Starting next year, Ontario will require temporary help agencies and recruiters to be licensed in order to operate in the province.
These agencies will have to go through a background check and will be subject to “massive fines” if they violate the rules.
While talking to CTV News Toronto, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said: “It’ll be the highest fines in the country.” He noted that depending on the level of infraction, the agency could be asked to pay up to $50,000 or receive “a lifetime ban of operating in Ontario.”
The Minister said: “I’ve made it a mission to ensure that every single worker in our province, regardless of passport status, has health and safety protections.
“I’ve brought in massive fines for any scumbag out there that is withholding passports or work visa documents and I’ve gone even further. We’ve created in my ministry a special team that is investigating temp help agencies that aren’t treating workers the way they should be treated.”
McNaughton stressed that these agencies helped around 114,000 people in finding full-time employment in 2022. This includes many industries and employees which included migrant and foreign workers.
Meanwhile, the government cited inspections that discovered a number of “bad actors” that were illegally paying workers less than minimum wage and denying them basic employment rights.
The new requirement was first announced in 2021 and is part of Ontario’s Working for Workers Act. The legislation will make it legitimate for companies to use unlicensed businesses for staffing as of January 1, 2024.
Official said those that do will be required to repay workers for any illegal fees charged to them.
In order to function, temporary help agencies and recruiters will provide $25,000 in the form of an “irrevocable letter of credit that can be used to repay owed wages to employees,” the government said.
In order to find staff, businesses will be able to search through a database of licensed agencies.
McNaughton said: “This will ensure better worker protections. It will also ensure that employers that are using temp health agencies will know that they’re using ones that are approved by the Government of Ontario.”
Agencies that apply for a license and are denied will have 30 days to cease operation. Licenses will need to be renewed every year.
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