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Legislative Compliance

The Ultimate Guide to HR Compliance in Canada for 2026

Table of contents
Citation Canada's Ultimate HR Compliance Guide

Discover what Canadian employers need to know about HR compliance, health and safety legislation, employment standards, and employee rights.

With trusted insights and proven strategies from our HR experts, this guide will help you confidently navigate changes to legislation and the compliance assessment process.

What’s new? New compliance updates
  • Updates to WHMIS
  • Pay transparency legislation
  • Updated leave provisions
  • Ontario’s Working for Workers Acts
Canadian workplace compliance checklist
  1. Identify all jurisdictions that apply to your workforce. 
  2. Meet employment standards for hiring, hours, wages, vacation, leave, and terminations. 
  3. Complete and document health and safety and WHMIS training; conduct regular hazard assessments and safety awareness training. 
  4. Implement compliant anti-violence, anti-harassment, and health and safety policies and accessible reporting channels. 
  5. Review pay equity, transparency, and accessibility obligations in your jurisdiction. 
  6. Maintain a central policy manual and ensure employees acknowledge receipt of required policies and training.
The latest compliance updates for 2026 by Canadian jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

  • Minimum wage increases: Hourly rate increase to $16.75 on April 1, 2026, and to $17.00 on October 1, 2026, in Nova Scotia.

Ontario

  • AI disclosure: employers must state in job postings if artificial intelligence is used to screen, assess, or select applicants.
  • Candidate notification period: Employers must notify interviewed candidates of the hiring decision within 45 days of their final interview.
  • Ban on requiring Canadian experience: Job postings and associated applications can no longer require “Canadian experience” as a qualification.

Federal compliance updates (Canada Labour Code)

  • Pregnancy loss leave: Employees or spouses are entitled to three days of paid leave after a pregnancy loss.
  • Expanded bereavement leave: Entitlement increased to eight weeks for the death of an employee’s child or their spouse’s child.

British Columbia

  • Pay transparency reporting: Employers with over 50 employees must publish their annual pay transparency report by November 1, 2026.
  • Short-term sick leave: Employers are restricted from requesting medical notes for the first two short-term absences (five days or less) per year.

Quebec

  • Francization: Effective as of June 1, 2025, businesses with over 25 employees must register with the OQLF and may be required to formalize French as their primary language of work.
  • Psychological harassment: Stricter prevention and management programs for psychological harassment must be implemented by October 2026. A mandatory psychological harassment policy must be part of a business’s official prevention program if there are more than 20 employees, or an official action plan if there are fewer than 20 employees.
HR compliance in Canada: The ultimate guide

About this guide and our experts

This guide was written by Kim M, our Lead HR Consultant at Citation Canada, and fact-checked by our senior HR compliance team. Together, our experienced HR professionals and health and safety consultants help over 6,500 businesses manage their HR and OHS requirements more efficiently in every Canadian jurisdiction. 

What is HR compliance?

In human resources, compliance refers to your organization’s policies and procedures aligning with applicable laws and regulations. However, employment legislation is dense and often difficult to interpret for someone without an extensive background in employment law or HR. It’s often where simple, well-intentioned ideas become unanticipated challenges, adding to your to-do list. Legislation is constantly evolving, so new requirements and updates to existing laws should be expected, and planned for well before deadlines. Knowing what’s changing and how those changes affect Canadian employers is key to maintaining compliance.

The following comprehensive overview offers valuable insights from our experts to help Canadian HR professionals and business owners maintain compliance and uninterrupted operations at their organizations.

Maintaining compliance in HR

The first step to achieving compliance is knowing which laws and regulations govern your organization. It all depends on your jurisdiction. Federally regulated workplaces must abide by federal laws and regulations, such as the Canada Labour Code. While some federal legislation applies to all organizations, most of the time it’s the laws of your province or territory that count. If you have employees working in multiple jurisdictions, you may need to consult more than one jurisdiction’s laws. There are also municipal laws, industry-specific regulations, health and safety requirements, and common law considerations that may affect your workplace.

Creating and implementing compliant HR policies

Once you refer to applicable legislation to understand your requirements and obligations, you must create policies, practices, and training so every employee in your organization knows and follows the legislative requirements. Certain legislation may also require specific types of HR policies, such as those addressing workplace violence and harassment, and training on specific topics, such as WHMIS. Understanding which policies and training workers require is especially important for Canadian small businesses with limited in-house HR representation or no dedicated HR staff. Business owners need to establish effective policies and enforce them consistently and fairly to set their organization up for success.

What’s the difference between an act and a regulation?

As you review applicable legislation, you’ll encounter both acts and regulations. Acts usually contain more general requirements or rules, while regulations give more specific requirements and things you should do or have. For example, an act might require certain organizations to implement a policy on a particular topic, while a regulation might list the information the policy must include. Ensure you follow both acts and regulations to stay compliant, as they carry the same legal weight.

Acts and regulations change

Be aware of changing legislation in order to maintain compliance. Acts go through a legislative process and often take time to come into effect. Regulations, on the other hand, may change with little or no notice. Our Compliance Centre shares timely news and legislation updates, including important dates, suggested actions, and resources to help you make any required changes at your organization. You may also find recent changes to legislation on some government websites.

Below are a few legislated areas you should be aware of. This is not an exhaustive list, but it will help you start understanding HR’s role in compliance.

Employment standards

Employment legislation sets minimum requirements for hours of work, pay, time off, protected leaves, terminations, and more. It also describes the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers in a particular jurisdiction.

Employee terminations

Terminations are one of the most heavily legislated areas of employment, and not following employment standards when terminating can put your organization at risk of legal and financial consequences. Check out our blogpost, How to Write a Termination Letter (With Samples), for some key considerations when letting an employee go.

Information employers must post

Employment standards legislation may also require employers to post certain information in their workplaces or otherwise communicate that information to workers. For example, Ontario employers governed by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) must distribute an employment standards poster to all employees, though it is no longer required to be posted in the workplace.

Our HR advisors have helped over 6500 Canadian organizations with:
  • Work hours, flexible work arrangements, and overtime pay calculations.
  • Minimum wage standards, hourly rate, commissions, and salary guidelines.
  • Leaves of absence, public or statutory holidays, vacation time, and time-off rules.
  • Termination and end-of-employment proper processes.
  • Trusted advice on essential employment standards, and more.
Occupational health and safety awareness

At its core, occupational health and safety legislation ensures employers provide employees with safe work environments. Each workplace has its own unique hazards. Workplace hazard assessments should be completed at least annually, or as often as required by legislation, to assess the workplace for potential hazards and the risks associated with them. As an employer, you must control or eliminate identified hazards where you can. Communicate and train employees on the hazards they may face in the workplace and how the control measures, such as personal protective equipment, eliminate or mitigate the associated risks.

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

Many employees may work with substances that are considered hazardous materials. Employees must know how to handle these substances in compliance with WHMIS. All employees must take WHMIS training to learn about the safe handling of hazardous materials, how to use safety data sheets, and the hazardous materials emergency procedures in their workplaces. Let us help you comply with WHMIS with resources designed to keep your workers safe.

Check out our free WHMIS Bulletin for detailed information on the latest updates and changes to the hazardous product categories and the new WHMIS label requirements.

Employee rights

Employees also have rights about their safety in the workplace: the right to know, the right to participate, and the right to refuse unsafe work.

Additional requirements

Occupational health and safety legislation may also require you to implement specific initiatives. For example, many types of workplaces throughout Canada must have a health and safety committee or a health and safety representative. These committees rely on employee participation to bring the internal responsibility system (IRS) into practice and deal with various health and safety issues. Legislation includes requirements for how to form the committee, how regularly it should meet, and the roles and responsibilities of each committee member. 

You can also help keep employees aware of and safe from health and safety issues by publishing informational resources. Applicable legislation may require you to post health and safety materials (like posters) around the workplace.

Human rights

Human rights legislation ensures everyone in Canada has equal opportunity to live the life they want and have their needs met. Unfortunately, unaddressed systemic issues in workplaces and elsewhere in society exist and continue to keep people from achieving these goals.

Human rights are protected by legislation in each of Canada’s jurisdictions. In general, provincial and territorial human rights legislation is similar to the federal Canadian Human Rights Act. The precise expressions may differ, but all human rights legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics, generally including:

  • Race 
  • National or ethnic origin 
  • Colour 
  • Religion 
  • Age 
  • Sex 
  • Sexual orientation 
  • Gender identity or expression 
  • Marital status 
  • Family status 
  • Disability 

All human rights legislation prohibits discrimination in employment, while most human rights legislation also prohibits discrimination in services, accommodation, contracts, and memberships. Employees across Canada have the right to work in an environment free from discrimination. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) programs help instill these values at every level of an organization.

Workplace accommodation

Equality and equity are two different things. Equality refers to everyone being treated in the exact same way and given the same resources. Equity doesn’t necessarily result in everyone receiving equal treatment; instead, it considers each person’s unique situation and gives people what they need to achieve an equal outcome.

When an employee has a protected characteristic that affects their ability to meet a standard or requirement at work, the employer has a duty to accommodate under the applicable human rights legislation. Accommodation means modifying an employee’s working conditions so they can perform their job effectively every day. For example, an employee with a disability may require a modified work schedule in order to attend medical appointments. Employers may request specific documentation and follow the accommodation process in order to meet requests for reasonable accommodation.

Pay equity

Job duties vary, but work of the same value should be compensated equitably. Some jurisdictions have pay equity legislation that requires fair compensation. For example, Canada’s Pay Equity Act requires federal employers to offer equal pay for work of equal value. These employers must pay female-dominated jobs at least the same as male-dominated jobs if these jobs are of comparable value. This responsibility can seem daunting, but there’s a five-step process to evaluate and implement pay equity in your workplace: 

  1. Plan and form a pay equity committee. 
  1. Identify job classes in your workplace and determine existing gender predominance and job rates for each job class.
  1. Determine the value of each job class. Consider factors like the required skills, effort (physical and mental), level of responsibility, and working conditions.
  1. Compare job classes for discrepancies between the value of the work and job rates.
  1. Take measures to achieve pay equity without lowering the job rate of a given class. This step is best done in consultation with HR experts.

Equal pay for equal work

Ontario’s pay equity legislation follows the same philosophy as the federal law, but the province’s ESA imposes an additional standard. “Equal pay for equal work” complements but is separate from pay equity. Under the ESA, Ontario employers cannot pay employees differently on the basis of sex when they perform substantially the same work. Many jurisdictions have implemented similar rules. 

Accessibility rights

The Accessible Canada Act is the federal legislation that builds on Canada’s human rights framework and supports equality for people with disabilities. Some provinces have passed their own legislation to improve accessibility in workplaces, such as through customer service and employment practices. Ontario was the first to pass its provincial standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). This act establishes and enforces accessibility standards so that goods, services, facilities, and more are accessible to Ontarians with disabilities. Ontario employers should be aware of these standards and how they can achieve AODA compliance.

Common HR compliance issues

Noncompliance comes in many forms, but here are a few common examples you may have seen that are critical to correct.

Job postings

Job postings should only include requirements that reasonably and necessarily relate to the job. A job posting does not comply with human rights and employment legislation if it includes irrelevant or unnecessary qualifications or requirements, such as a requirement for repetitive lifting that is not part of the job duties but rather intended to exclude candidates with disabilities. As jurisdictions like Ontario pass laws further restricting what information must and can’t appear in job postings, compliance becomes more important than ever.

Interview questions

When recruiting top talent, it’s important that you keep compliance in mind, treat candidates with respect, and promote a positive brand identity. Like job postings, interview questions should only ask the candidate to speak to job-related skills and requirements listed in the job description. Any comments on the employee’s physical appearance, voice, or any protected characteristics are inappropriate and could be considered discriminatory.

Worker classifications

A worker’s classification affects every area of the employment relationship, including how you pay them, whether they can use company resources and facilities, and what you owe them if you terminate their employment. Misclassifying workers can lead to legal disputes and mismanagement.

Consequences for noncompliance in Canada

Employer violations and offences under any applicable legislation can lead to several penalties. Under Ontario’s ESA, for example, violations may lead to: 

  • A compliance order, where the employer or someone else must take steps to comply with the provision; 
  • An order to reinstate or compensate an employee if the contravention affected an employee’s rights; or 
  • A monetary penalty or notice of contravention. 

The penalty given to the employer generally depends on the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation in question. Whether the employer intentionally committed the violation and whether they have a history of previous violations may also affect their penalty. Repeated or continual violations are usually penalized more harshly. Other legislation often contains similar penalty provisions. In HR, you must ensure you perform regular compliance audits and correct any gaps to avoid these penalties.

How to achieve organizational compliance

Achieve compliance by being aware of your obligations, communicating with employees, creating and enforcing policies and procedures, delivering required training, and staying up to date on legislative changes.

1. Create a compliance culture

Compliance is everyone’s responsibility, but you need to create an environment where everyone feels accountable for and empowered to make good decisions, like following company policies and reporting issues. This means that compliance values are inherited at every level of the organization and are written into mission statements and company goals. Employees often look to senior management to lead by example, so empower leaders to champion compliance and practice values (like DEIB) consistently.

2. Communicate with and educate employees

Employees can only follow the rules they know about. Communicate expectations through company polices and train employees on standard practices and how to respond to compliance issues (like workplace hazards). Leaders should also be fully trained on how to handle employee complaints and workplace investigations.

Document your policies in one location and make employees aware of how to find them. Provide policies in accessible formats so all employees can use them. From time to time, you may need to update policies, procedures, and training to reflect changes in legislation and your work environment. Communicate these changes to affected employees as soon as possible and share how their work may be altered because of these changes.

3. Create safe reporting procedures

Employees learn quickly that reporting issues leads to either positive organizational change or punitive measures. If management reacts harshly to complaints, employees are less likely to report issues in the future, which can worsen compliance issues. Ensure employees feel safe approaching leaders about their concerns and communicate that they will not suffer any form of reprisal for reporting a complaint in good faith. 

Likewise, employees who violate company policies may not learn from progressive discipline alone. Encourage employees to learn from their mistakes whenever possible by focussing on how they can fix problems instead of assigning blame. This way, they feel empowered to become accountable for their actions, make better choices in the future, and become advocates for compliance in the workplace, instead of learning to hide their faults or neglecting to report errors.

4. Design and enforce policies

As mentioned earlier, compliance doesn’t end with you stating employee expectations and guidelines. Organizations must enforce policies and ensure they correct issues before they lead to systemic problems. Additionally, every level of the organization should be held accountable. This means that reporting and progressive discipline need to be fairly delivered to employees and leaders alike.

HR technology for every compliance need

You’ve got a lot on your plate. Between filing employee documents, recruiting top talent, overseeing the performance review process, planning employee engagement initiatives, and so much more, HR has become an exciting but often overwhelming role. The more that technology can handle the tedious work, the more that HR professionals can focus on strategic solutions and make more meaningful and sustainable changes.

Our human resources information system (HRIS), Atlas Canada, saves HR professionals time by allowing them to:

  • Maintain a library of digital documents.
  • Assign and manage tasks.
  • Collect and securely store employee information.
  • Centralize essential HR and safety documentation.
  • Oversee what employee assignments are pending and overdue.

Through Atlas, Citation Canada members can also manage the online safety and HR training courses your organization needs to stay compliant. Assigning courses and managing their completion is easy with our mobile-friendly digital training platform.

HR compliance resources for Canadian small businesses

Canadian small businesses and startups have the same legal obligations as larger employers, but fewer internal resources. Focus on:

  • Simple, written policies that cover what’s required: hours of work, overtime approval, vacation, leaves, harassment and violence, health and safety, privacy, and use of company equipment.
  • On-demand training for owners and supervisors so they understand their role in employment standards, health and safety, and employee rights.
  • Templates and checklists that make hiring, onboarding, scheduling, and terminations consistent and documented.

Citation Canada’s compliance resources are designed so that even workplaces without a full-time HR department can stay compliant without getting lost in legal jargon.

Useful links to HR compliance legislation for Canadian employers by province

Because employment legislation and most HR rules are set at the provincial or territorial level, start with the website or websites for the jurisdictions where employees are based: 

Alberta: 

British Columbia: 

Federally regulated employers 

What are federally regulated employees? 

Federally regulated employees are workers employed in industries under federal jurisdiction including, but not limited to: 

  • Interprovincial and international transportation (air, rail, road, maritime) 
  • Pipeline companies 
  • Telecommunications and broadcasting corporations 
  • Banks and postal services 
  • First Nations band councils and Indigenous self‑governments 
  • Feed, flour, seed, and grain elevators and warehouses 
  • Miscellaneous industries like uranium mining, federal government museums, oil and gas extraction in the territories, and others 

Manitoba 

New Brunswick 

Northwest Territories 

Nova Scotia 

Nunavut

Ontario:

Prince Edward Island:

Quebec:

Saskatchewan:

Yukon

Citation Canada monitors legal changes in all 14 Canadian jurisdictions and reflects them in our policy templates and training, so you don’t have to track every update yourself. 

Worried about noncompliance risks at your organization?

Our HR and safety experts have helped thousands of Canadian organizations avoid compliance risks with easy-to-use software and trusted advice. Managing employees, business growth and shifting legislation can be overwhelming, especially when handling both HR and safety.

  • Manage attendance and track time off from anywhere in Canada: Our Atlas scheduling platform ensures you’re tracking accurate hours worked and allows managers to set limits and requirements based on applicable legislation.
  • Track and assign online training courses: Our mobile-friendly training platform keeps your team engaged and informed. It provides the essential knowledge to build and maintain a thriving workplace culture in any business.
  • Trusted HR and health and safety advice, right when you need it: Access expert advice that simplifies complex HR challenges and ensures compliance. Whether you need live support or onsite help, our team of HR and OHS experts is here to ensure your workplace meets the highest standards.

With our tools and resources, your HR team can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time building a people and culture strategy that drives business success.

Connect with one of our experts today for a live look at our OHS and HR software and support services in action.

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