Recruitment Agency Register

Official online lookupHas not ratified ILO C181

Recruitment agency licensing in Canada

Licensing authority: No general federal licence is covered in this record. In Ontario, the Director of Employment Standards licenses temporary help agencies and recruiters under Part XVIII.1 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000. Other provinces are not yet covered.1

How to check an agency in Canada

The Ontario government runs a public status page where the licence status of temporary help agencies and recruiters can be checked.1

Open the official lookup

Who needs a licence

Since 1 July 2024, temporary help agencies must hold a licence to operate in Ontario, including agencies based outside Ontario. Recruiters also need a licence. A recruiter is any person who, for a fee, finds or tries to find work in Ontario for job seekers, or staff in Ontario for employers. Employers recruiting their own staff, trade unions, registered charities, school boards, universities, colleges and some other bodies are excluded. Clients may not knowingly use an unlicensed agency.1,2

Licence conditions

Each legal entity needs its own licence, and one that acts as both an agency and a recruiter needs two. Each legal entity must give the Director security of $25,000, by irrevocable letter of credit or surety bond, unless a recruiter only exemption applies. The exemption does not apply to temporary help agencies. From 1 January 2026 the application fee is $1,500 for initial and renewal applications, and licences from applications made on or after that date generally expire two years after issue or renewal. The Director must refuse a licence to an applicant that has charged or collected fees from foreign nationals contrary to the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, 2009, or that uses a person who has.1

Reporting an unlicensed agency

Workers can file a claim online, or by PDF form sent by fax or mail, for issues under the Employment Standards Act or the Employment Protection for Foreign Nationals Act, including claims that a recruiter violated their rights under that Act. The Employment Standards Information Centre is at 416-326-7160, toll free 1-800-531-5551 in Ontario, TTY 1-866-567-8893.4

ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention (C181)

Not ratified3

Main law

Developments

  1. Licensing of recruiters and temporary help agencies became mandatory in Ontario. Applicants who filed before that date could keep operating until a decision. Monetary penalties start at $15,000 for a first contravention of engaging or using an unlicensed recruiter or agency, according to Osler.1,2

Checked 28 October 2026. This page describes the licensing system. It does not list or rate individual agencies.

Sources

  1. Government of Ontario, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Licensing, temporary help agencies and recruiters (18 June 2026)
  2. Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP, Amendments to Ontario's licensing regime for recruiters and temporary help agencies (2 May 2024)
  3. Government of the Netherlands, Treaty Database, Convention concerning Private Employment Agencies, Geneva, 19-06-1997 (29 January 2026)
  4. Government of Ontario, Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Filing a claim (22 October 2024)