3.5 Ontario Legislation: Employment Standards, Labour Relations, Liquor Licence and Control & Residential Tenancies
Key Takeaways
- The Employment Standards Act, 2000 sets the floor for guards as workers: at least 11 consecutive hours free from work each day (s. 18(1)), a 30-minute eating period within every 5 consecutive hours (s. 20(1)), and overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate after 44 hours in a work week (s. 22(1)).
- Section 78 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 prohibits acting as a professional strike breaker and prohibits strike-related misconduct, which is expressly defined to include incitement, intimidation, coercion, undue influence, provocation, infiltration and surveillance.
- Under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 no person may sell or supply liquor to a person who is or appears to be intoxicated (s. 32), and Section 44(2) lets a licensee or employee remove a person who refuses to leave using no more force than is necessary.
- Section 31(2) of the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 gives the power to arrest without warrant for public intoxication to a police officer or conservation officer only, never to a security guard.
- Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 a tenancy ends only in accordance with the Act (s. 37(1)), a landlord may recover possession only on a Landlord and Tenant Board eviction order (s. 39), locks may not be changed without giving replacement keys (s. 24), and entry generally requires at least 24 hours written notice (s. 27(1)).
Ontario Statutes Guards Work Under and Alongside
Core Principle: Section 8 of the ministry syllabus names five Ontario statutes besides the Trespass to Property Act that a licensed guard must be able to outline: the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Labour Relations Act, 1995, the liquor licensing statute (now the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019), the Provincial Offences Act, and the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006. Two of these govern the guard as a worker; three govern what the guard may and may not do at a post.
Part 1 — The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (Your Rights as a Worker)
The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) sets the legal floor for most Ontario employees, including guards employed by contract security agencies. A contract cannot waive an ESA minimum; any agreement to accept less is void.
| ESA Entitlement | Statutory Rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum wage | Ontario's general minimum wage is $17.60 per hour from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, rising to $17.95 per hour on October 1, 2026 | s. 23 |
| Daily / weekly hours cap | No more than 8 hours a day (or the established regular workday if longer) and 48 hours a work week, subject to written agreement and, for daily excess, the prescribed conditions | s. 17(1) |
| Daily rest | At least 11 consecutive hours free from work each day | s. 18(1) |
| Rest between shifts | At least 8 hours free between shifts, unless the successive shifts total 13 hours or less or the parties agree otherwise | s. 18(3) |
| Eating period | At least 30 minutes at intervals ensuring no more than 5 consecutive hours of work without a break; unpaid unless the contract says otherwise | ss. 20-21 |
| Overtime | 1.5x the regular rate for each hour over 44 hours in a work week | s. 22(1) |
Three points matter for guards specifically. First, the 11-hour daily rest rule is why an agency cannot lawfully schedule a guard off a night shift straight onto a morning shift at another site. Second, an eating period is a break from work, so a "paid lunch at post" where the guard must stay alert and respond is generally still work. Third, the ESA is enforced by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development through a complaint process, entirely separate from the PSISA Registrar.
Part 2 — The Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Working a Picket Line)
The Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA) governs union certification, collective agreements, and lawful strikes and lock-outs. Guards are posted to struck sites constantly, so the relevant knowledge is about conduct at the line, not bargaining theory.
Section 78 of the LRA is the provision that can end a guard's career. It provides that no employer, employers' organization, or person acting on their behalf shall engage in strike-related misconduct or retain the services of a professional strike breaker, and that no person shall act as a professional strike breaker.
- A professional strike breaker is a person not involved in the dispute whose primary object, in the Ontario Labour Relations Board's opinion, is to interfere with, obstruct, prevent, restrain, or disrupt the exercise of a right under the Act in anticipation of or during a lawful strike or lock-out.
- Strike-related misconduct is defined as a course of conduct of incitement, intimidation, coercion, undue influence, provocation, infiltration, surveillance, or any like conduct intended to interfere with those rights.
The practical line for a guard is precise. Lawful: protecting the client's property, controlling access to private property, documenting damage, and keeping fire routes clear. Unlawful under s. 78: photographing or videotaping picketers for the purpose of intimidation, recording names and licence plates to build a list for the employer, mingling with picketers to gather information, taunting or provoking strikers, or being deployed for the primary purpose of breaking the picket. A guard who is told to "get footage of who is on the line" is being asked to commit surveillance within the s. 78 definition.
Remember the constitutional backdrop: peaceful picketing is protected expression and assembly under Charter ss. 2(b) and 2(c). Picketing loses protection when it becomes intimidation (Criminal Code s. 423), assault, mischief, or a total physical blockade of ingress and egress.
Part 3 — The Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 (Licensed Premises)
The Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 (LLCA) replaced the old Liquor Licence Act. Guards working bars, stadiums, festivals, and banquet halls need its core prohibitions:
- Section 31(1) — Intoxication in public. No person shall be in an intoxicated condition in a place to which the general public is invited or permitted access, or in the common areas of a multi-dwelling residence. Note s. 31(2): the power to arrest without warrant for this offence belongs to a police officer or conservation officer, not to a security guard.
- Section 32 — Sale to an intoxicated person. No person shall sell or supply liquor, or permit it to be sold or supplied, to any person who is or appears to be intoxicated.
- Section 33(1) — Persons under 19. No person shall knowingly sell or supply liquor to someone under 19, or sell or supply to someone who appears to be under 19. Under s. 33(2) a licensee, employee, or agent must not permit an underage person to have or consume liquor on the licensed premises.
- Section 44 — Removal for unlawfulness. A licensee or permit holder must ensure that a person does not remain on the premises where they reasonably believe the person is unlawfully there, is there for an unlawful purpose, or is contravening the law. Section 44(2) allows the licensee, permit holder, or an employee to require the person to leave and, on refusal, to remove them or have them removed using no more force than is necessary.
- Section 45(1) — Removal as undesirable. A licensee or employee who has reason to believe a person's presence is undesirable may require them to leave or forbid them to enter. Under s. 45(2) the person must not remain, and must not re-enter that day.
Exam Trap: Sections 44 and 45 are powers of the licensee, permit holder, or their employee. A contract guard exercises them as the licensee's authorized agent, and the removal power is still bounded by "no more force than is necessary" and by the Ontario Human Rights Code. It is not a licence to use force at will, and it does not create a power of arrest.
Part 4 — The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (Apartment and Condominium Posts)
The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) governs most residential rentals in Ontario, and it strips a landlord — and therefore the guard acting for the landlord — of powers that would exist on ordinary commercial property.
| RTA Rule | What It Means at a Residential Post | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Tenancy may be terminated only in accordance with the Act | A guard can never "evict" anyone | s. 37(1) |
| Landlord shall not recover possession unless the tenant vacated or the Landlord and Tenant Board has ordered eviction | Only an LTB order authorizes removal, and it is enforced like a writ of possession by the Sheriff | ss. 39, 85 |
| Landlord shall not alter the locking system without giving the tenant replacement keys | Lock-outs are illegal, and knowingly doing it is an offence under s. 233(b) | s. 24 |
| Distress abolished — no seizing a tenant's property without legal process | Never hold belongings against unpaid rent; s. 233(d) makes it an offence | s. 40 |
| A landlord may enter a rental unit only under s. 26 or s. 27 | Entry without notice only in an emergency or with the tenant's consent at the time of entry (s. 26(1)) | s. 25 |
| Otherwise, entry requires written notice at least 24 hours before the time of entry, for the listed purposes such as repairs or inspections | The "master key check" without written notice is unlawful | s. 27(1) |
The single most important consequence: a tenant is not a trespasser in their own building. The Trespass to Property Act cannot be used to bar a tenant from their unit or from the common areas they are entitled to use. A guard's lawful role at a residential post is to document behaviour in the occurrence log, control guests and genuine trespassers, and escalate tenant conduct to property management for an LTB application. Guests and unauthorized persons in common areas remain fully subject to the TPA.
Part 5 — The Provincial Offences Act (How Ontario Charges Are Processed)
The Provincial Offences Act (POA) is the procedural code for every non-criminal Ontario offence — TPA, LLCA, Highway Traffic Act, OHSA, PSISA, and municipal by-laws. Part I handles minor matters by certificate of offence (the familiar ticket); Part III handles more serious matters by information sworn before a justice. Charges are heard in the Ontario Court of Justice, usually before a Justice of the Peace. A guard's occurrence report and notebook are the evidentiary foundation of any POA charge the client or police later lay.
A security agency deploys guards to a manufacturing plant during a lawful strike. The site manager instructs the guards to photograph every picketer, record licence plates, and compile a daily list of names for management. What is the legal problem with this instruction?
A guard posted at a rental apartment building is told by the superintendent to change the lock on Unit 402 because the tenant is three months behind on rent, and to hold the tenant's furniture in the storage room until the arrears are paid. What is the correct response under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006?
A guard working the door of a licensed nightclub sees a patron who is visibly intoxicated, slurring, and unsteady arguing loudly at the bar. Which statement correctly describes the guard's authority under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019?