What this bill does
This Ontario omnibus bill strengthens worker protections and streamlines business regulation by amending nine different Acts, including banning employers from charging staff for uniforms, creating a new licensing and enforcement regime for talent agencies, increasing WSIB loss-of-earnings benefits from 85% to 90%, extending WSIB payments past age 65 in some cases, shortening construction-industry union certification timelines, and speeding up environmental assessment approvals for infrastructure projects.
Plain-language summary by Legisail.
The bill touches a wide range of Ontario businesses. Employers in retail, food service, hospitality, healthcare, and any sector that requires branded or logo-bearing uniforms — whether running a small restaurant with a team of five or a larger retail chain — will no longer be able to charge employees for those uniforms or their cleaning starting January 1, 2027. Talent agencies operating in Ontario's film, television, music, and live entertainment industries face an entirely new regulatory framework: they must stop charging upfront or registration fees to actors, background performers, musicians, and other entertainment workers, hold client payments in a dedicated trust account, and remit those payments within 10 business days, all under the oversight of a new Director of Talent Agencies with inspection and enforcement powers. Construction employers and contractors working under collective agreements in Ontario will see union certification and decertification application windows shrink from two months to one month, which compresses the time available to manage potential labour relations changes on a project. All Ontario employers covered by WSIB — from small manufacturers and trucking companies to large construction firms — will be required to contribute to a system that now pays injured workers 90% (up from 85%) of their earnings loss, which will increase premium-funded benefit costs over time. Private operators of residential care facilities and group homes are newly deemed subject to the WSIB insurance plan, meaning those businesses must now register and pay WSIB premiums if they were not already doing so.