Formed 1919 Website www.labour.gov.on.ca | Jurisdiction Government of Ontario | |
Headquarters 400 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Minister responsible Kevin Flynn, Minister of Labour | ||
The Ministry of Labour is responsible for labour issues in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Contents
The Ministry of Labour and its agencies are responsible for employment equity and rights, occupational health and safety, and labour relations.. The ministry’s three program responsibilities are delivered from a head office in Toronto and 19 offices organized around four regions, centred in Ottawa, Hamilton, Sudbury and Toronto. As well, the ministry oversees the work of eight specialized agencies.
The current Minister of Labour is Kevin Flynn.
History
The Province entered the field in 1882 with the creation of the Bureau of Industries, which was attached to the Department of the Commissioner of Agriculture. In 1900, it was transferred to the Department of the Commissioner of Public Works and renamed as the Bureau of Labour, which subsequently became the Trades and Labour Branch in 1916.
In 1919, the Conservative government of William Howard Hearst secured passage of an Act to raise the Branch into a Cabinet-level department to be known as the Department of Labour. Because of the Conservative defeat in the 1919 general election, its first Minister was Walter Rollo of the Independent Labour Party.
In 1972, as part of a general reorganization of departments initiated by the government of Bill Davis, the Department was renamed the Ministry of Labour.