Ontario’s administrative monetary penalties: what you need to know

The province has a new tool for ensuring workplace health and safety compliance.

Ontario’s labour ministry inspectors have a new enforcement tool under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). They can now issue administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) in response to workplace compliance violations.

AMPs are financial penalties issued directly during a workplace inspection. They represent a middle ground between two existing enforcement approaches: issuing an order to correct a problem and laying charges that may lead to prosecution.

The authority to issue these penalties was codified in amendments to the OHSA (Section 69.1) that were part of the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025. Specific violations that can trigger a penalty are set out in O. Reg. 365/25.

As of April 2026, that regulation specifies just one contravention: if a public sector buyer of construction fails to treat accredited occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS), such as COR^® and ISO 45001, as equivalent during a procurement process.

Beyond that, it’s unclear how AMPs will be used in practice. But their introduction suggests an intent to strengthen and speed up enforcement under the OHSA. Other health and safety violations subject to AMPs may be added as the system evolves.

Administrative monetary penalty consequences

The handing out of an administrative penalty signals that an inspector has found a business to be non-compliant with the law. The consequences of that finding could be significant.

By their nature, AMPs impose a financial cost. For the currently prescribed offence, the penalty can be as high as $100,000. While no other offences are yet listed in the regulation, it’s worth remembering that Ontario has increased fines for health and safety violations three times in the past 10 years.

Penalties may also be made public by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training, and Skills Development, which creates a reputational risk for companies—and could be held up as a record of non-compliance in the event of future violations.

Steps to stay in compliance and avoid penalties

The best way to avoid enforcement actions is to follow the law. And the best way to do that is to have a strong and well-documented health and safety program. Some of the steps you can take to build that program are:

Get the basics right. The OHSA requires most businesses to have a written health and safety policy—outlining the employer’s commitment to preventing incidents and injuries—and a program to implement that policy through hazard identification and control, worker training, and more.

Employ competent supervisors who know their legal responsibilities, can recognize hazards, and ensure workers follow safe practices. Regular jobsite and equipment inspections, clear communication, and proper documentation of health and safety activities can help show due diligence.

Aim for continuous improvement. Adopting an OHSMS based on a standard such as COR^® can help you integrate safety into business operations and boost performance through assessment and auditing.

Of course, strong health and safety practices are important no matter how the OHSA and its regulations are enforced. Taking steps to document inspections, control hazards, ensure proper training, and more go a long way toward minimizing workplace incidents—which protects your workers and your bottom line.

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