Thank you, Speaker. I’ll be dividing my time with my parliamentary assistants, the member for Mississauga–Malton and the member for Scarborough Centre.

Before we speak about the proposals included in this bill that will make the lives of so many Ontario workers better, I want to thank those workers for their advice—the stakeholders, the associations, the unions, the employers, the first responders, and so many more.

Speaker, this bill that we have before us today straddles two members of this Legislature, and I’d like to acknowledge and thank my predecessor, the former minister Monte McNaughton, for the work that he, his team and the incredible team we currently have at labour, immigration, training and skills development—the entire ministry—did, and especially, my gratitude to Premier Ford for his leadership and unwavering support of Bill 149 and our ongoing efforts to support the lives of workers across Ontario. Under his leadership, we will always, of course, work for workers and have their backs.

I stand here today to discuss this piece of legislation that is crucial for the welfare and prosperity of our province: Bill 149, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024. We’re taking decisive action to promote opportunities and good jobs for workers, address labour shortages and fuel economic growth across the province of Ontario. This bill, the proposed Working for Workers Four Act, builds on the successes of its predecessors, acts passed in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Together, they form a comprehensive strategy to strengthen workers’ rights and to support economic competitiveness and foster a fair and thriving job market. It’s part of our commitment to create a stronger Ontario that reflects the values of fairness, opportunity and prosperity for all.

Under the leadership of the Premier, we’ve made significant strides in reducing the critical labour shortage that has loomed over our economy. We often hear about jobs without people, people without jobs. From a peak of 377,000 job vacancies in April 2022, we’ve made significant progress in filling job openings, with more than 100,000 more people securing good jobs today.

But we’re not sitting on our laurels. There are still 250,000 estimated jobs going unfilled across the province of Ontario.

The Working for Workers Four Act is designed to address the evolving landscape of work and more while addressing the impact of emerging technologies such as apps and artificial intelligence. This legislation focuses on four key areas:

—clarifying rules and safeguarding employees’ income in the hospitality sector;

—boosting fairness in hiring and employment procedures;

—strengthening protections for workers and first responders; and

—removing barriers for newcomers and foreign-trained individuals during the licensing process.

These changes are rooted in one fundamental principle, putting workers first, because an economy that doesn’t work for workers does not work at all. Our proposed measures are practical, common-sense changes that are designed to help people succeed, ensuring Ontario is a place of opportunity, of good jobs, where one can thrive and grow.

Before I elaborate on this bill, Speaker, I want to take a moment to reflect on the journey that’s brought us here, the journey of working for workers that has brought us to today.

Our first Working for Workers Act introduced measures to ensure our labour laws kept pace with new technology, automation and changes in how and where we work. It addressed changes in our economy and society that have been under way for some time but whose pace of change dramatically accelerated. With changes happening faster and faster, we had to ensure protections for workers kept up. Notably, it streamlined processes to make it easier for internationally trained workers to practise their regulated professions in Ontario.

For too long, we’ve heard the story that your cab driver is a doctor or that someone delivering your food is an engineer. We understand that we have to do more to address foreign credential recognition, and this government is taking action. And it’s already working, Speaker. We’ve had a record number of nurses enter the profession this past year, doctors—and so much more.

The bills of the past recognized the importance of personal and family time, and the Employment Standards Act now requires larger employers to have a written policy on disconnecting from work. That legislation passed by this House also gave delivery workers the basic human dignity of accessing restrooms at businesses that they’re serving.

Working for Workers Act, 2022, introduced the measures to protect the privacy of employees by mandating disclosure of electronic monitoring. It enhanced worker safety by increasing fines for workplace safety violations to among the highest in Canada.

To protect workers and make sure workplaces are prepared to respond quickly to cases of an opioid overdose, at-risk workplaces must now have life-saving naloxone kits on site and workers trained for their use. I’m pleased to say, today, tens of thousands more Ontarians are now trained to administer those naloxone kits. It’s an important step in saving the lives of Ontario residents.

Last year, the Working for Workers Act, 2023, increased the maximum fine for corporations convicted of Occupational Health and Safety Act violations. This is now the highest in Canada. We’ll always put worker safety first. This sent a clear signal. Previous governments could have raised these fines to send a clear message to those violating that it’s not okay. They didn’t. We did. That act also established the highest maximum fines in Canada for employers and recruiters convicted of retaining a foreign national’s passport or work permit.

Speaker, I’m from rural Ontario, and I’ve met a number of farmers. I think of fond trips out to Wilmot Orchards, where temporary workers—I see you nodding; I know you know this well in your own community, where foreign nationals are vital to putting food on the table. Farmers quite literally feed cities, and those foreign nationals do such an incredible job. But we know from stories in the GTHA and beyond that there are instances of unscrupulous recruiters seizing foreign nationals’ passports. That’s never okay, Speaker. We’re the first province in Canada to take meaningful action to crack down on that.

The Employment Standards Act was amended to ensure employees who work solely remotely are counted for mass termination provisions. This means that those employees would receive the same notice and protections as their in-office counterparts.

Additionally, as a part of Working for Workers 3, regulatory changes stepped up protections for construction workers, who help build our province. We did simple things, like requiring well-lit and properly enclosed washrooms on all construction sites, woman-specific washrooms on larger sites and properly fitting personal protective equipment that properly fits one’s body so that they can be protected on the job site. This makes construction work safer and enables more women to get into the skilled trades.

I look beside me here and I see Minister Williams, who’s been a champion for these very women. We just had a skilled trades round table to hear anecdotal stories of how this has protected women on the job site. We know we have more to do to address the culture to ensure that all job sites are places where women can thrive and achieve their full potential in the skilled trades. But facts do matter, and the facts are that 30% is the increase in women registration in apprenticeships. This is the largest in Ontario’s history. And I’m proud to say, Speaker, a 116% increase in women in the building trades. So what we are doing is working.

Now, I’d like to speak first to the bill before us today to an area that’s really close to my heart and very important for me. I’d like to speak about the everyday heroes who work in fire departments across our province. At any given time, firefighters may receive a call to rush to an emergency. It could be a house consumed by flames. It could be any number of emergencies, and they’re there for us, these firefighters. Firefighters perform brave tasks that most would shy away from: entering smoke-filled buildings to rescue individuals, using the jaws of life, which I’ve had the opportunity to see first-hand, to free motorists from mangled wrecks. Speaker, they run into fires as we run from them. When they aren’t responding to emergencies, they’re actively engaging to prevent fires in their communities, educating the public on fire safety and doing so much more—conducting inspections.

I value, and I know I speak on behalf of all members of this place—we value their work they do. Their work affects each and every one of us in Ontario. With courage and valour, they step into uncertainty, into emergencies that are both unpredictable and perilous. Without hesitation, they put their lives on the line to rescue others. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude, and in moments of our greatest need, they are there for us.

Today, Speaker, I’d really like to pause and have this entire Legislature acknowledge the presence of the Bowman family: Alisen Bowman, who is here today; her daughter, Alexis Bowman; Colin Bowman; Adam Whalen; Joe Bowman; Johnny Bowman; Matt Braun; and I believe Greg Horton is here. If you could just stand up for the Legislature—Megan and Donald as well, please.

Applause.

Speaker, this is the face of Ontarians, why we serve in this place. The Bowman family—I didn’t know when I became labour minister, but I recall walking home one night and having a conversation with Alisen Bowman, and I’d like to thank that family for being here today. She told me the story of her husband. Captain Craig, affectionately known as Opie Bowman, who served at the Welland fire department with courage, skill and professionalism. He was a true hero who went into harm’s way to save others. He was a husband, he was a father, he was a brother and a brother to the men and women who served the Welland fire department. He tragically passed away after a battle with cancer at the far-too-young age of 47.

Speaker, cancer is the scourge that has affected many in this place I’m sure, but why did Craig get cancer? We know that firefighters are at far greater risk of occupational exposures. In fact, in fighting one fire they could be exposed to chemicals that we wouldn’t be exposed to in a lifetime.

To help firefighters and their families like the Bowmans, we’ve expanded cancer coverage for firefighters, assuming any thyroid or pancreatic cancer is related to their jobs. That means they get faster access to benefits and supports, and we made our changes retroactive to January 1, 1960, in this legislation. We’ll always work to support firefighters, Speaker.

When I spoke to Alisen and her daughter, who’s been a remarkable advocate for the well-being of firefighters now across Ontario—I remember I went down with Megan, who is standing up there, who has worked very hard for this Ministry of Labour for a number of years. We went down to the Welland fire department, and I had an opportunity to meet and speak with the family whom I had spoken with on the phone. I think when we all kiss our loved ones goodbye in the morning, we expect that they’ll return home healthy at the end of the day. As I said, we know firefighters are exposed to greater perils on the job than many of us and, I would say, than any of us here in this place.

Speaker, what was cruel and what was wrong about Craig’s case was that the esophageal cancer that he passed away from—you had a requirement previously to serve for a minimum of 25 years before that would be a presumptive exposure and therefore be guaranteed WSIB benefits. He served 24-plus years, just shy. He was so close to that mark.

In the spirit of non-partisanship, I know from conversations I’ve had with MPP Burch and others—Sandy Shaw, who’s across the way. We’ve had conversations about this. I think we all recognize that we can and must do more. I’m really glad to say, in that spirit, that we all stand behind the Bowman family in making these changes.

We will never get that hero back. We won’t get Craig back, sadly, tragically. But what he leaves behind is a legacy. He leaves behind a legacy that will affect firefighters and their families across Ontario forevermore. I don’t think there can be any greater purpose in life than leaving behind a legacy that will touch the lives of all firefighters in this great province.

This bill, if passed, would make changes that would be retroactive to 1960. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board would be required to re-adjudicate those denied claims in accordance with the proposed changes and to consider new claims that meet the shortened employment duration that I mentioned. The employment service time before diagnosis would now be reduced to 15 years, down from the current requirement of 25 years of service. As I said, that will be retroactive to January 1, 1960.

We owe it to our province’s firefighters and their families to make this right, and that’s exactly what our government intends to do. This legislation builds on past measures.

But I have to, again, thank the Bowman family. Thank you for your advocacy. Thank you for keeping Craig alive in this place, in this province. His spirit lives on, and his advocacy and the advocacy of this family are ensuring that firefighters and their families will be protected across Ontario. Thank you.

Speaker, we’re incredibly grateful, and I look forward to a prolonged relationship with the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association: Greg, Bob, Gavin—I don’t know if Gavin is here as well—and the team. They have been incredible to work with and such strong advocates for firefighters. I’m very grateful for the relationship that all members of this place have with the OPFFA. My door will always remain open for those firefighters who serve on the front lines, who keep our communities safe. We’re grateful for them.

Speaker, this bill also takes measures to protect service employees. Today, we’re building on our government’s Working for Workers momentum and continuing to put workers first. Service employees are essential to many businesses, and the work they do makes all of our lives better and easier. Recent data show that Ontario’s restaurant and service industry is made up of more than 400,000 employees, more than 6% of the province’s workforce.

But often, these same people, the ones who do so much to make sure we have a good time with family and friends—we’re on the heels of Family Day weekend, and I’m sure many in this place enjoyed time with family and friends at one of many restaurants across Ontario. We know that when they’re out, those men and women who work in the service sector are falling behind, and it’s through no fault of their own. Dining and dashing can be a big cost to businesses. Gas-and-dash thefts cost Ontario businesses over $3 million in 2022 alone. I know my colleague from Mississauga–Malton has been a champion on this issue. He has been an advocate on Ontario drawing attention to this theft, and we’re taking action.

While Ontario’s Employment Standards Act generally requires employees to be paid at least minimum wage for all hours worked and prohibits pay deductions for stolen property, the fact is unpaid trial shifts and punitive deductions for stolen property are still all too common in the restaurant and service industries. The fear of wages being withheld has led to tragic consequences while trying to stop someone from running out on their meal or not paying at the pump.

No employee should have to forfeit part of their paycheque when a bad customer dines and dashes. We’re making it explicit in the Employment Standards Act that no employee should be asked to work for free in an unpaid trial shift. These situations are unacceptable, and they must not continue. That’s why we’re proposing changes to the Employment Standards Act to better protect restaurant employees and other employees in the service industry, to clarify that employees must be paid for work performed during trial shifts, and make clear that employers can never deduct an employee’s wages in the event of a dine-and-dash, gas-and-dash, haircut-and-dash, or in any other situation where a customer leaves without paying for goods or services.

Speaker, these employees do much to ensure we are looked after when we go out for an evening on the town or when we get gas. We need to ensure they are paid for their work. It’s the right thing to do. This legislation would, if passed, provide that work performed during trial periods must be paid. I spoke to some workers in the restaurant sector, just the other day, about this, Speaker, and I know clarity from this place, clarity from this government is welcome in that sector. When someone steals from a store or runs from a restaurant or gas pump, that’s a matter for the police.

But we’re not stopping there. Speaker, many service industries operate at a fast pace. Employees can be required to work long hours and endure gruelling physical demands, like being on their feet all day. On top of this, they obviously deal with the occasional difficult customer, but no matter what, these employees must smile and put on a positive attitude because tips can significantly impact the success of their shift. The last thing they need to do is to deal with the added stress of worrying about unjust treatment affecting their tips.

If passed, this legislation does some important things. It will require employers to post in the workplace a copy of any existing policy related to an employer, a director or shareholder of an employer sharing in pooled tips. Many good employers already do this, but we’re ensuring that this happens across Ontario. These people can only share in a tip pool if they regularly perform, to a substantial degree, the same work as their staff. Again, in many small businesses, owners do do this, and this is a practice that they gladly post and share to their employees. This would help everyone know how tips are divided. As well, this legislation would, if passed, require employers to post the policy in a prominent spot in the workplace, in a place where every worker can see it. Everyone from the newest hire to the seasoned pro would see exactly how things work, empowering them with this information.

But that’s not all, Speaker. Tips and gratuities would need to be paid using cash, cheque or direct deposit. We know artificial intelligence is affecting the workplace. Speaker, I’ve met a number of service workers who have told me that apps, things on your phone now, are being used to pay out tips. Those apps deduct and charge a fee for every time you deduct your tips. Speaker, that’s not fair. We’re proposing common-sense changes in response to the rise of digital payment platforms on phones and in the service industry, which include fees for those employees to access their tips—again, it’s unjust—as well as potential technical and security issues.

Workers in the service industry should not have to pay to access their own hard-earned money for going above and beyond in the service of their work. The proposed changes would require employers who pay tips through direct deposit to allow their employees to select which account they want them to be deposited into. This would help employees avoid fees that they did not agree to. This would also help employees manage their money by choosing the account that works best for them.

Speaker, it’s all about fairness, clarity and giving employees control over how they receive their well-deserved tips if their employer pays them by direct deposit. We want employees to be able to focus on their work, not on possible unfair treatment involving their tips and wages.

Far too often, those who put in an honest shift, those who save every day to build a better life for their family, who deliver services to make our lives better and help drive our economy, are struggling to get ahead. We see them. We hear them. That’s why we’re also proposing changes to put them in the driver’s seat. How many times have we spoken to someone—in the first few months of being labour minister, speaking to people who are working hard? I spoke with a single mother, a newcomer, the other day, working very hard to provide for her family, her two beautiful children. That better job, that elusive bigger paycheque, requires you to apply to another job. You go through those hurdles. It’s sometimes like an Olympic marathon race just to get to that finish line—the job offer—just to find out that the salary and compensation is nowhere near what you had thought.

That awkward conversation about salaries and wages—if you do it and ask those questions too soon, you may be viewed in ill light by your employer; if you wait too late, you might not know and you go through all that process. But we’re saying, Speaker, especially for those working jobs in the middle class, that we recognize those challenges. We’re recognizing that employees are facing other challenges as the workplace evolves, so we need all hands on deck to solve these challenges.

So we’re proposing legislation here, Speaker, that would require employers to disclose salary ranges of these jobs, putting these workers in the driver’s seat so that they can know before they apply if the salary range of that job they’re applying for is the job that they’re looking for and is in the compensation range that they want and that they feel they deserve.

Despite 250,000 jobs in Ontario going unfilled recently, job seekers face that discouraging cycle, as I mentioned, applying for that job just to find out at the end that that job is less than you earn today. And, Speaker, as an added by-product of this, we know from feedback and round tables that I’ve had as minister that this also is an important step in tackling the gender pay gap. It’s not a silver bullet, Speaker, and I’ll say that right now, but it is an important step.

Providing transparency for job seekers helps enable them to make better decisions about their future and about job moves. To put it simply, giving out this information about jobs right at the beginning is a win-win for everyone involved.

In addition, Speaker, I would like to talk a bit about non-disclosure agreements—another initiative we’re bringing forward. Sometimes, workers, through no fault of their own, are sexually harassed or subjected to mistreatment or violence in the workplace. Unfortunately, seven in 10 report experiencing some form of harassment or violence in the workplace. To help end workplace misconduct and hold abusers to account, we’re proposing to consult on ending the use of non-disclosure agreements in the settlement of cases of workplace sexual harassment or violence.

I had a woman come into my office who works a job in the city, Speaker, and she said, “You know, when you said that the day for these creeps is over, I wanted to share my story.” So if this consultation does but one thing in enabling them to share their story, it’s a win.

But we’re also recognizing that NDAs are far too often used to silence victims. We know from consultation with the legal community that they support these consultations. We understand and want to empower victims. In the cases where NDAs will support and put the victim first, we, of course, don’t want to remove that ability. But by launching consultations on this and making it clear that corporate executives and senior employers in companies will not be protected—their day is numbered if it comes to harassment, in particular sexual harassment in the workplace—we’re going to empower victims by ensuring they are never muzzled or silenced by a non-disclosure agreement.

Speaker, we recognize, as I mentioned, that we’ll continue to engage the legal community, employers, and above all, survivors, like that remarkable woman who stepped forward and came into my office. We’ll work with them over the coming months and ensure that what we bring forward has the support of all those communities. We’ll continue to listen to survivors, legal experts throughout this consultation process and hold bad actors who want to evade accountability to account.

Speaker, this bill does so many things, and I see from the clock that I’m running out of time, so I just want to pause and say that Ontario is changing. We’re not immune to the broader economic headwinds, but this is a government that has launched the largest Skills Development Fund. This is a government that recognizes that measuring employment services, measuring social assistance supports solely by the metric of the size of a cheque cut to an individual or the number of people being serviced is not a metric to measure success. It’s a metric that was used by previous governments. But what inspires me the most is going to the newcomer centre, talking to an asylum seeker who was callously left on the streets of Toronto by this federal government but who, thanks to our Skills Development Fund, now has the dignity of a job, but more importantly than that, Speaker, has found a sense of purpose, contributing to the Canadian dream, her Canadian dream, contributing to her community.

We’re empowering those people to earn better jobs, bigger paycheques. We’re doing it through enhancing the Employment Standards Act, ensuring health and safety is protected, supporting the front-line heroes that keep our community safe. Yes, we can talk about community safety and have the backs of our front-line officers, our front-line firefighters, our front-line first responders and paramedics.

Speaker, I’m grateful to live in this great province, this country that’s given so many, so many newcomers. But we recognize that artificial intelligence and technology is disrupting the workplace, so we’re taking action. We recognize that for young people trapped in their parents’ basement, the dream of home ownership just too far away—giving them the skill sets, giving them the leg up, giving them access to a better job and a bigger paycheque, having the Skills Development Fund that is targeting the hardest-to-place people, breaking down, bashing the glass ceiling in the skilled trades for women, empowering them on job sites, ensuring that as we build an Ontario that actually builds hospitals, actually builds subways.

You know, the previous government studied stuff to death. We’re actually getting the job done, getting shovels in the ground. We have 50 hospital projects under construction today. We’re empowering men and women on the front line of the building trades, technical trades and so much more. We’re a world-class destination for life sciences and STEM, a world-class destination where people from foreign shores look to Ontario for opportunity and a better future, and this government is giving them that leg up, Speaker. This government is getting shovels in the ground, building an Ontario not for yesterday but an Ontario for tomorrow.

We can’t do it without talking to workers, and I’m grateful for the opportunity on every job site. I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to sit down with educators, to sit down with health care professionals like those nurses I just sat down with at NHH, to sit down with men and women in the skilled trades, to break down barriers for racialized, for marginalized individuals, and then to ensure everyone can achieve their full potential in this great province that is Ontario.

I want to close by once again thanking the Bowman family, thanking the firefighters of this province. This is a big move in this legislation that will forever enshrine Captain Craig Bowman’s legacy. I want to thank them for being here today once again, and for your advocacy. You’re going to continue doing that advocacy, and I know your dad would be incredibly proud looking down on you doing that.

Thank you, Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak. I’d like to turn it over to my incredible colleague the member for Mississauga–Malton.

Well, Speaker, we wouldn’t be strengthening the act and be the first to explicitly reference trial shifts and others if we didn’t think it was already working. That’s why we’re doing this.

When it comes to Canadian work experience as well, I was recently at a federal-provincial-territorial meeting—in fact, that member would speak to their NDP colleagues across Canada who spoke to us about our leadership in this and lauded us for taking steps on Canadian worker experience.

He does raise an important point about enforcement. Yes, we have more enforcement officers coming online today than we did yesterday and are working diligently to hire them.

As for cases on tribunals and quasi-adjudicative bodies, I also recognize that more needs to be done there. We’ve tackled massive backlogs from OLT, the landlord and tenant—you name it. We’re working to address it by bringing on more adjudicators and tackling the backlogs that, quite frankly, the previous Liberal government let fester for decades.

If that member always wants to just absolutely kill ride-share in its entirety, which is putting all of those workers completely out of work, then just come clean and say it in this place. Say you don’t want them. You don’t want them in Ontario. You don’t want them in Toronto. Stand in your place, be clear and say you want them out of a job.

First responders deserve WSIB supports, and we recognize that we need to do more to support that. We’ve strengthened the WSIB, put it in a solid financial position so that we can do more for injured workers, and that’s what we’re doing. Thyroid, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer—these are all things previous Liberal governments could have done, but they didn’t. They didn’t because WSIB, under their watch, was a mess, quite frankly. They didn’t because they didn’t prioritize this. We are, and I value the advocacy of the OPFFA. I value the firefighter advocacy to get us to this place, and I thank them for what they’ve done.

Speaker, what we’re doing by banning Canadian work experience—I was in an Uber the other day, and that Uber driver recognized that by banning Canadian work experience requirements, something this bill has done, something that member would have asked about but didn’t because he’s got no leg to stand on—is empowering newcomers, newcomers like Shanny, who we met at the Canadian newcomer centre. That member would rather she live off social assistance than actually have the dignity of a job and to provide for her family. He wants misery. He wants poverty. He wants to push a minimum-wage economy. We here are going to stand for better, because we know Ontarians deserve better. He wants them out of a job, living off government handouts.

I think we always have to do more for workers in the province of Ontario. We’ve got to do a lot. That’s why we’ve brought these bills before. I don’t know how that member stands in this place, quite frankly, when he slashed residency positions, when they cut nursing positions, when they underfunded rural hospitals like mine, leaving them on life support. That member’s party systemically dismantled health care and then ran off in a minivan and disappeared after. That’s the size of their party today.

You destroyed health care. Quite frankly, as a health care professional, how you even stand as a member of that party is shocking.

I, too, want to join in welcoming the Bowman family who are here this morning for Bill 149 third reading, in addition to members of the Welland firefighters who are here. We value the work that that they do.

Greg Horton, I believe, just joined us, from the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association. Under Greg’s leadership, firefighters have done so much over the last few years in presumptive coverage, and I thank him for his advocacy. Thank you for being here today.