Ontario's Working for Genuinely Workers Law and the Canadian Experience Posting Ban

Three separate pieces of legislation, not one, are behind the single rule most South Africans have heard about Ontario’s hiring reforms. This ontario canadian experience job posting ban review starts with that surprising number because it explains why so much online commentary about the package gets details wrong — people are quoting one bill when the actual rule sits across three: the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024, the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024, and the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025, implemented together through a section of the Employment Standards Act and a regulation, all in force from 1 January 2026.

Mistake one: thinking the ban only covers “Canadian work experience”

The prohibition, for Ontario employers with 25 or more employees, is broader than most summaries suggest. It bars publicly advertised postings and application forms from requiring not just Canadian work experience, but also Canadian education credentials and an established Canadian professional network or client base. That second and third element arguably locks out a newly landed South African professional more than a bare experience line ever did — a posting demanding “an existing local client base” is exactly the kind of requirement a recent arrival can’t yet meet, no matter how strong their CV is. Professional licensing requirements remain a separate, carved-out track.

Mistake two: assuming the 25-employee threshold is settled for every part of the law

The 25-employee count applies across multiple Ontario locations, treats part-time and casual staff as one employee each regardless of hours, and excludes the Crown and its agencies. Employment-law firms broadly agree the threshold covers the whole package, including the Canadian-experience ban — but the operative regulation text on this specific point hasn’t been fully confirmed by every source, so treat “25 or more employees” as the safest working assumption rather than an absolute for every element of the law.

Mistake three: over-reading the pay-range rule

The ontario job posting pay range disclosure rule requires employers to disclose expected compensation or a range; a range can’t exceed $50,000 a year in spread. The common mistake is assuming that cap simply widens for high earners — it doesn’t. At or above $200,000 a year, the entire compensation-disclosure duty falls away rather than the range simply loosening.

Mistake four: assuming AI-screening disclosure requires detail

Where a machine-based system screens, assesses or selects applicants, the posting must say so — but a simple statement that AI is used is sufficient. No description of the system itself is required.

Mistake five: thinking “ghost jobs” are now banned

The law requires postings to state whether the role is for an existing vacancy — defined as a position imminently available for a qualified candidate to fill — but it doesn’t outlaw posting a role that isn’t. It requires the label, not the honesty behind it, so read that line on any posting rather than assuming it’s been legislated away.

Mistake six: expecting a personal outcome within 45 days

Employers must tell an interviewed candidate, within 45 days of the final interview, whether a hiring decision has been made — not what that decision actually was. That’s a narrower promise than most job seekers assume, and it can be delivered by phone, email, text or a portal update.

Postings, application forms and post-interview records must be kept for three years, and job-posting platforms themselves now carry a separate duty to provide a visible fraud-reporting mechanism regardless of employer size — worth knowing if you’re ever targeted by a suspicious “Canada visa sponsorship” listing. This is a summary of what the statute requires, not legal advice on a specific posting you’ve encountered; an employment lawyer is the right call for that. Cape2Canada’s blog keeps tracking how Ontario employers are actually adjusting their postings as this law beds in.