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Workplace HarassmentCanadaEN

Ontario OHSA Amendments: Express Recognition of Virtual Workplace Harassment

Ontario's Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to explicitly encompass virtual workplace harassment and virtual workplace sexual harassment conducted via information and communications technology.

October 29, 2026 · 675 words
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Editorial hold — human review pending.

Country: Canada. Research snapshot: 2026-10-20. Source / development date: 2024-10-28.

Unresolved verification flags

Ontario-specific amendments. Verify commencement and the current OHSA; do not turn the express inclusion of virtual harassment into an unsupported duty to assess all harassment risks.

Resolve these limitations and the article-specific legal checklist before approval. This draft is educational information, not legal advice.

In Canada, the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 received Royal Assent on October 28, 2024. As of the research snapshot date of October 20, 2026, these statutory amendments formally clarify the reach of provincial safety standards into digital spaces.

Legislative Expansion of Workplace Harassment Definitions

Under Schedule 4 of the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario enacted targeted amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) regarding interpersonal conduct [source: launch-source-21]. Specifically, section 1(2) of Schedule 4 amends clause (a) of the definition of "workplace harassment" in subsection 1(1) of the OHSA by inserting the phrase "including virtually through the use of information and communications technology" directly after "workplace" [source: launch-source-21].

Concurrently, section 1(3) of Schedule 4 enacts an identical change to clause (a) of the definition of "workplace sexual harassment" in subsection 1(1) of the OHSA, stipulating that prohibited conduct includes actions occurring virtually through information and communications technology [source: launch-source-21]. Pursuant to section 11(2) of Schedule 4, these definitional amendments were established to come into force on the later of July 1, 2024, and the date of Royal Assent, thereby taking effect upon Royal Assent on October 28, 2024 [source: launch-source-21].

The Impact on Executive Oversight

Prior to this amendment, health and safety obligations often faced interpretative debates regarding whether incidents occurring outside physical corporate property fell within statutory employer obligations. By explicitly writing "information and communications technology" into both workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment definitions, the Ontario legislature eliminated ambiguity regarding digital conduct [source: launch-source-21].

Employers operating within Ontario are statutorily bound to maintain workplace harassment policies. Under section 8 of Schedule 4 of the amending Act, subsection 32.0.1(2) of the OHSA is amended to allow employers to post workplace violence and workplace harassment policies either in a conspicuous physical location or in a readily accessible electronic format [source: launch-source-21]. This statutory accommodation complements the substantive recognition that modern work occurs across networked systems.

Governance Recommendations for Organizational Leadership

While the OHSA mandates specific compliance measures regarding harassment policies and programs, executive teams should adopt comprehensive operational measures to reflect virtual interactions.

First, boards and senior leaders should ensure that internal codes of conduct, anti-harassment policies, and investigation protocols incorporate the exact statutory language regarding virtual environments. Updating definition clauses prevents employees and investigators from operating under outmoded assumptions that harassment requires in-person contact.

Second, governance structures should establish clear guidance regarding organizational communication platforms. In a hypothetical scenario, an employee might face exclusionary comments, abusive language, or unwelcome sexual remarks through private enterprise instant messages, videoconference side-chats, or corporate email during non-standard hours. Executive teams are recommended to train managers and investigators to treat digital interactions with the same investigative rigor as physical boardroom incidents.

Third, leadership should verify that reporting mechanisms are straightforward for remote workers. If an individual experiences online mistreatment, the complaint intake must be clearly accessible online without requiring physical access to a corporate bulletin board.

Legal review required

Before executive teams finalize updates or publish corporate guidance based on these developments, legal counsel must conduct a specific verification check:

  • Confirm the current applicability of the Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190) amendments to the specific enterprise and verify whether any subsequent regulations have clarified "information and communications technology".
  • Confirm the exact commencement dates of related provisions under Schedule 4, including section 11(2) effective dates.
  • Verify that cross-jurisdictional operations across Canada do not conflate Ontario's specific OHSA wording with rules in other provinces.
  • Any unsupported or uncertain legal claims regarding corporate liability or director exposure must be resolved before publication.

Educational information, not legal advice.