Ontario law and employer duties

Is mental health training mandatory in Ontario?

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Is mental health training mandatory in Ontario? No: we found no Ontario law that requires employers to give workers or supervisors a general mental health course. The law does require some related training, listed below, and our main guide sets out what Ontario law requires of employers on workplace mental health in full.

Is mental health training mandatory? The short answer

  • Required: information and instruction for every worker on the contents of the workplace violence and workplace harassment policies and programs.
  • Required: basic occupational health and safety awareness training for workers and supervisors.
  • Required where a committee is needed: certification training for at least one employer member and one worker member, unless otherwise prescribed.
  • Supervisors: awareness training within one week of starting as a supervisor (O. Reg. 297/13); the harassment code of practice also calls for extra instruction on harassment; no mental health course.
  • Not required: a stand-alone mental health course or certificate, or conformance with the national psychological health and safety standard, CSA Z1003.

The training Ontario law does require

Instruction on violence and harassment

The violence and harassment rules are where the training duties in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) come nearest to mental health. Subsection 32.0.5(2) requires an employer to give a worker “information and instruction that is appropriate for the worker” on the contents of the workplace violence policy and program. Section 32.0.8 sets the same duty for the workplace harassment policy and program.

The ministry’s Code of Practice to Address Workplace Harassment sets out one way to meet the harassment duty. Under it, all workers are taught what harassment is, how and to whom to report it, how complaints are investigated and how results are shared. That includes new hires and contract, casual, temporary, part-time and student workers. Supervisors and managers get extra instruction on recognizing harassment and handling complaints. Investigators and JHSC members or representatives get instruction for their roles. The code adds that records of the instruction should be kept for at least one year.

Since October 28, 2024, the OHSA’s harassment definitions include conduct “virtually through the use of information and communications technology,” so instruction should cover chat, email and video calls too. Our guides to the harassment policy and program the OHSA requires and to Bill 190 and virtual harassment go into the detail.

Basic awareness training

O. Reg. 297/13 requires basic awareness training for workers as soon as practicable, and for supervisors within one week of starting work as a supervisor. The worker program covers rights and duties under the Act, the roles of committees, the ministry and the WSIB, common workplace hazards, WHMIS and occupational illness. The supervisor program covers how to recognize, assess and control hazards, and evaluate those controls. Mental health is not on either list.

JHSC certification

A joint health and safety committee is required at a workplace where 20 or more workers are regularly employed, among other cases (OHSA clause 9(2)(a)). Where no committee is required and more than five workers are regularly employed, the workers select a health and safety representative (subsection 8(1)). Where there is a committee, at least one employer member and one worker member must be certified, unless otherwise prescribed (subsection 9(12)). That rule does not apply to a project with fewer than 50 regular workers or expected to last less than three months.

The ministry’s program standard for JHSC certification training lists “psychosocial” as one of six hazard categories that learners must describe, alongside physical, chemical, biological, musculoskeletal and safety hazards. So certified members learn that psychosocial hazards exist. The standard does not turn certification into a mental health skills course. Certified members must complete approved refresher training within three years of certification, and within three years of each refresher after that. See our summary of the 2026 JHSC certification changes and our page for joint health and safety committees.

The general duties

Clause 25(2)(a) of the OHSA requires an employer to “provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker.” Clause 25(2)(h) requires “every precaution reasonable in the circumstances.” Neither clause names mental health. The ministry’s guide to the law on workplace violence and harassment notes that the employer must tailor the type and amount of information and instruction to the job and its risks of workplace violence, and that some workers “may need to be trained to recognize and respond to harassment.”

First aid rules do not cover mental health

Ontario’s first aid regulation, Reg. 1101 under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, requires first aid stations in the charge of a worker who holds a valid first aid certificate or its equivalent. It does not mention mental health, so it does not require any mental health training.

What is voluntary

The Mental Health Commission of Canada says the national standard, CSA Z1003 and its 13 workplace factors, is “a voluntary standard. It is not a legal framework or regulation.” Ontario’s page on mental health in the workplace points employers to ministry-funded health and safety associations that offer mental health training and resources. Taking that training is a choice, not a legal requirement.

The same page reminds employers of two other laws. Under the Human Rights Code, disability includes mental health disabilities and addictions, and employers have a duty to accommodate unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, a worker may be entitled to compensation for chronic or traumatic work-related mental stress. Neither law prescribes a training course.

Federally regulated? If your organization is federally regulated, different rules apply. See our guide to federal harassment and violence training requirements.

How to decide what training to add

  1. Cover the legal minimum first. Check that every worker, including casual and part-time staff, has had instruction on your current violence and harassment policies and programs, and that awareness training records are on file.
  2. Give supervisors more. They receive complaints and see problems first. The code of practice already expects extra instruction for them on harassment.
  3. Start from your hazards. If your hazard assessment or inspections turn up workload, conflict, violence from the public or critical incidents, decide who needs what skills to respond.
  4. Choose practice over slides. Reading a policy is not the same as knowing how to open a hard conversation or what to do when someone is in crisis.
  5. Keep records and review yearly. The violence and harassment policies and the harassment program already need an annual review. Check your training plan on the same cycle.

Where Bedrock Minds fits

Bedrock Minds is voluntary training. It is not a legal requirement, and it does not replace any training or instruction the OHSA requires. It builds the skills that support your program: self-paced online modules, then an in-person practical day of scored scenarios, including a crisis. The Responder stream is for all staff. The Champion stream is for supervisors, HR, JHSC members and program leads, and ends with a written 90-day plan for their own organization. Common questions about the course are answered on our FAQ page.

Give your people a plan they have practised

Bedrock Minds combines online modules with one practical day where staff and leaders rehearse the conversations this article describes. Tell us about your team and we reply within one business day.

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This article is general information, not legal advice.

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