Ontario signals the coming of commercial privacy legislation

In a move of great significance to organizations doing business in Ontario, the province recently opened a consultation on private sector privacy regulation. The consultation, which runs until October 1, shows a strong commitment to moving forward with legislation that will create new and stringent privacy compliance requirements and potentially establish new employee privacy rights and obligations.

Ontario employers may have the most at stake. Although the province’s consultation documents do not speak of employee privacy at all, British Columbia, Alberta and Québec have set a precedent by including employee privacy within the scope of their commercial privacy statues. Ontario may do the same, which would pressure Ontario employers, who have benefited from a lack of regulation and oversight, to develop employee privacy programs.

This content has been updated on May 2, 2024 at 13 h 39 min.