Review to focus on employment and labour law, AI governance, privacy, among others
The Law Commission of Ontario’s (LCO) has launched a wide‑ranging review of digital monitoring and surveillance in workplaces, a move that could reshape how employers across the province track employees and use algorithmic tools to manage work.
The Workplace Surveillance Project will examine “the growing use of digital monitoring and surveillance technologies in the workplace, and their implications for areas which may include privacy and human rights, employment and labour law, platform workers, and AI governance,” according to a project overview released by the Commission.
These technologies include the following, according to the Commission:
- activity-tracking software
- location tracking
- cameras
- audio monitoring
- algorithm-based performance scoring
- wearable devices that monitor biometrics
- social media
These are often used together and “supported by automated or AI-driven systems,” says the LCO.
In October 2025, the federal government introduced a new tracking system to monitor whether public servants are complying with the three-day in-office mandate.
Worker impacts and key concerns
Employers in a range of sectors are adopting these technologies “intending to improve productivity, safety, security, and operational efficiency,” the LCO notes.
At the same time, the Commission warns their use “can raise serious concerns for workers, including negative impacts on privacy, dignity, mental health, transparency, and fairness,” and can affect “how work is assigned, evaluated, and paid; monitoring of personal devices outside work hours or at home; and … the cumulative effect of constant or overlapping forms of monitoring.”
The LCO situates its review within a broader policy shift, stating that governments “in Europe, the United States and Canada are beginning to respond” to concerns about workplace surveillance and algorithmic management.
The Workplace Surveillance Project is currently in its initial research phase. The LCO plans to publish “a review of the above issues” as a public consultation paper in 2026 and says it “will widely distribute these materials to support a broad and inclusive public consultation process.”
The Commission is inviting “anyone with an interest in or information for the project” to contact the project lead. The project lead is Ryan Fritsch, Legal Counsel, Law Commission of Ontario. He can be contacted at [email protected].
The LCO can be reached at [email protected] or through the Contact page.
Electronic monitoring in Ontario
In Ontario, amendments to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 now require certain employers to have written policies on electronic monitoring, while the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 has introduced new disclosure requirements for some platform-based work, including the use of work assignment and payment algorithms. Canadian Privacy Commissioners have also “published research examining workplace surveillance and algorithmic management.”
However, the LCO says these measures “represent important first steps, but they do not address the full range of issues raised by workplace surveillance.” It adds that “the timing is right for a more comprehensive examination of how these technologies affect workers, how existing laws respond, and what further law and policy reform options may be needed.”
On its website, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada notes that individuals have a right to privacy at work, “even if they are on their employer's premises and/or using their employer's equipment”.
“At the same time, employers need certain pieces of information about employees for activities like payroll, staffing and to ensure employee performance management and workplace safety.”
The government body states that employers should be aware of how relevant privacy laws and obligations apply to employee personal information.
“The Privacy Act, for example, applies to employee information in federal government institutions. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) applies to employee information in federal works, undertakings, and businesses (such as banks, telecommunications companies and transportation companies),” says the office.
