You are not sure which rules apply to a business your size

What Training Does My Ontario Business Need?

Answer three questions about your headcount, supervisors, and industry to see which Ontario training and policy duties apply to you — and the record each one requires. Free, no email required.

1. How many people do you employ in Ontario?

Count everyone on payroll, including part-time and casual workers.

1 to 5 6 to 19 20 to 49 50 or more

2. Does anyone direct or have authority over other workers?

A supervisor is a function, not a title — a lead hand or a working owner who assigns tasks counts.

Yes No, everyone reports to me and I work alone with them

3. What best describes your workplace?

Office or professional services Retail, hospitality, or food service Construction Manufacturing, warehouse, or logistics Healthcare or social services Something else

Answer all three questions to see which Ontario duties apply to you. Nothing is submitted anywhere, and we do not ask for your email.

0 duties likely apply to you

Each one below names the legal basis and the record you would have to produce. This is general information, not legal advice — confirm against the current legislation, and check anything specific to your sector.

AODA accessibility training
O. Reg. 191/11 (IASR), s. 7

Train every employee and volunteer on the accessibility standards that apply to you and on the Human Rights Code as it pertains to persons with disabilities, as soon as practicable after they join.

Proof to keep: A dated record of who was trained and when.

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Worker health and safety awareness training
O. Reg. 297/13, s. 1

Every worker must complete a basic occupational health and safety awareness program as soon as practicable after starting work. It is one-time, and workers with verifiable equivalent training are exempt.

Proof to keep: A training record you keep, plus written proof on request for up to six months after a worker leaves.

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Supervisor health and safety awareness training
O. Reg. 297/13, s. 2

Every supervisor must complete the supervisor awareness program within one week of performing work as a supervisor. This is the tightest deadline in Ontario's training rules.

Proof to keep: A completion dated inside the one-week window.

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Workplace violence and harassment policies, programs, and instruction
OHSA ss. 32.0.1–32.0.8

Prepare written workplace violence and workplace harassment policies, review them at least annually, maintain the programs behind them, and give every worker information and instruction on them.

Proof to keep: A per-employee acknowledgment showing which version of the policy they saw, and when.

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Post your violence and harassment policies in the workplace
OHSA s. 32.0.1

Once six or more workers are regularly employed, the written policies must be posted in a conspicuous place in the workplace.

Proof to keep: The posted, dated policies themselves.

This is an organizational duty rather than a course, so there is nothing to assign — but you will want the paperwork filed where you can find it.
Select a health and safety representative
OHSA s. 8

Where more than five workers are regularly employed and no joint health and safety committee is required, workers select a health and safety representative.

Proof to keep: Who was selected, and how.

This is an organizational duty rather than a course, so there is nothing to assign — but you will want the paperwork filed where you can find it.
Establish a joint health and safety committee
OHSA s. 9

Once twenty or more workers are regularly employed, you must have a joint health and safety committee. Certification training for committee members comes from an approved training provider.

Proof to keep: Committee membership, meeting minutes, and certification records.

This is an organizational duty rather than a course, so there is nothing to assign — but you will want the paperwork filed where you can find it.
File an accessibility compliance report
AODA, 2005, s. 14; O. Reg. 191/11

Organizations with 20 or more employees file periodic accessibility compliance reports with the province. At 50 or more employees, additional duties apply, including a documented multi-year accessibility plan and accessible websites.

Proof to keep: The filed report, and your multi-year plan at 50+.

This is an organizational duty rather than a course, so there is nothing to assign — but you will want the paperwork filed where you can find it.
WHMIS education and training
Reg. 860 (WHMIS) under the OHSA

Wherever hazardous products are used, stored, or handled, workers need WHMIS education and training specific to those products. Cleaning chemicals count — this is not only an industrial requirement.

Proof to keep: Per-worker training records tied to the products present.

Ethica does not deliver this one — it needs an approved or product-specific provider. You can still track the completion record alongside everything else.
Working at heights training
O. Reg. 213/91, s. 26.2; O. Reg. 297/13, Part III.1

Workers on a construction project who use fall protection must complete a working at heights program delivered by a Chief Prevention Officer approved training provider. A general awareness course does not satisfy this.

Proof to keep: Proof of completion from the approved provider, with its validity period.

Ethica does not deliver this one — it needs an approved or product-specific provider. You can still track the completion record alongside everything else.

Why headcount changes the answer

Ontario's training duties themselves apply from your first employee — there is no small-business exemption for AODA training, awareness training, or workplace violence and harassment policies. What headcount changes is everything around them: posting the policies, selecting a health and safety representative, forming a joint committee, and filing accessibility reports all switch on at thresholds.

That is why "we are only six people" is not the reassurance it sounds like. Six is a threshold, not a hiding place.

The part most tools skip

Notice that every duty above has a record attached to it. That is the pattern in Ontario compliance: the obligation is to train and to be able to show you trained. Sourcing the right course for each mandate is work; keeping a dated, per-person record that someone can retrieve while a client or an inspector waits is more work again. Ethica does both — the courses are already built for each duty below, and every completion lands in a record you can export.

See what a Ministry of Labour inspection actually asks for.

More Ontario guides

Keep the record without the spreadsheet

Ethica delivers Ontario's mandatory training from an email link — no employee logins — and keeps a dated completion record you can export the moment someone asks.

Start free trial See Ontario's mandates

Ethica is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Government of Ontario. This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations against the current text of the legislation.