Vancouver: Ontario is set to introduce legislation that would require temp agencies and recruiters to be licensed. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said there are more than 3,000 agencies in the province and the vast majority operate ethically, but not all.
The minister said that if the law brought by him is passed, it would be necessary for any temporary help agency or recruiter to get a license. However, if they violate it, the unlicensed temporary help agency will be fined. In addition, new applicants will be thoroughly reviewed before a license is issued and a ‘Letter of Credit’ will be submitted to them. It can be used in case of non-payment of due wages of the workers.
According to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, there will be 128,000 full-time workers in Ontario in 2019 under a temporary help agency. According to the board, there are 2,257 temporary help agencies in the province as of July 2020. Statistics Canada estimates that between 2015 and 2019, the revenue of these agencies increased by 34 percent.