Summary#

Bill 30, the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025, amends seven Ontario laws; it does not create a separate operating program. It has received Royal Assent, though some provisions take effect later or on a date set by the government. Its stated goal is to protect workers, strengthen skills training and keep costs down.

• Cabinet may make regulations limiting or blocking municipal powers for certain training projects that receive funding under an agreement with the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
• Certain partly ministry-funded training projects are exempt from the Planning Act and specified Toronto Act rules, except projects on Greenbelt land; regulations can limit that exemption.
• Job-posting platform operators must provide a way to report fraudulent postings and publish a written policy about them.
• Some workers who receive statutory termination notice may take up to three unpaid days for job-search activities. Some non-union employees may also be laid off longer if they and their employer agree and the Director approves.
• The Act adds workplace-safety administrative penalties and a defibrillator reimbursement rule for some employers. It also adds penalties and offences for certain employer conduct involving the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
• An immigration inspector may require a person to attend an in-person interview separate from other people during an inspection.

What it means for you#

• Workers facing termination: If at least 50 employees receive notice, the explanatory note says an employee who receives notice may take up to three unpaid days for job searches, interviews or training. Give the employer three days’ notice if possible. An employer may ask for reasonable evidence, and may count part of a day as a full day. The leave does not apply if the employer provides pay instead of notice equal to 25% or less of the required notice.
• Non-union employees on lay-off: You and your employer may agree to a lay-off of 35 or more weeks in 52, but not 52 or more weeks in 78. The employer must give you the intended recall date in writing and explain that you cannot withdraw your agreement. The Director must approve the extended lay-off. Union-represented employees are excluded.
• Job-posting platform operators: You must display a reporting method and a written policy on fraudulent public job postings, and keep copies of policies for three years after they stop applying. The rules exclude an employer’s platform if it only lists that employer’s jobs, and may exclude other platforms by regulation. Users cannot file an Employment Standards Act complaint about a breach of these duties.
• Municipalities and training-project operators: Cabinet may use regulations to limit or prevent municipal powers for the specified projects. The planning exemption applies unless regulations say otherwise, and does not apply on Greenbelt land.
• Employers: If required by law to equip a workplace with a defibrillator, eligible employers are entitled to reimbursement under rules set by regulation. Employers must not make false or misleading statements to the WSIB about anyone’s benefits claim. New administrative penalties also apply to specified WSIB non-compliance, including unpaid premiums.
• People involved in immigration inspections: An inspector may require a separate in-person interview. The bill does not set out further interview procedures.

Money#

No publicly available information is provided about the Act’s total cost or the amounts of its penalties and reimbursements.

• The WSIB must reimburse qualifying employers for required defibrillator costs, subject to eligibility rules, limits and timing set by regulation.
• Workplace-safety administrative penalties go to the Minister of Finance. WSIB administrative penalties go to the Board. The amounts are to be set by regulation.
• Costs to employers and platforms to meet the new requirements are not estimated in the supplied material.

What is unclear#

• The full parent Acts were not supplied, so I could not verify all changes against current law.
• Regulations will set important details, including penalty amounts, review procedures, defibrillator eligibility and reimbursement limits, and which platforms may be excluded.
• The defibrillator reimbursement section is set to be repealed on a date named by government order. No publicly available information in the supplied material says when that repeal takes effect.
• Some job-platform provisions take effect only when provisions of the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 are in force. No publicly available information in the supplied material gives that date.
• The bill does not describe how municipalities or affected communities will be involved before rules limit local powers or exempt projects from planning requirements.

Case for#

• A reporting tool and written policy could give job seekers a clear way to flag fraudulent postings and show how platforms will address them.
• Job-seeking leave could give some workers time to look for work while their termination notice is running.
• Reimbursement could reduce the cost to eligible employers of installing a required defibrillator.
• Administrative penalties and stronger WSIB consequences could add enforcement options for workplace-safety and insurance-plan rules.
• Exempting some ministry-funded training projects from planning rules could make it easier to develop or use facilities for the training purposes set out in funding agreements.

Case against#

• Cabinet could limit municipal powers for covered training projects, and some projects would be exempt from planning rules. The bill does not itself set out a local review or consultation process.
• Job-seeking leave is unpaid, and an employer may count a partial day as a full day. Workers who agree to an extended lay-off cannot withdraw their agreement.
• The defibrillator reimbursement and penalty systems depend on future regulations, so eligibility, amounts and review safeguards are not clear in the bill.
• Job-platform users cannot bring an Employment Standards Act complaint about the platform duties, and the bill does not specify how quickly a platform must act on a fraud report.