Project Overview
The nature of employment in Ontario has shifted significantly. Secure, full-time work with stable wages and benefits is increasingly replaced by precarious forms of employment marked by low pay, limited benefits, job insecurity, and little control over working conditions. Workers in these jobs are more vulnerable to economic instability, health risks, and long-term poverty.
Precarious work disproportionately affects women, racialized persons, immigrants, temporary migrant workers, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, youth, and older adults. It takes many forms, including part-time, temporary, contract, and self-employment. Despite being employed, many workers in these arrangements struggle to meet basic needs, maintain family and community connections, and access education, training, and health care.
The Law Commission of Ontario’s Vulnerable Workers and Precarious Work project responds to these challenges. The project examines how Ontario’s legal and policy frameworks can better protect workers engaged in precarious employment and reduce the harms associated with vulnerability at work. Its primary focus is on the effectiveness of the Employment Standards Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, while also considering the role of training, education, community supports, and labour organizations.
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee members were:
- Erika Gates-Gasse – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants
- Mary Gellatly – Parkdale Community Legal Clinic
- Joel Gorlick/Benita Swarbrick – Ontario Ministry of Labour
- Sean Kennedy – Ontario Bar Association
- Deena Ladd – The Workers’ Action Centre
- Ken Linington – Flowers Canada Ontario Inc.
- Professor Katherine Lippel – University of Ottawa, Faculty of Civil Law
- Mary-Ellen McIntyre – Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples
- Naveen Mehta – United Food and Commercial Workers’ Union
- Professor Eric Tucker – York University, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Professor Leah Vosko – York University, Department of Political Science
- Mark Wales – Ontario Federation of Agriculture
- Armine Yalnizyan – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Key Recommendations
The LCO’s Final Report makes 47 recommendations informed by broad consultations with workers, employers, advocates, government, and experts. The recommendations focus on four main areas of reform.
1. Strengthen employment protections and enforcement
- Extend core employment standards to better cover workers in precarious jobs, supported by improved education, outreach, and community partnerships.
- Emphasize proactive enforcement and targeted inspections in sectors where vulnerable workers are concentrated.
- Reduce barriers that prevent workers from making claims for unpaid wages or other violations.
2. Address misclassification and gaps in coverage
- Improve oversight and enforcement to prevent workers from being misclassified as self-employed and excluded from basic employment protections.
- Clarify responsibilities for employers and strengthen remedies where misclassification occurs.
3. Improve protections for temporary foreign workers
- Reduce fear and vulnerability by strengthening protections against unfair termination and repatriation.
- Extend existing safeguards to all categories of temporary foreign workers and ensure complaints can be addressed before workers leave Canada.
4. Support health, safety, and long-term opportunity
- Focus occupational health and safety enforcement on high-risk sectors and improve access to health services for vulnerable workers.
- Expand access to training and education that helps workers adapt to changing labour market needs.
- Promote a coordinated provincial strategy to align laws, policies, and programs aimed at reducing precarious employment.