Ontarians will see some new laws and rules kick in next month
Multiple new laws and regulations in Ontario will be going into effect next month, which will affect everyday employers, businesses, and those seeking dental care.
From dental care expansions to new job-protected leaves, here are all the notable changes that you need to be aware of.
Here are all the new laws and rules that are coming into effect in June 2025.
New job protected leaves
Back in December, Ontario’s Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 received Royal Assent, and introduced a brand-new unpaid “long-term illness leave” into The Employment Standards Act, 2000, which is set to come into effect on June 19, 2025.
The new leave provides employees in Ontario with up to 27 weeks of leave during a 52-week period, and is available to those who have been continuously employed for 13 consecutive weeks.
To qualify, the employee must meet two conditions. One, they must not be working due to a “serious medical condition,” and two, a qualified health practitioner must issue a certificate that confirms that the employee has a serious medical condition and sets out a length of time for which the employee will not be working because of that condition.
Canadian Dental Care Plan renewals and coverage
In March, the federal government announced that all remaining eligible Canadians aged 18 to 64 years old would be able to apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) in May, with coverage starting as early as June 1, 2025.
As part of the CDCP, more than 3.4 million Canadians were approved to receive coverage in its first year. To continue receiving coverage, current CDCP members must have filed their 2024 tax return and received their 2024 Notice of Assessment from the Canada Revenue Agency before applying for renewal online or by phone.
If you’re under the plan, you must submit your renewal application by June 1, 2025, to ensure that you have uninterrupted coverage. For those who fail to renew, your coverage will end on June 30, 2025, and any oral health care services received during a gap in coverage will not be eligible for reimbursement.
Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) increase
Between June 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026, the City of Toronto will be temporarily increasing the mandatory Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) rate on transient accommodations from 6 per cent to 8.5 per cent.
The MAT provides funding for Destination Toronto, which supports the city’s tourism industry along with programs and services that visitors take advantage of when visiting, such as transit, parks, natural areas, and recreation.
Effective next month, the 8.5 per cent MAT across Toronto applies to hotels (including full service, limited service, small hotels), motels, hostels, clubs (private or fraternal), condo hotels, and the portion of a multi-use complex that provides transient accommodation.
TTC tokens and tickets
If you’re still hanging onto any TTC tokens or tickets, you have until the end of this month to use them, because these traditional fare methods will no longer be accepted starting on June 1, 2025.
At the TTC Board meeting in December, commissioners voted to extend the deadline for riders using any remaining TTC tickets, tokens, or day passes they may have from Dec. 31, 2024, to the beginning of June. The deadline was extended to give commuters a last chance to use up their remaining tokens and tickets, as refunds, exchanges, or credits will not be provided.
The TTC argues that the number of customers using tickets, tokens, and day passes has been extremely low and declining, with less than one per cent paying through these types of fares. Over the past few years, the TTC has been working to modernize its fare payment across the system, and soon, the only way to pay your TTC fare will be through cash, a debit card, a credit card, or Presto.
You can still pay your fare with cash in station fare boxes, and on buses and streetcars. The TTC stopped selling its tokens, youth/senior tickets, and day passes at stations in December 2019, and third-party retailers stopped selling TTC tickets in July 2022 and tokens in March 2023.