Ontario Pay Transparency: What Job Postings Must Tell You
The rules are in the Employment Standards Act, Part III.1, and in O. Reg. 476/24. Ontario's own guide is the page to read before you argue with a recruiter. How to use the number in the conversation is the offer script and how to ask for a raise. This article is what the posting owes you. It is not a substitute for the guide, and it does not cover British Columbia or Prince Edward Island. Those laws were not checked for this page.
- The duties hit employers with 25 or more employees on the day the posting goes up. Count people, not full-time equivalents. Twenty part-time and five full-time is 25.
- The posting needs expected compensation, or a range. A range cannot exceed the equivalent of $50,000 a year. $85,000 to $135,000 can be posted. $85,000 to $140,000 cannot.
- No range is required if expected compensation is over $200,000 a year, or the range ends above $200,000.
- The posting must say whether artificial intelligence is used to screen, assess, or select applicants, and whether a vacancy exists. Canadian-experience requirements are prohibited on the posting and on the application form, with a licensing exception.
- The range on the posting is not a promise you will be offered that number. It is information you are allowed to use.
Who has to comply
Fewer than 25 employees on the posting day, and the job-posting rules do not apply. The count is Ontario employees, including part-time, casual, people on leave, and people on layoff if the relationship has not ended. Multiple locations in Ontario are added together. A general "we are hiring" sign with no specific position is not a publicly advertised job posting. A posting open only to current employees is not one either. Work performed outside Ontario is generally out of scope. The Crown is excluded. Ontario's guide walks the examples. Use it when a recruiter says the company is "too small" and you can see three locations.
What "compensation" includes, and what it leaves out
Ontario defines compensation for this part as wages: salary, hourly pay, commission, piece work, and a bonus tied to hours, production, or efficiency. It does not include tips, gifts, expense allowances, or a bonus that is both discretionary and unrelated to hours, production, or efficiency. Stock options are not in that wage definition. A posted range can therefore be base pay while the equity sits off to the side. Price the equity separately, using the RSU and stock-option guide, and do not pretend the posting's top number included it.
If pay is an hourly rate plus commission, the posting has to say something about both. It does not have to be a full commission plan. A line such as a bonus of up to a stated share of salary, based on performance, can be enough. Read the posting as a floor for the conversation, not as the whole package. The rest of the package is the offer checklist.
How to use the range
Ask where in the range the offer sits, and what moves it. A posting at $90,000 to $130,000 that produces an offer at $92,000 is a question: which requirement in the posting do I fail? If you meet the posted requirements, say so, and ask for a number closer to the top. The regulation's $50,000 cap means a very wide "depending on experience" band is no longer a lawful way to hide the pay, for employers who are in scope. The Act does not stop the employer from having a wider internal band. It stops them printing the wide one on the public posting.
Also read the two sentences people skip. If artificial intelligence screens applications, the posting has to say so. It does not have to explain the model. And the posting cannot require Canadian experience, including work experience, credentials, or an existing professional network, except where a licence or registration genuinely requires it. If the application form still asks for Canadian experience, that form has the same problem as the posting.
Frequently asked questions
Does this apply to a company with 25 staff across Canada, but 10 in Ontario?
The guide counts employees employed in Ontario. Ten in Ontario is under the threshold, even if the firm is larger elsewhere. Related employers can be treated as one employer in some cases. If you are unsure, the guide's section on related employers is the place to look, not a guess.
Can they offer me less than the posted range?
Ontario says the posting rule does not oblige the employer to offer you the compensation on the posting. You can still ask why the offer left the range, and you can walk. The posting is leverage. It is not a contract.
What about a role over $200,000?
If expected compensation is more than $200,000 a year, or the range ends above $200,000, the compensation line is not required. The AI disclosure, the vacancy statement, and the ban on Canadian-experience requirements are separate duties. Read the guide for which of those still apply. Do not assume a six-figure title is outside every rule.
Sources
- Ontario: requirements for publicly advertised job postings
- O. Reg. 476/24: rules and exemptions re job postings
- Employment Standards Act, 2000, Part III.1
