Since January 1, 2026, Ontario employers with 25 or more employees must meet six requirements on every publicly advertised job posting: disclose expected pay, disclose AI use in hiring, state whether the vacancy is real, drop Canadian experience requirements, tell interviewed applicants the outcome within 45 days, and keep records for 3 years. These rules sit in the Employment Standards Act, 2000, so a non-compliant ad is a live compliance risk.

• A posted salary range cannot span more than $50,000, and the rule does not apply where pay exceeds $200,000 per year
• Requiring Canadian experience in a posting or application form is prohibited
• Interviewed applicants must be told the outcome within 45 days, and every posting must be kept on file for 3 years

Ontario's 2026 job posting rules apply to employers that have 25 or more employees on the day a posting is made, and only to publicly advertised external job postings. If you have fewer than 25 employees, or the posting is internal only, the rules do not apply.

The requirements sit in Part III.1 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, with operating detail in O. Reg. 476/24. Count your employees on the day each posting goes live. A "publicly advertised" posting is one made available to the general public through a job board, careers page, recruiter, or social media.

The table below summarises what every covered Ontario job posting must do.

Since January 1, 2026, every covered Ontario job posting must state the expected compensation, either as a fixed amount or a range, and a posted range cannot span more than $50,000 from minimum to maximum. The rule does not apply where compensation, or the top of the range, is more than $200,000 per year.

Vague phrases like "competitive salary" no longer meet the rule. Compliant: "Line cook, $18.00 to $22.00 per hour." Non-compliant: "Assistant manager, $60,000 to $130,000" (a $70,000 spread).

Worked example: posting $65,000 to $120,000 gives a $55,000 spread, which exceeds the $50,000 limit and is not compliant. Narrowing to $70,000 to $120,000 gives a $50,000 spread and complies.

If you use artificial intelligence to screen, assess, or select applicants for a publicly advertised Ontario job posting, the posting must disclose that AI is used, required since January 1, 2026. This covers resume parsers that rank applicants, pre-screening chatbots, and any automated scoring or shortlisting system.

Compliant example: "We use automated tools, including AI, to review and screen applications for this role."

Every covered Ontario job posting must state whether it is for an existing vacancy, under section 8.5 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. This stops the practice of advertising roles that do not exist purely to collect resumes.

Compliant example: "This posting is for an existing vacancy."

Ontario employers can no longer require Canadian experience in a publicly advertised job posting or on any associated application form, under section 8.3 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, in force since January 1, 2026.

Compliant example: "3 years of experience in a high-volume kitchen." Non-compliant example: "Must have 3 years of Canadian kitchen experience."

Ontario employers must tell every applicant they interview whether a hiring decision has been made, within 45 days of the interview. Notice can be delivered in person, in writing, or through technology. It only applies to people actually interviewed, and where there is more than one interview, the 45 days run from the last one.

Compliant example: emailing every interviewed candidate a clear outcome within 45 days. Non-compliant example: interviewing five candidates, hiring one, and leaving the other four with no word.

Ontario employers must keep a copy of every publicly advertised job posting and any associated application form, plus a record of the information given to interviewed applicants, for 3 years after the posting is taken down.

Compliant example: a folder for each closed posting containing the live ad, the application form, and dated notices sent to interviewees.

Several types of posting fall outside Ontario's 2026 job posting rules: employers with fewer than 25 employees; generic help-wanted notices with no specific position; internal-only postings; postings for work performed outside Ontario (unless a continuation of Ontario-based work); and general recruitment campaigns with no job-specific details.

Common statutory holiday pay errors for Canadian operators in 2026 aside, the takeaway here: when in doubt about an Ontario-based role, treat it as covered.

Manual auditing does not scale once you are posting at volume. Six rules, real penalties, and dozens of live ads across multiple locations make it easy to let one slip, usually the salary range spread or the AI disclosure.

Tanda lets you build plain-language rules that scan job ads for compliance, so each posting is checked against each requirement before it is published, catching gaps like a range that spreads past $50,000 or a missing AI disclosure while the ad is still a draft.

A non-compliant Ontario job posting is enforced under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 through the standard complaints and inspections process. That can lead to investigations, compliance orders, and penalties, on top of the reputational damage of a public ad that breaks the law.

Because the rules apply to every covered posting individually, each non-compliant ad is a separate point of exposure. An operator running 40 open roles across several locations is not making one mistake, but potentially 40.