'This ends now': Ontario proposes new temporary agency laws that would require license
The Ontario government is set to push new legislation that would require temporary help agencies and recruiters to obtain licenses in order to operate.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton made an announcement on Monday, outlining the legislation he plans to propose.
If passed, any temporary help agency or recruiter without a license could be penalized and face the “highest fines in the country,” McNaughton said. This new legislation would impact the 2,257 temporary help agencies operating in Ontario.
Under the proposed legislation, temporary help agencies and recruiters would be vetted before being issued a license to operate. Applicants would need a letter of credit that could be used to repay owed wages to workers.
“The underground activity…..makes millions of dollars off the backs of workers, by not paying minimum wage, not paying holiday pay, and not paying overtime pay,” McNaughton said. He said temporary help agencies illegally pay people below minimum wage, denying basic employment rights.
Over the past year, the Ministry of Labour has been investigating farms, retirement homes, food processing and warehousing facilities, finding more than $3.3 million owed to employees. He said about half of that has been recovered.
“They also found recruiters charging workers illegal hiring fees, and then clawing back their pay. This ends now. It's time we return these stolen paycheques to the workers who earn them,” McNaughton said.
The minister said employers who used “deceitful recruiters” could be required to repay workers for illegal fees charged.
“We are taking these steps to help vulnerable workers, mostly young people, women, migrant workers and newcomers, for being exploited by unethical agencies,” he said.
The province is planning to hire a team of officers that will focus on cracking down on the sector, particularly those exploiting and trafficking domestic and foreign workers.
If passed, the government is aiming to require licenses as early as 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.