Regulations and Statutes in Force as of January 1, 2026

The following legislation, regulation and fee changes listed by responsible ministry will take effect January 1, 2026.

Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development

A first-in-Canada approach, Ontario’s new “As of Right” framework under the Ontario Labour Mobility Act (OLMA) allows certified professionals from other Canadian jurisdictions to start working within 10 business days for up to six months by having their certification recognized faster with the Ontario regulatory authority while completing their full registration. This reduces barriers to help unify Canada’s economy and contributes to national labour mobility efforts to strengthen workforces across the country. These “As of Right” rules apply across professions regulated by more than 50 non-health regulatory authorities and 300 certifications.

To ensure certified professionals from other Canadian jurisdictions have access to labour mobility requirements and timelines for certification recognition in Ontario, new regulation under the OLMA will require Ontario regulatory authorities to publish these requirements on their public-facing website. These measures will help increase transparency and prevent missed employment opportunities. In addition, regulatory authorities will be required to report to government on the success of labour mobility applicants and on registration service standards to provide a clearer picture of the regulatory landscape in Ontario.

To encourage compliance, a new regulation will enable monitor ministries to issue administrative penalties on regulatory authorities for failing to comply with the OLMA. In addition, it will be an offence for an individual to knowingly provide false information for the purpose of meeting requirements for deemed certification, “As of Right”, under the OLMA.

To protect the health and safety of workers on job sites, and as part of our commitment under the recently passed Working for Workers Seven Act, a regulatory amendment has been made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requiring defibrillators on construction sites with 20 or more regularly employed workers on a project that will be at least three months long. A worker trained in CPR and defibrillator operation must also be present when work is in progress. To help businesses with these costs, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will be offering reimbursement to eligible employers of up to $2,500 per device (average cost is approximately $2,300 per device) per eligible construction project.

To help workers and job seekers make more informed decisions with their careers, new Employment Standards Act (ESA) rules under the Working for Workers Four Act related to job postings requires certain employers to include expected compensation and disclose the use of artificial intelligence in the hiring process. The new rules will also address barriers for immigrants seeking jobs that correspond to their skills, education and experience.

To further help workers and job seekers, the Working for Workers Five Act establishes rules under the ESA where certain employers are required to disclose in job postings whether a vacancy currently exists and requires them to respond to interviewees within 45 days after their interview.

To streamline and expedite registration processes for internationally trained professionals, a regulation amendment under the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act introduces new requirements for regulated professions and third-party assessment organizations to ensure they assess an applicant’s qualifications in a fair, transparent, objective and impartial manner.

To protect workers and job seekers using public job posting platforms, Ontario is adding a new provision under the ESA that requires those platforms to have a procedure for users to report fraudulent publicly advertised job postings and to have a written policy with respect to fraudulent ads.

Ontario is working to attract and retain foreign national physicians by amending O. Reg. 422/17 under the Ontario Immigration Act. The amendment will broaden eligibility for physicians who can practise in Ontario by updating the list of eligible licence classes for self-employed physicians applying to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

Ontario is protecting the health and safety of workers with a new regulation under the OHSA that requires constructors at construction projects or employers at all other workplaces to post cleaning records of their washroom facilities that are provided for workers — the first province in Canada to require these records.

Ontario is reducing barriers for construction businesses with a new regulation under the OHSA that ensures Chief Prevention Officer-accredited Health and Safety Management Systems are treated as equivalent in government and public sector organization procurements and promoting compliance with this regulation through the establishment of administrative monetary penalties.

To help reduce administrative burdens on temporary help agencies and recruiters, an amendment under the ESA requires agencies and recruiters to renew their licences every two years rather than every year.

Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

To speed up approvals for projects of critical importance to Ontario’s economy, Ontario is enacting the Special Economic Zones Act. Following comprehensive consultation with Indigenous communities and other parties, the Act can introduce Special Economic Zones to prioritize certain areas, projects or proponents of strategic provincial significance that would serve to drive economic activity, create jobs and attract investment.

Ministry of Health

In support of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, an amendment to O. Reg 865/93 under the Medicine Act will create a new Provisional Class to reduce registration barriers, streamline credentialing and allow qualified physicians to practise in Ontario.

Expansion of “As of Right” rules allows more health professionals moving to Ontario from another province to practise right away while they await registration in Ontario. Schedules 3, 4, 8 and 10 of the Building a More Competitive Economy Act were passed and 32 new or amended regulations were made to:

• Expand “As of Right” rules to 16 additional out-of-province health professions
• Set the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the College of Nurses of Ontario as the regulators whose labour mobility applicants will have their home jurisdictions’ licences automatically recognized. Automatic registration for applicants in good standing must be registered within two business days.

Board-certified physicians and nurses licensed in a U.S. state and the District of Columbia may practise in Ontario using “As of Right” rules with amendments to O. Reg. 197/23 under the Medicine Act and O. Reg. 196/23 under the Nursing Act. Also, changes to those two regulations and to O. Reg. 199/23 under the Respiratory Therapy Act and to O. Reg. 198/23 under the Medical Laboratory Technology Act removed work-setting restrictions for those practising under “As of Right” rules.

To help the people of Ontario access their provincial health records, an amendment to the Personal Health Information Protection Act will allow people with a Digital Health Identifier to securely access certain records of their personal health information in the provincial Electronic Health Record. This change also strengthens Ontario Health’s role in managing the Electronic Health Record in a secure and privacy-protected way.

An amendment O. Reg. 552 under the Health Insurance Act supports the implementation of changes to two schedules: The Schedule of Benefits for Laboratory Services (SOB-LS) and The Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services (SOB-PS), where:

• Changes to SOB-LS allows the insurability of lab test orders placed electronically (eRequisitions) and that make use of electronic signatures
• Changes to SOB-PS increases the fee for 20 emergency medicine fee codes by 4.33 per cent, to meet the ministry’s contractual obligations under the Arbitration Award for physician payments.

Ontario is strengthening health services for expectant families by expanding the scope of practice of midwives and Indigenous midwives and making changes to the provincial newborn and prenatal screening programs. An amendment to O. Reg 45/22 under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act will:

• Add 29 tests to the list of tests that midwives and Indigenous midwives may order
• Allow midwives and Indigenous midwives to perform five Point of Care Tests
• Add a new test (X-ALD) to the newborn screening program
• Add three new tests (Fetal Blood Group Genotyping, Fetal RHD and first trimester preeclampsia biomarker) under the prenatal screening program
• Update provisions to allow Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to contract with labs for newborn screening.

To ensure dentists obtain and maintain professional liability coverage and authorization to work in Canada, Ontario is amending O. Reg 205/94 under the Dentistry Act.

Ministry of Transportation

To keep Ontario’s streets safer, amendments have been made to the Highway Traffic Act and relevant regulations that address reckless and dangerous driving behaviours including:

• Lifetime driver’s licence suspension upon conviction for impaired drivers causing death
• Mandatory remedial education for first-time alcohol and/or drug-related administrative occurrences
• Longer roadside licence suspensions for first- and second-time alcohol/drug-related occurrences
• Mandatory minimum licence suspensions on conviction of stunt driving are automatically applied rather than being court-ordered
• Escalating driver’s licence suspensions for motor vehicle theft under the Criminal Code, including a lifetime suspension for a third conviction.

To crack down on motor vehicle theft, a new provincial offence has been created under the Highway Traffic Act for knowingly providing a false vehicle identification number for a vehicle transaction. Penalties include fines of up to $100,000 for convictions, the possibility of up to six months in jail and an up to one-year driver’s licence or vehicle permit suspension.

In addition, Highway Traffic Act amendments provide police with the authority to search and seize electronic devices that are intended to be used for vehicle theft — providing law enforcement stronger tools to keep keyless devices off the streets and out of the hands of criminals.

Ministry of Energy and Mines

To support the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), an amendment to regulations under the Ontario Energy Board Act allows Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to enter into equity partnerships with Indigenous communities and other investors for SMRs built at Darlington New Nuclear Project. The amendment also allows OPG to recover debt interest costs during construction of certain nuclear projects.

Ontario is making life more affordable by amending the Ontario Rebate for Electricity Consumers Act to increase the energy rebate for customers of several Remote Unlicensed Distributors, also known as Independent Power Authorities, from eight per cent to 23.5 per cent.

A change to O. Reg 324/16 “Registration” under the Professional Geoscientists Act will help geoscientists to work in the province by allowing them to register as temporary members with Professional Geoscientists Ontario.

Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

To help connect communities and protect nature, Ontario is amending the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act to change the boundaries of select provincial parks to support the widening of Highway 69 and to expand and reclassify Devil’s Glen Provincial Park.

To speed up building the Lake Simcoe Phosphorus Reduction Project in the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario has granted the project a special designation for exemption from a full environmental assessment through a new regulation under the Supporting Growth and Housing in York and Durham Regions Act.

To help stabilize costs and reduce administrative burden for businesses while still maintaining overall recycling goals, Ontario is changing the upcoming Blue Box recycling requirements and timelines under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act. Some of these amendments include deferrals and changes to recycling targets, giving businesses more time to meet collection requirements and removing the requirement to collect beverage containers in commercial locations.

Ministry of Finance

To further modernize the province’s alcohol marketplace, Ontario is amending a regulation under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, to set a minimum retail price for five-litre containers of wine sold in grocery and convenience stores, to remove the restrictions on displaying energy drinks next to alcohol products, and to remove requirements for grocery and convenience stores to maintain a dedicated alcohol sales section on their websites.

To provide more clarity and transparency to consumers, Ontario is bringing into force amendments and amending regulations under the Insurance Act so that Ontario’s financial regulator can require insurers to provide clearer annual cost and performance information for segregated funds.

Ontario is altering the Legislative Assembly Act, MPPs Pension Act through the MPP Pension and Compensation Act so that MPPs now enrolled in the current retirement savings account will be switched over to the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP), and that MPPs not eligible for the PSPP (i.e., aged 71 and above) will be entitled to receive an allowance instead. The decision deadline for MPPs exploring options regarding the balance of their current registered pension plan will be extended to June 5, 2026.

To support transparency and accountability of public funds, Ontario is making a new regulation under the Insurance Act to designate the Ontario School Boards’ Insurance Exchange as a public sector reciprocal insurance exchange and make it subject to certain reporting and governance requirements, accountable to the Minister of Education.

Ontario is changing the Assessment Act, the City of Toronto Act, and the Municipal Act, to enhance access to property assessment information for the public by enabling the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation to deliver assessment notices to property owners electronically starting in 2026.

To clarify and simplify how payments-in-lieu of taxes are distributed between municipalities and school boards, the government is amending a regulation under the Municipal Act and the City of Toronto Act.

Ontario is amending a regulation under the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario Act so the Niagara Health System can have its capital investment funds managed by the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario.

To improve transparency and accountability around the province’s finances, Ontario is making a change to the Fiscal Sustainability, Transparency and Accountability Act, so that references to “provincial net debt” in both Acts will now read “provincial net financial liabilities”.

Ministry of Long-Term Care

To provide residents of long-term care (LTC) homes with the care they need, staff hired to provide personal support services through an exemption under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, who did not meet the standard qualification requirements, will be given an extension to December 1, 2027 to transition into new roles within the home or complete personal support worker training programs. After January 1, 2026, LTC homes will no longer be able to hire under this exemption.

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing

To help ensure housing assistance is directed to those most in need, Ontario is making its annual adjustment to Household Income Limits and High Needs Income Limits under the Housing Services Act. This adjustment reflects the latest data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and is used by local Service Managers to assess eligibility for housing supports like rent-geared-to-income assistance.

To empower the municipalities of Carling and McDougall to make efficient local planning decisions and increase their housing supply, amendments to the Planning Act will shift responsibility for approving the creation of new lots from the Parry Sound Area Planning Board to these two municipalities.

Under the Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, Ontario is modernizing and streamlining the posting requirements for municipal financial statements by requiring them to be posted on the municipality’s website rather than in print media. These changes and requirements are also being made to the City of Toronto Act.

Through the Barrie-Oro-Medonte-Springwater Boundary Adjustment Act, Ontario is supporting growth in Simcoe County by transferring approximately 1,673 hectares of land located in the Townships of Oro-Medonte and Springwater to the City of Barrie. This boundary change will benefit the entire region by protecting jobs and accelerating economic growth in Simcoe County while unlocking up to 8,000 new homes.

Ministry of Natural Resources

The government is updating and strengthening forest fire prevention measures through the Wildland Fire Management Act to help protect communities, forests and industries from the escalating threat of wildland fires. The Act will strengthen shared responsibility for wildland fire management, improve awareness of wildland fire risks, enforce stricter rules and consequences for non-compliance and enhance overall preparedness and response.

The new Geologic Carbon Storage Act enables the development of carbon storage projects, which could cut greenhouse gas emissions by five to seven million tonnes per year, create over 4,000 short-term jobs and make Ontario’s economy more competitive by reducing carbon costs for industries by nearly $1 billion a year. Carbon storage has proven to be safe and effective around the world, including in Canada, with projects already underway in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Ontario is helping build housing and infrastructure by modernizing the Surveyors Act and its regulations to make it easier for surveyors to do business, simplify the process for internationally trained surveyors to work in Ontario and allow Ontario to be supported by out-of-province surveyors during emergencies like floods or wildland fires.

Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement

Ontario is protecting consumers by amending regulations under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act to help ensure that motor vehicle sales professionals are kept up-to-date and aware of their responsibilities under the Act by completing continuing education, as required by the registrar, prior to renewing their registration.

Ministry of the Solicitor General

To support human trafficking investigations by police services within Ontario’s accommodation sector, the Accommodation Sector Registration of Guests Act and its regulation establish requirements for hotels and online accommodation providers to keep a register of guests and standardize how police can access the register during investigations.

To strengthen fire safety compliance, a new regulation introduces administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) as an additional enforcement tool under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act. The new regulation allows municipalities to levy an AMP on anyone (including tenants, owners and corporations) who are in violation of certain provisions of the Ontario Fire Code.

Amendments to O. Reg. 213/07 creates the first French edition of the Ontario Fire Code.

An amendment to O. Reg. 347/18 under the Police Record Checks Reform Act clarifies what information police services can disclose through a police record check that is exempted from the Act.

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness

To reduce red tape, the new Protecting Farmers from Non-Payment Act (Regulating Agricultural Product Dealers and Storage Operators) replaces three former Acts and protects grain and livestock farmers when dealers licenced to sell or store their products default on payments or do not return grain to the farmer. The new Act also makes it easier for farmers of other commodities to receive financial protection.

Ministry of the Attorney General

Amendments to the Construction Act and its regulations will support more timely payments to contractors, reduce cash flow issues and payment-related disputes on multi-year construction projects and provide greater clarity and certainty for the construction industry.

Amendments to a regulation under the Special Investigations Unit Act will mean the use of certain Anti-Riot Weaponry and similar devices will not automatically require an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, except in instances where death or serious injury has occurred.

Ontario is amending four regulations under the Administration of Justice Act to defer automatic increases to court fees and fee waiver eligibility thresholds from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027.

Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

To encourage licenced out-of-home care providers to comply with requirements, an amendment to O. Reg. 155/18 under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act will establish rules for the amount of administrative penalties that could be issued to a provider for violating licensing requirements.

Ministry of Education

In order to better support families, Ontario is amending a regulation under the Child Care and Early Years Act so that Canadian Disability Benefit payments will not be considered income when determining eligibility for child care fee subsidies.

Ministry of Francophone Affairs

The Ontario government is moving the French Language Services Act’s Schedule listing designated areas into a new regulation under the Act. This regulation also includes updates to several designated areas to reflect their current official municipal names, expanding six designated areas to align with municipal boundaries. The offer of provincial French-language services will expand following a three-year implementation period, as of January 1, 2029. The six impacted designated areas are:

• United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry
• County of Essex
• City of Hamilton
• Municipality of Chatham-Kent
• County of Renfrew
• District of Thunder Bay.

A further amendment to O. Reg. 398/93 under the Act, designates two new agencies — Centre d’Accueil Champlain and Pembroke Regional Hospital — and updates the current designation of 11 agencies to reflect changes to their names, designated program names or names of funding ministries.

Related Topics