New laws and regulations are coming to Ontario in the new year, including rules on pay transparency for job postings and harsher penalties for impaired driving offences.
Here are some of the rules and changes coming into effect as of Jan. 1:
WORKFORCE
The province is taking measures to compel employers to disclose salary information on job postings.
Some of the changes include requirements that employers with more than 25 employees note compensation ranges in publicly advertised job postings and disclose the use of artificial intelligence in screening, assessing or selecting applicants.
The new rules stipulate that the annual salary range on a posting must not exceed a gap of $50,000, unless the job pays more than $200,000, or where the top end of the range is more than $200,000.
The province says certain employers will be required to disclose in job postings whether a vacancy currently exists, and to respond to interviewees within 45 days after their interview.
Also new as of Jan. 1 are changes to Ontario’s “as of right” framework that will allow certified professionals from other Canadian jurisdictions to start working in the province within 10 business days, for up to six months while completing their full registration, once a regulator confirms their credentials and requirements. The province says these rules apply across professions regulated by more than 50 non-health regulatory authorities and 300 certifications and include engineers, architects and electricians.
HEALTH CARE
Ontario’s “as of right” rules will also expand to 16 additional out-of-province health professions, including optometrists, pharmacists, physician assistants and dentists.
The province says an amendment to its immigration act also updates the list of eligible licence classes for self-employed physicians applying to Ontario’s immigrant nominee program, as part of efforts to attract and retain foreign doctors.
The province is also expanding the scope of practice of midwives and Indigenous midwives and making changes to the provincial newborn and prenatal screening programs. The new rules add 29 tests to the list of tests midwives can order, and also adds multiple tests to the province’s prenatal screening program.
ON THE ROADS
The province says it’s cracking down on impaired driving with new measures that include a lifetime driver’s licence ban upon conviction for impaired driving causing death and mandatory remedial education for first-time alcohol or drug-related occurrences on the road.
Ontario is also introducing an escalation of licence suspensions for vehicle theft, such as a lifetime suspension for a third conviction.
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
The Ontario government will no longer consider Canadian Disability Benefit payments as income when determining eligibility for child care fee subsidies.
HOME SAFETY
Starting Jan. 1, new rules will take effect on the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in houses, apartments and condo units. A CO alarm must be installed on every storey of the home, including levels that don’t have sleeping areas. The new requirements also include installing CO alarms if the home is heated by air from a fuel-burning appliance that is not contained within the unit.
RECYCLING
Starting Jan. 1, Ontario will implement a provincewide recycling material list that it says will help eliminate confusion over what can be recycled, as control of blue box programs shifts to manufacturers and producers instead of municipalities.
The new list also expands the items that can be recycled to include hot and cold beverage cups, black plastic containers, ice cream tubs, toothpaste tubes, deodorant and more.
Ontario will also change some blue box recycling targets for businesses, including removing the requirement to collect beverage containers in commercial locations.
ALCOHOL SALES
Ontario is amending a regulation to set a minimum retail price for five-litre containers of wine sold in grocery and convenience stores. New measures will also remove restrictions on displaying energy drinks next to alcohol products, and remove requirements for grocery and convenience stores to maintain a dedicated alcohol sales section on their websites.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2025.
