New legal framework for digital platform workers coming into force July 1, 2025

In 2022, the Ontario government proposed the passage of the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 (the Act) which sought to establish a new legal framework for “digital platform work” in Ontario. It proposed to implement new rights and protections for workers providing ride share, delivery, and courier services via online platforms as one of the many workplace-related changes under the Working for Workers Act, 2022. A previous Osler Update “Ontario proposes new legal framework for digital platform workers” outlined  the proposed framework of the Act. It was recently announced that the Act is scheduled to come into force on July 1, 2025.

The Government of Ontario also recently published regulations (the Regulations) that further flesh out the new rights and protections afforded by the Act to digital platform workers effective July 1, 2025. Such rights and protections include but are not limited to the following:

• The right to minimum wage. Digital platform workers will be entitled to at least the minimum wage payable under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the ESA), exclusive of tips and other gratuities, for each “work assignment” performed. The Regulations set out in detail when a “work assignment” will be deemed to begin and end for the purposes of the Act. As of October 1, 2024, the general minimum wage rate under the ESA is $17.20 per hour.
• The right to a recurring pay period and pay day. Digital platform workers will be entitled to a recurring pay period and pay day. All amounts earned during a given pay period, including tips and other gratuities, must be paid no later than the pay day for such period. 
• The right to amounts earned. Digital platform operators will be prohibited from making deductions or withholdings from workers’ earnings, including tips and other gratuities, unless authorized to do so by statute or court order. This prohibition mirrors the restrictions on making deductions from employees’ wages under the ESA. 
• The right to information. Digital platform workers will be entitled to certain information at specified times. For example, within 24 hours of the worker being given access to the operator’s digital platform, the operator must provide the following information in writing:
  • a description of how pay is calculated
  • when and how any tips or other gratuities are collected
  • the applicable recurring pay period and pay day
  • the details regarding any factors used to determine whether work assignments are offered to workers
  • whether the digital platform uses a performance rating system and any consequences based on the worker’s rating or failure to perform a work assignment
  • the details regarding any other factors, including internal or external evaluation methods, used to evaluate the worker’s performance and any consequences thereof

The Regulations also set out certain information that must be provided to the worker when offering a work assignment and within 24 hours of completion of a work assignment. 

• The right to notice of removal. To remove a worker’s access to the digital platform, the operator will be generally required to provide the worker with a written explanation as to why their access is being removed and two weeks’ written notice of the removal. However, these notice obligations will not apply where: the worker has been guilty of “wilful misconduct” that is not trivial and has not been condoned by the operator; the worker has been removed from the digital platform due to public safety concerns; or as otherwise required by law (i.e. if the worker cannot legally perform digital platform work).   
• The right to dispute resolution in Ontario. All digital platform work-related disputes between the operator and worker must be resolved in Ontario.
• The right to be free from reprisal. Similar to the ESA, digital platform operators will be prohibited from intimidating, penalizing, or otherwise engaging in a reprisal against workers for exercising their rights under the Act. Further, the parties cannot contract out of the minimum requirements of the Act, but the operator can provide a “greater right or benefit”.

The above protections will apply regardless of whether the digital platform workers are employees. However, the Regulations clarify that taxicab or limousine services do not constitute “digital platform work” for the purposes of the Act. In addition to introducing new record-keeping obligations for digital platform operators, the Act will impose joint and several liability on directors for certain amounts owing to workers. The legislation also contains detailed compliance and enforcement mechanisms conceptually similar to those under the ESA.

As this legislation marks a significant departure from the current legal and regulatory landscape for digital platform work in Ontario, it is imperative that digital platform operators are prepared to comply with these new requirements and obligations effective July 1, 2025.