • Canadian-experience requirements have been removed from both postings and associated application forms;
  • the organization knows whether its applicant-tracking or recruitment software uses AI;
  • recruiters and third-party hiring providers have been given appropriate instructions;
  • AI disclosures are included where required;
  • HR personnel have a process for tracking the 45-day post-interview requirement; and
  • copies of publicly advertised job postings and associated application forms are retained for the required three-year period.

For businesses with broader ESA compliance concerns, see our Employment Standards Compliance services for employers and HR Advisory services.

Why These Changes Matter

Taken individually, the new requirements may look relatively administrative. Collectively, however, they represent a notable change in Ontario employment law.

Historically, much of the ESA focused on rights and obligations arising after employment begins: wages, hours of work, leaves, vacation, termination and severance.

Ontario is now imposing substantive transparency requirements at the recruitment stage.

For employees and job seekers, the changes provide greater visibility into compensation, the existence of an actual vacancy and the use of automated hiring technology.

For employers, they make recruitment another area in which standardized practices, templates and third-party systems should be reviewed for ESA compliance.

That is particularly important because hiring practices often develop informally over time. A job description may be copied from an old posting. A manager may reuse a previous application form. A new applicant-tracking system may introduce AI functionality without anyone considering whether the job advertisement itself needs to change.

The legal requirements may be relatively straightforward. Operationalizing them consistently across an organization is the more significant compliance challenge.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ontario’s Job Posting Rules

Do Ontario employers have to include salary ranges in job postings?

Covered employers with 25 or more employees generally must include the expected compensation or a range of expected compensation in publicly advertised job postings. Certain exceptions apply, including for positions where the expected compensation or the upper end of the range exceeds the equivalent of $200,000 annually.

How wide can a salary range be in an Ontario job posting?

Where an employer uses a compensation range, the difference between the top and bottom of the range generally cannot exceed the equivalent of $50,000 annually.

Are ghost jobs illegal in Ontario?

Ontario does not simply prohibit employers from advertising positions where there is no current vacancy. Instead, covered employers must disclose whether a publicly advertised job posting is for an existing vacancy.

Can Ontario employers use AI to screen job applicants?

The ESA does not prohibit AI recruitment tools. However, where a covered employer uses AI to screen, assess or select applicants for a publicly advertised position, that use must be disclosed in the posting.

Does the AI rule apply if a recruiter uses the technology?

It can. The Ministry of Labour states that the requirement applies where an employer engages a third party, such as a recruiting firm, to screen, assess or select applicants on its behalf.

Can an Ontario employer require Canadian experience?

Covered employers cannot include requirements relating to Canadian experience in publicly advertised job postings or associated application forms. This does not prohibit legitimate professional licensing or registration requirements.

Does an employer have to tell an unsuccessful candidate that they did not get the job?

Where an applicant has been interviewed for a publicly advertised job posting, a covered employer must provide information about whether a hiring decision has been made, generally within 45 days of the interview or final interview.

Do employers have to keep copies of old job postings?

Yes. Covered employers must generally retain copies of publicly advertised job postings and associated application forms for three years after public access to the posting has been removed.

Reviewing Recruitment Practices in 2026

Ontario’s job-posting requirements have been in force since January 1, 2026. Employers that have not revisited their recruitment templates, applicant-tracking systems and interview follow-up procedures should consider doing so.

Compliance is no longer simply a matter of drafting an appropriate employment agreement after a candidate accepts an offer. Ontario employers increasingly need to consider employment-law obligations from the moment a position is advertised.

Pelsmakher Law advises employers on employment standards compliance, employment contracts and day-to-day workplace and HR matters.

Employees and employers seeking advice about their rights or obligations under Ontario employment law can also contact Pelsmakher Law.