Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to legally prohibit employers from ghosting job candidates, implementing sweeping changes to workplace standards that could influence hiring practices far beyond Canadian borders.
Under amendments to the Employment Standards Act that took effect in January, companies with more than 25 employees must now notify candidates within 45 days of their final interview regarding the outcome of their application. Failure to comply can result in penalties reaching CA $100,000, approximately £50,000.
The legislation addresses a pervasive problem in modern recruitment. According to a 2025 report from hiring platform Greenhouse, 63 percent of candidates in the UK and Ireland report experiencing employer ghosting—the practice of receiving no response whatsoever after investing time and resources in the interview process.
"As an HR professional I cannot believe we have to legislate basic good behaviour," said Allison Venditti, the Toronto-based founder of the Moms at Work network, who campaigned for the legislation. "If someone applies for a job, gets an interview and spends all that time on it, companies should let them know what is going on."
The human cost of ghosting extends beyond mere inconvenience. Laura Gemma Bond, a marketing professional with 12 years of experience, traveled from Cambridge to London for three separate job interviews, paying for train fares and dedicating hours to preparation. Despite this investment, she received no communication from the employer. Bond documented her job search on TikTok, where her posts have reached 2.3 million views, resonating with countless others who have faced similar treatment.
"It's rude, it is unprofessional, it is not acceptable," Bond said of the experience.
Ontario's law includes an additional provision requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in job advertisements, a transparency measure that advocates believe will help restore trust in the recruitment process. Danielle McConville, vice president for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific at Greenhouse, emphasized that ghosting damages both candidate confidence and employer reputation.
"While anti-ghosting regulations like those in Canada could help establish a baseline standard, the real solution is a human-centric approach that ensures fair, respectful and structured hiring practices," McConville said.
The legislation has not been without criticism. Some employer groups contend that mandating communication timelines creates administrative burdens, particularly for organizations conducting large-scale recruitment with hundreds of applicants. Critics also suggest the regulation may simply prompt automated rejection emails rather than meaningful feedback. Recruiters note that ghosting occurs in both directions, with some candidates abandoning recruitment processes without notice.
The debate emerges during a period of significant labor market strain. In the UK, unemployment has approached a five-year high as wage growth decelerates. Graduates report submitting hundreds of applications before securing employment, with some candidates applying for as many as 600 positions before receiving an offer.
These conditions have prompted questions about whether similar legislation might gain traction in other jurisdictions. A petition on the UK government and parliament website calling for a legal requirement for employers to respond to interviewees has been launched, though it had gathered only 98 signatures at the time of reporting.
Jessica Ciccozzi, founder of the Australian executive advisory firm East Executive, suggested that Ontario's approach could catalyze broader change. "Once accountability measures are introduced in one jurisdiction, they quickly influence practice elsewhere," Ciccozzi said.
Whether Ontario's legislation represents the beginning of a global shift in hiring standards or remains an isolated experiment will depend largely on enforcement outcomes and whether other governments determine that basic professional courtesy requires legal intervention. For now, the province has established itself as a testing ground for whether legislation can compel the respect that many argue should be standard practice.