More immigration and better working conditions are top priorities for Ontario’s labor minister
The new legislation, if passed, would make it simpler for migrants to operate in regulated occupations, prohibit non-compete agreements, and adopt a “disconnect from work” policy for select firms, among other things.
Ontario’s labor minister, who is also in charge of immigration, is seeking legal reforms to make the state more appealing to employers.
On October 25, Monte McNaughton presented the “Working for Workers Act.” If it passes, it will have a significant impact on Ontario employees.
The activity involves the proposed reforms for immigrants seeking to work in controlled occupations in Ontario that were introduced last week.
In other words, the Ontario government wants to make it easier for newcomers to obtain licenses in non-health-related fields. They aim to eliminate the obligation for regulatory organizations to demand Job experience, remove the need for a language exam for licensing purposes, and increase the speed of the licensing procedure, particularly in emergency situations.
“If we want to strengthen our province, we need to acknowledge the credentials of new Canadians, get them to fulfil their licensing requirements, and get them into these meaningful occupations,” McNaughton said.
Labour shortages in skilled trades occupations, according to McNaughton, will further worsen as more people retire. He also mentioned recent research that claimed that closing the skill shortage between migrants and Canadian-born workers would boost Ontario’s GDP by $12 to $20 billion.
Healthcare jobs are not yet included in the proposed bill for regulatory agencies. McNaughton would not clarify why but said that the government intends to amend it soon.
If the bill passes, Ontario will be the first Canadian province to do away with the requirement of Canadian job experience for regulated occupations. It will also be the first to implement laws such as “right-to-disconnect” and prohibit non-compete agreements.
Employers with 25 or more employees would be required to create a policy allowing people to disengage from their employment at the end of the day. Employers would also be prohibited from instituting non-compete agreements, which require employees to sign a contract stating that they’ll never work for a competitor after leaving their firm for a set period of time.
The entire procedure, such as the legislative process and execution, might take two years, according to a media spokesperson from the minister’s office. The minister is hoping that the measure will be passed before the June 2022 election in Ontario. This is significant because, if Ontario goes to an election, all bills now being examined by the Legislature must be reintroduced in the following session. The minister’s office currently does not have a start date for the debates.
Aside from changes to rules controlling regulatory organizations, the immigration minister wants the federal government to grant Ontario more immigration authority. Through the Provincial Nominee Program, the federal government has permitted Ontario to receive 9,000 newcomers by 2021. (PNP). Due to continued labor shortages, although Ontario is one of the most preferred provinces for new immigrants, McNaughton would want to see that figure quadrupled.
“We emphasized healthcare employees and skilled manual workers this year,” McNaughton said, “but that figure really needs to climb because of the massive labor shortfall we have.” “We’re in a good position to connect these newcomers to open positions.”