Pay Transparency in Ontario 2026 — What Your Job Posting Must Include and Why It Matters
As of January 1, 2026, Ontario’s Employment Standards Act has new requirements for every publicly advertised job posting. If your company has 25 or more employees and posts jobs for Ontario-based roles, these rules apply to you — regardless of where your headquarters are located.
“This is not a best practice update. It is the law.”
What must be in every covered posting?
Every publicly advertised job posting from a covered employer must include expected compensation or a compensation range, a statement disclosing whether artificial intelligence is used to screen, assess, or select applicants, a clear statement on whether the posting is for an existing vacancy or not, and no requirements related to Canadian experience in the posting or any associated application form.
Employers who interview applicants must also inform those applicants of a hiring decision within 45 days of the last interview. And copies of every posting and associated application must be retained for three years after the posting is taken down.
Why does this matter beyond compliance?
A job posting is now a legal document. It establishes what the role is worth, what the employer is prepared to offer, and how the employer treats candidates. In the event of a dispute, a public posting can become evidence. Courts are increasingly referencing salary data from postings in damage award calculations.
For employers, a non-compliant posting creates legal exposure. For job seekers, a missing salary range or vacancy statement is a signal about how that employer operates before you ever walk in the door.
Exceptions apply to employers with fewer than 25 employees, the Crown, and positions where expected compensation exceeds $200,000 per year.
The fastest way to check compliance
Before your next posting goes live, run it through BeazAtWork. Paste your job description and get a compliance score instantly. Free, no account required for the basic score. For employers who want to guarantee 100 per cent compliance from the start, the BeazAtWork JD Template gives you a fully structured, ESA-compliant job description template ready to fill in and publish.
