On the Radar from CLEO
CLEO On The Radar
August 2024
Stricter rules for temporary help agencies and recruiters
As of July 1, all temporary help agencies and recruiters need licenses to operate in Ontario. They must renew their licenses every year.
To get a license, recruiters and temporary help agencies submit a detailed application to the Government of Ontario.
There's currently a backlog of applications. The government is allowing recruiters and temporary help agencies to operate without a license if they applied for one before July 1. They can continue without a license until the government makes a decision about their application.
Recruiters
Recruiters find:
  • jobs for workers, and
  • workers for companies who are their clients.
Recruiters can sometimes charge fees for their services. But they can never charge fees to workers who are foreign nationals.
The jobs must be in Ontario. But recruiters do not have to be based in Ontario.
  • employees whose job is to find workers, such as human resources specialists
  • schools, colleges, and universities looking for jobs for students and graduates
  • unions
  • registered charities
As well, people are not recruiters if they have agreements with:
  • municipalities,
  • the Government of Ontario, or
  • the Government of Canada.
Temporary help agencies
Temporary help agencies are businesses that provide their clients with workers for temporary work assignments. These workers are employees of the agency.
Temporary help agencies usually charge fees to their clients. But the agencies cannot charge fees to their employees for finding them work.
The jobs must be in Ontario. But temporary help agencies do not have to be based in Ontario.
Finding out who has a license
The government has information about all temporary help agencies and recruiters that have applied for licenses.
This information includes:
  • status of the license
  • when a license expires
  • contact details and the legal name and operating name of the business
  • whether they can operate in Ontario
  • names of anyone whose license has been suspended or cancelled
If a temporary help agency or recruiter is not licensed
Workers can report recruiters and temporary help agencies that are not licensed to the Ministry of Labour. They can do this by calling the Employment Standards Information Centre at 1-800-531-5551. For TTY, call 1-866-567-8893.
The Ministry of Labour has employment standards officers who investigate complaints and inspect workplaces.
Fines
If a recruiter or temporary help agency does not have a license, an employment standards officer can order them to pay a fine. The fines range from $15,000 to $50,000.
These fines also apply if a recruiter or temporary help agency gave information in their licensing application that was false or misleading.
Court
The Ministry of Labour can also take an unlicensed recruiter or temporary help agency to court. But they rarely do this.
If they're guilty, the court can order them to pay a fine of $50,000 to $250,000, go to jail, or both.
The court can also order them to pay money to workers or employers who were affected.
Employers
It's against the law for employers to use recruiters or temporary help agencies that they know are not licensed. If they do, an employment standards officer can order them to pay a fine.
Workers
There are no penalties for workers who use unlicensed recruiters or who are employees of unlicensed temporary help agencies.
If the government refuses, cancels or suspends a license
The law says that recruiters and temporary help agencies must tell employees and clients in writing if the Ministry of Labour:
  • refuses to give them a license, or
  • cancels or suspends their license.
This is called giving notice.
They must give this notice within 30 days after the date the Ministry of Labour told them their license was refused, cancelled, or suspended.
The recruiter or temporary help agency can ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to review the Ministry's decision. If they ask for a review, they must say this in the notice they give to employees and clients.
They can continue operating while they're waiting for a decision about the review, unless the Labour Relations Board says they cannot.
Other workers' rights
Workers have other rights when they use recruiters or are employees of temporary help agencies. Most of these rights are in the Employment Standards Act and the Employment Protection Act for Foreign Nationals Act.
If workers have questions about their rights or have problems at work, they can contact:
 
Related resources
Temporary Agency Workers
Workers' Action Centre
 
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