Bill 105 (the POWER Act): What Ontario HR Leaders Need to Know

On April 20, 2026, the Government of Ontario tabled Bill 105 — the Protecting Ontario's Workers and Economic Resilience Act, 2026 (POWER Act). It went to second reading the next day and was debated through April 23. Law-firm coverage hit the wires immediately, with Norton Rose Fulbright's analysis and Koskie Minsky's plaintiff-side commentary framing the bill in different but consistent terms.

For Ontario HR leaders trying to read past the political branding, the practical implications cluster in four places — and one of them, the Director of Employment Standards' new complaint-screening discretion, is the kind of change that does not announce itself but that materially shifts how an HR function should think about employee complaints, separations, and ESA-section-104 risk.

Key Takeaways

• Bill 105 is an omnibus employment-and-labour bill — it amends the ESA, LRA, OHSA, WSIA, and the new STAR Act — but contains no direct workplace-harassment or HRTO content.
• The Director of Employment Standards will be empowered to screen out frivolous, vexatious, or insufficiently-supported complaints — and to handle some complaints by inspection rather than investigation.
• Money collected on enforcement will be paid to employees first; only the residual will be split among the Director, the collector, and the Minister of Finance. This is a meaningful change from the current pro-rata split.
• WSIB benefits will extend past age 65 with an increased loss-of-earnings rate, and WSIB coverage will extend to all residential care facilities and group homes — directly affecting community-care and SMB social-services employers.
• Construction sector employers should review the new "open period" rules and the parallel OHSA regulatory amendments to head protection, elevated work platforms, and respirators.

What's In the Bill

The POWER Act is structured as five amending parts. The provisions that matter most to mid-market HR functions are these:

Director of Employment Standards — New Complaint-Screening Discretion

The bill amends the ESA to give the Director of Employment Standards authority to refuse to assign an employment standards officer to investigate certain complaints, including those that are frivolous, vexatious, or supported by insufficient information. The Director will also be able to handle some prescribed categories of complaint — including those relating to job posting requirements, disconnecting-from-work policies, electronic monitoring policies, and temporary help agency rules — by inspection rather than full investigation.

The mechanism mirrors the gatekeeping discretion already exercised by tribunals across the Ontario administrative law landscape. The practical effect for employers is that not every ESA complaint will produce an employment standards officer at the door; some will be handled paper-only, and some may not advance at all.

This is not a license to ignore complaints. As Koskie Minsky notes, the screening discretion is paired with new transparency around what is and isn't being assigned. The Director must publish criteria. Employers operating in good faith with proper documentation will benefit; employers leaning on procedural opacity to delay enforcement will not.

ESA Money Collected — Employees Paid First

Currently, when the Ministry collects money under ESA enforcement and the recovery is less than the full amount owing, the funds are divided pro-rata among employees, the Director, the collector, and the Minister of Finance. Bill 105 changes that order: employees are paid in full first, and only the residual is divided among the other parties.

Norton Rose Fulbright's analysis flags this as a small but symbolically significant employee-first reframing. The operational effect on employers is modest — the change matters most in insolvency-style ESA enforcement actions — but the political signal is clear: the Working-for-Workers brand continues to put workers ahead of the Crown in collection priority.

WSIB — Benefits Past 65, Coverage Extended

Two material WSIB amendments:

First, loss-of-earnings benefits will be available past age 65, and the loss-of-earnings rate will increase. The current statutory cap on benefits at age 65 has been a source of long-standing employee-side complaint as the workforce ages; the POWER Act addresses it.

Second, WSIB coverage will be extended to all residential care facilities and group homes. Currently, the residential care and group home sector is patchwork — some employers in. Bill 105 makes coverage universal across the sector. For SMB community-care and social-services employers operating outside WSIB today, this is a material cost and compliance change. Premiums, claims management, and WSIB-experience-rating implications will all need to be planned for.

STAR Act — Talent Agency Regulation Tightened

The Strengthening Talent Agency Regulation Act, 2026 (STAR Act) is being introduced as part of the package. Performer and talent-agency regulation has been a recurring target in Ontario's Working-for-Workers cycle. Employers in the entertainment, modeling, and sports-talent sectors should review the new framework.

OHSA — Construction Regulatory Amendments

Parallel to Bill 105, the government announced regulatory amendments to OHSA head protection, elevated work platform, and respirator requirements — flagged on April 20 by Hicks Morley. These are construction-sector and not workplace-harassment changes, but they belong in any complete employer briefing on the April-20 announcements.

What's Not In the Bill

For HR readers focused on harassment, investigations, and HRTO exposure, the most important point is what the POWER Act does not do. There are no direct OHSA workplace-harassment amendments. There are no HRTO procedural changes. There are no changes to the section 32.0.7 duty to investigate or to the workplace-violence framework. The post-Metrolinx duty-to-investigate standard, the post-Bokhari HRTO screening change, and the post-O. Reg. 364/25 OHSA Administrative Monetary Penalty regime all sit unchanged after Bill 105.

That could change at Standing Committee. The Ontario Legislative Assembly's Hansard for April 22 and April 23 records the second-reading debate — opposition members signaled an interest in expanding the bill. The amendment phase is where harassment provisions, if any, would be added. We will continue to monitor.

What Ontario HR Leaders Should Do Now

1. Pressure-test your ESA complaint-handling process. When the Director's screening discretion is operational, employers will benefit from being able to demonstrate, on paper, that they investigated and responded to internal complaints in good faith. The downside of the new framework — for employers — is that an unfounded ESA complaint that previously would have triggered a low-level letter from the Ministry may now be screened out at the door. The upside, for employers with strong documentation, is the same.

2. Audit your residential care and group home WSIB position. If your organization runs residential care, group home, or community-care facilities currently outside WSIB, model the cost and timeline impact of universal coverage. Premium budgeting, claims-management infrastructure, and return-to-work program design need lead time. HRPA's compliance resources are a starting point for sector-specific guidance.

3. Review your retirement-age policies in light of the WSIB extension. The age-65 boundary on WSIB loss-of-earnings benefits has been a soft-but-real factor in some employer retirement-age decisions. The POWER Act's removal of that boundary, paired with the increased loss-of-earnings rate, recalibrates the calculus. Miller Thomson's commentary on aging-workforce policy is a useful frame.

4. If you are a construction employer, review the OHSA regulatory amendments alongside the Bill. Head protection, elevated work platforms, and respirator changes are coming on the same announcement track. WSPS's resource hub is the operational reference.

5. If you are a talent agency or work with one, review the STAR Act framework. Koskie Minsky's analysis is the most accessible plaintiff-side summary.

Where 1205 Consulting Fits

1205 Consulting helps Ontario mid-market and SMB employers build the HR infrastructure that holds up under Ministry of Labour scrutiny — including ESA complaint-handling, WSIB program design, and OHSA program audits. The POWER Act on its own is not a forcing function. But the cumulative effect of Bill 105 + the post-Metrolinx duty-to-investigate expansion + the post-Bokhari HRTO screening change + the post-O. Reg. 364/25 AMP regime is a 2026 environment that punishes documentary HR programs and rewards operational ones.

If your organization is preparing for the next compliance cycle and wants an external read on where the gaps are, book a call or learn more about our HR services and workplace investigations practices.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Bill 105 is, at the time of publication, in second reading and may be amended at Standing Committee. Employers should consult employment counsel for advice specific to their circumstances.