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ACSESS assumes a leadership role in ensuring that industry members are aware of legislative and regulatory changes on a national scale which if implemented may affect their businesses. Our national committee and sub committees continue to actively monitor legislative developments in all provinces on a wide range of industry specific policy issues. Because of the unique attributes of staffing and recruitment in Canada, a major focus of the association’s advocacy is to proactively ensure that labour and employment laws do not impede staffing agency operations or unnecessarily increase costs, which could reduce labor market flexibility.
Call on ACSESS’ policy and legal experts for assistance with staffing and recruitment laws and regulations, employment law, business tax and insurance issues, and safety matters.
As the world of work evolves, ACSESS is committed to protecting employees and clients and preserving a fair playing field for staffing firms in all provinces. Since our last report to members, ACSESS has continued to make our industry's views known across a wide range of policy issues. We have represented members on several public policy fronts, including industry licensing, pay transparency, employment standards and federal procurement. Since our last report, our focus has been on improvements to existing legislative requirements for industry, licensing consultations as well as proactive relationship building with key government officials on a national scale.
The ACSESS federal government (professional services) procurement committee held meetings in December 2024 and January 2025 to discuss key policy priorities and ongoing challenges with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). We also continue to meet with the Assistant Deputy Minister PSPC (Dominic Laporte) and have agreed on the establishment of a consultative committee which will provide an opportunity/forum for industry leaders to be heard and share valuable feedback about how the contracting process can be optimized from the perspective of the professional services segment of the industry.
A major focus of the association’s advocacy is to proactively ensure that labour and employment laws do not impede staffing agency operations or unnecessarily increase costs, which could reduce labor market flexibility. ACSESS continues to assume a leadership role in ensuring that industry members are aware of legislative and regulatory changes on a national scale which if implemented may affect their businesses. Our national committee and sub-commitments continue to actively monitor legislative developments in all provinces on a wide range of industry specific policy issues.
ACSESS Federal Government Procurement committee continues to monitor the ongoing Contractor Overbilling file with Public Services Procurement Canada and several of our member organizations.
In January and February, 2025, ACSESS held meetings with the Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Services Procurement Canada to discuss necessary improvements to the procurement model. As the national voice of the industry, ACSESS offered our full support and expressed a willingness to collaborate and work closely with the Federal Government in an effort to establish meaningful reforms that will support Canadians. We recommended the establishment of an advisory committee or comité consultatif without delay which will provide an opportunity/forum for industry leaders to be heard and share valuable feedback about how the contracting process can be optimized from the perspective of professional staffing firms.
We also continue to work closely with the named suppliers as they retain legal counsel to align on an appropriate response to PSPC. We are hopeful that this can be resolved swiftly in accordance with the high ethical standards we uphold as an industry. ACSESS also held meetings with John Gorrie, Director General, PSPC to provide more information about how the contracting process is managed from the perspective of professional staffing firms.
We have also expanded our work with StrategyCorp Inc., a strategic communications and public affairs firm, to provide advice to our management and legal teams on an appropriate communications approach that aligns with our operational response. How we choose to resolve this situation will influence what further level of support may be required to help us manage the reputation of our members with clients and other stakeholders.
Ontario - Earlier this month, ACSESS Ontario Government Relations committee met with Minister Piccini’s policy director, Chief of Staff, Assistant Deputy Minister and Director of Employment Standards to review the licensing issuance process and discuss plans for the launch of an enforcement initiative which would involve both staffing firms/recruiters and industry clients. We will be meeting once again later this month (following the Ontario provincial election).
Since our last report, Ontario’s Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190) received Royal Assent. Bill 190 amends several statutes including the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
The following amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) are now in force:
Of notable interest to the staffing services industry, the following amendments will come into force on a date to be proclaimed in the future.
Every publicly advertised job posting must include a statement on whether the posting is for an existing vacancy. This requirement may be subject to prescribed exemptions.
Backgrounder: ACSESS, a primary stakeholder, worked closely with Ministry staff on the drafting of the regulations for industry licensing in Ontario. The regulations will include new penalties on firms that violate basic safety and employment standards, posting of a surety bond and new vetting requirements prior to the issuance of a license. As part of its mandate, ACSESS has long supported and advocated for initiatives to ensure that all temporary help agencies (THAs) comply with their legal obligations. This creates a level playing field for ACSESS member agencies and results in a fairer industry for THAs, their clients and assignment employees alike.
Consistent with this longstanding position, ACSESS supports the creation of a licensing regime for THAs, provided that the government is committed to investing the resources needed to ensure that any such regime is meaningful and effective in achieving its goals, which must include holding accountable unethical and illegal THAs that tarnish the reputation of the entire industry.
Goal: To monitor WSIB / OH & S policies for the industry and protect the interests of ACSESS members with respect to workers’ compensation and health and safety issues in general.
ACSESS continues to sponsor the Excellence program for the Staffing Services industry in partnership with WSIB. We are also exploring similar prevention initiatives in other provinces. Workplace health and safety is a top priority for ACSESS members on a national scale. ACSESS maintains alliances with workers compensation boards in all provinces to help raise staffing firm and client awareness of their respective responsibilities for temporary and contract workers. At the same time, ACSESS works to educate provincial boards in the areas of rate reform and the benefits of industry prevention initiatives.
Alberta - as part of our ongoing efforts to build and maintain relationships with key ministers in all provinces, ACSESS held a meeting with Minister
Matt Jones, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade to introduce ACSESS and highlight the important contributions of industry and discuss potential partnership opportunities. Service Alberta (in consultation with ACSESS) has developed a compliance standards document to assist staffing and recruitment firms and ensure compliance under the Consumer Protection Act and the Employment Agency Business Licensing Regulation. The standards and interpretations will address the most frequently asked questions and the most significant issues from an enforcement and compliance perspective.
Goal: Monitor industry issues unique to the province in the area of labour standards and employment legislation and protect the interests of our membership in their dealings with Quebec's governmental departments, boards and agencies.
ACSESS committee continues to work closely with CNESST and Revenu Québec on the application of licensing provisions all in an effort to encourage continued enforcement efforts and reduce red tape. The CNESST is scheduled to launch a review of the Loi sur les Normes du Travail (Employment Standards Act) in March, 2025.
In Quebec, the government adopted new requirements for the Attestation (Revenu Quebec) and the license issued by the Ministry of Labour (CNESST). Staffing firms in the province will now require appropriate clearance from Revenu Québec not only to obtain or renew a CNESST license but also to maintain the license. To alleviate the administrative burden on industry, staffing firms will no longer be required to provide a copy of the attestation to clients. While clients will still be required to ensure that the staffing firm has a license, they will not be required to verify attestation requirements.
ACSESS Quebec chapter continues to work on established policy and legislative priorities (see tableau Quebec legislative priorities 2025).
British Columbia – As previously reported, the B.C. government passed Bill 13, the Pay Transparency Act. Prior to finalizing the regulations, the province will be consulting with employers and other organizations,
including unions, Indigenous organizations, and other equity-seeking groups, to further its efforts to reduce the gender pay gap in B.C. While both pay transparency and pay equity legislation are concerned with the principle of equal work for equal pay, pay transparency legislation focuses on promoting access to workplace pay-related information, whereas pay equity legislation deals with the pay trends in historically gendered roles and places a legal obligation on certain employers to assess and remedy any gender pay gaps within their workplaces.
ACSESS will continue to work closely with the BC government to ensure fair application of new reporting requirements in an effort to ease the administrative burden on industry employers.
For more information please contact Mary McIninch, Director of Government Relations at 905-826-6869 or email mmcininch@acsess.org
The above Report is also available for downloading and printing in PDF format.
