Ontario committee recommends gig workers get more rights, transparency, benefits

The final report from the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee, including 21 recommendations, is expected to be made public Thursday.

TORONTO — Ontario should develop a worker benefits plan that is not tied to employers, set up a job board for gig work, and force greater transparency in gig work contracts, a new report on the province’s changing work landscape recommends.

The report from a committee of experts tasked by the government with addressing labour market disruptions from COVID-19 also recommended creating a “dependent contractor” category for app-based gig workers with guaranteed employment rights including severance pay and minimum wage.

The final report from the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee, including 21 recommendations, is expected to be made public Thursday.

“The recommendations are about designing a policy regime that takes into account how changes in technology and COVID, which coincide, are changing the workplace,” said Rohinton Medhora, chair of the committee, which began its work in June.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said he was impressed with the recommendations and would consider all of them.

Of particular interest, he said, was the recommendation that the government look into developing a portable benefits plan that’s tied directly to workers, not their employers.

“This is one that’s a priority for me and I really want to move forward with looking at this seriously,” McNaughton said in an interview Wednesday.

The report said a portable plan might see the benefits administered through “an independent body, through government, the private sector or some combination,” and would support worker mobility, give certainty to their futures and potentially help businesses attract more workers.