Employment 2025

CANADA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Andrew Shaw, Ryan Carroll and David McIsaac, Baker McKenzie

Developments in Employment Law in Canada in 2025 Introduction The year 2025 saw major developments in Canadian labour and employment law. Below, the authors set out key trends that have emerged and shaped the legal landscape in Canada this past year. The authors note at the outset that labour and employ - ment laws in Canada vary by province, territory, and federal jurisdiction. The trends the authors discuss reflect general developments and may not address the specific nuances of each jurisdiction. Employment standards and employee protections Each province and territory and the federal jurisdiction in Canada has its own employment standards legisla - tion with specific rules and requirements. Employment standards legislation sets out the minimum employ - ment standards entitlements that employers must provide to their employees, including hours free from work, breaks, overtime pay, vacation, statutory holi - days, leaves of absence, and notice of termination, among others. Most employers are provincially regu - lated; except for a small group of employers that fall under specific categories, federal employment stand - ards under the Canada Labour Code do not apply to employers in Canada. In 2025, Ontario has seen continued development in its provincial employment standards legislation – the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). These statu - tory changes are set to come into force this year after the passing of the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024, as well as proposed amendments under Bill 30, Work - ing for Workers Seven Act, 2025. Both acts have also amended related legislation including Ontario’s Occu - pational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA). Key changes under the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 which the authors outline further below, include the following. • New Categories of Leave – Ontario employees have new leave entitlements. Employees with at least 13 consecutive weeks of service are now

entitled to a 27-week job-protected long-term illness leave if they experience a serious medical condition. Also, on a date to be determined in the future, employees with a least 13 weeks of service are entitled to unpaid leave of up to 16 weeks if a child is placed in the employee’s care, custody or control through adoption or surrogacy. • Hiring and Newcomers – the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 now includes new standards for immi - gration representatives using Ontario’s immigration nominee programme and imposing penalties on those who violate these standards in the form of fines, multi-year bans and lifetime bans. • Increased Fines from OHSA Violations – the mini - mum fine for a corporation found guilty of a second or subsequent offence under the OHSA resulting in serious injury or death within a two-year period has now increased to CAD500,000. With the exception of the “placement of a child” leave, the changes described above have come into force. Key proposals under Bill 30, Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025 include the following. • No Fraudulent Job Postings – operators of job posting platforms would be required to implement a procedure into the platform to report fraudulent job postings advertised to the public. • Unpaid leave entitlement – employees would be entitled to three days of unpaid leave if they receive notice of termination with 50 or more other employ - ees in the same four-week period. • Additional Amendments to the OHSA – there are multiple proposed amendments to the OHSA including a reimbursement for eligible employers that purchase a defibrillator. A second reading of the Working for Workers Seven Act has been ordered and may become law by the end of this year or the beginning of 2026. Effective 1 July 2025, Ontario’s Digital Platform Work - ers’ Rights Act, 2022, is now in force. The Act intro - duces new rights and protections into the gig econo - my. It applies to workers who “perform digital platform work” and “Operators” who facilitate the performance of digital platform work through a digital platform. The

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