Journal of Commerce | Don Wall | September 9, 2025
Ontario construction stakeholders are praising new labour-mobility regulations as an important step towards breaking down interprovincial work barriers, but they say they will be watching implementation closely and are calling for further reforms.
Starting next Jan. 1, skilled workers in certified professions from other provinces and the territories can begin working in Ontario within 10 days under new “As of Right” rules, once credentials and requirements are confirmed by their regulator.
Over 50 regulators are covered by regulations filed Sept. 1 under Bill 2, the Protect Ontario Through Free Trade Within Canada Act, including construction trades workers, architects, engineers, building officials and planners.
“We’re breaking down interprovincial barriers so certified tradespeople, engineers and architects from across Canada can get to work here in days, not months,” commented Ontario Minister of Labour David Piccini in a statement. “These first-in-Canada, Canada-first changes ensure Ontario is ready to deliver on nation-building projects that cannot be held back by costly delays.”
The current approvals process can force workers to wait up to half a year before being registered and able to start a job, the government stated.
Representatives for bodies regulating engineers, planners, engineering technologists and architects all said there is already reciprocity acknowledging credentials for their professionals in jurisdictions across the country and the new Ontario measures merely add an early-practice privilege.
Sudbury architect Ted Wilson, president of the governing council of the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), explained under the new regulations, once an eligible architect submits the required notification and proof of licence, the OAA must acknowledge the application within 10 business days. The applicant may practise in Ontario for up to six months while their full reciprocity application is assessed.
The OAA must render its licensing decision within 30 calendar days of receiving a complete application.
“The association is ready to work alongside the government to ensure harmony between the Ontario Labour Mobility Act and the regulation of the practice of architecture in the province,” stated Wilson.
The process will be followed by every regulator, including Skilled Trades Ontario (STO), which oversees the skilled construction trades.
“At this stage, the focus needs to be on implementation,” stated STO CEO Candice White. “Like any reform, success will depend on execution and clear communication, so employers and workers understand how the changes apply in practice.”
White noted STO is engaged in harmonizing Red Seal trades across Canada with the same goal of removing barriers for certified workers to move between provinces.
Igor Delov, director of government relations at the Ontario Building Trades, said his council is “reasonably confident” the new workers will still be subject to the pertinent laws governing work in Ontario, including the Health and Safety Act, the Labour Relations Act, the Employment Standards Act and the Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act.
“We have no issue with harmonization,” he said. “We want to make sure that if there is harmonization, that it’s training workers to the highest standard.”
Delov added, “We’ll have to stay tuned and see how this actually unfolds.”
Former STO CEO Melissa Young, now the executive director of the New Brunswick Skilled Trades Consortium, noted most interprovincial barriers for those in the skilled trades have already been addressed.
Through National Harmonization, an initiative of the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship, and the Canada Free Trade Agreement, skilled trades workers can already work in other provinces with minimal wait time.
For those in non-compulsory trades there is no waiting at all, said Young. For compulsory trades the worker must register with the local apprenticeship authority and pay a fee to obtain their certification for that jurisdiction.
“Any step to remove mobility barriers is a step in the right direction,” said Young.
Both Young and Sean Strickland, executive director of Canada’s Building Trades Unions, suggested the next barrier that must be addressed is safety training.
Workers from out of province may still be required to take such courses as Working at Heights training in Ontario. Strickland noted Piccini is making progress on the issue.
Strickland also called on the federal government to bolster its labour-mobility tax deduction to support the interprovincial labour-mobility efforts.
Other comments from stakeholders:
- “I think that enhanced labour mobility to attract planners with Canadian experience to Ontario is useful in helping to support those (provincial) aims. – Ryan Des Roches, registrar, Ontario Professional Planners Institute
- “(The new timelines are) making us accountable on the processing side, but it’s not enforcing anything with respect to our ability to set standards, with our ability to require curriculum, with our ability to define the competencies…it’s not necessarily a bad thing for regulators to have their feet held a little bit to the fire.” – Cheryl Farrow, CEO, Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists
- “Maybe there was a sense that in some professions, it may have been difficult for economic activity to move at the right pace because of delays in licensing. I think this is a great way to standardize the process, put some good timelines around the process to still allow for a good, rigorous process.” – Professional Engineers Ontario CEO Jennifer Quaglietta