Ontario proposes new law that will require employers to tell workers if they're being electronically tracked

The Ontario government is introducing a new law that will force companies to tell their employees if and how they are being monitored electronically. 

The proposed law would require companies in Ontario with 25 or more employees to have a written contract in place that spells out how company computers, cell phones, GPS systems, and other electronic devices are being tracked.

"We'll be the first in Canada to do this," Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Monte McNaughton, told CTV News Toronto. "This is yet another step to really rebalance the scales and put workers in the driver's seat."

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According to the government, the contract will need to contain information on whether an employer electronically monitors its workers, and if so, a description of how and when the employer does this. 

If employers are electronically tracking their workers, they will also have to disclose the purpose of collecting that information. 

The legislation will be introduced in the coming days, the government said. Once passed, employers will be given six months to develop a policy that informs their workers about electronic tracking.

It will apply to employees working in the workplace, in the field or at home, the government said. 

McNaughton said he’s certain that some workers in Ontario are currently being monitored electronically without their knowledge. 

"I think about those moms and dads that were taking Zoom calls from their bedrooms, or their kids’ bedrooms, and they weren’t being told if they were recorded," McNaughton said. "I remember hearing during the pandemic that workers had their washroom breaks and their lunch breaks in a warehouse tracked through electronics, and it wasn’t to their knowledge. They had no idea that it was being done. To me, that is wrong."

Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton takes to the podium during a news conference in Toronto on Wednesday April 28, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

The government said it will provide guidelines and tips to businesses over the next six months to help them develop their tracking policies. 

"I know this is going to be new for many businesses across the province," McNaughton said. "But personal privacy is paramount to all people in Ontario."

McNaughton is set to make the announcement about the new legislation at 10 a.m. in Kitchener.