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When employees begin discussing unionization, the instinct to act is understandable. In Ontario, acting without legal guidance usually makes the situation worse. The question most employers want to ask, can we stop this, has a direct legal answer. What an employer can actually do about it is narrower, more procedural, and more consequential if mishandled than most expect.
Updated September 2026
This article gives the direct answer, sets out the free-expression right employers do have and its limits, explains why remedial certification is worse than most employers realise, and covers what genuinely reduces organizing pressure.
That does not mean silence is required, or that certification is inevitable. Section 70 preserves an employer’s freedom to express views, provided it does not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises, or undue influence. The proviso is where the whole question lives, and it is narrower in practice than it reads on the page.
Seeing signs of organizing activity in your workplace?
Every decision from the moment you become aware carries legal risk. Get advice before communicating anything to employees, taking any disciplinary action, or making any operational change.
What section 70 actually gives you
Section 70 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 prohibits an employer from participating in or interfering with the formation, selection, or administration of a trade union. It then adds the proviso that nothing in the section deprives an employer of the freedom to express views, so long as the employer does not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises, or undue influence.
Employers read that proviso as a licence and it is not. Two things narrow it sharply in practice.
Threats do not have to be explicit. The Board has found violations where nothing overt was said and the message was conveyed by implication, through remarks that planted doubt about job security in the days before a vote. An employer that never says “we will close” can still cross the line by saying enough for employees to draw the conclusion.
Supervisors count as the employer. What a front-line supervisor says in a corridor is attributed to the organisation. Most violations are not board-approved communications; they are individual managers answering a question without guidance. That is why centralising messaging matters more than drafting the message.
What is prohibited and what is not
Unfair labour practice territory
- Threatening layoffs, terminations, closure, or reduced hours in connection with organizing
- Offering raises, promotions, or improved conditions to discourage union support
- Disciplining, demoting, or terminating employees because of union involvement
- Using supervisors to pressure employees, since their statements are attributed to the employer
- Making unilateral changes to wages, benefits, or conditions during organizing
- Increasing surveillance or scrutiny of employees involved in organizing
Permitted within limits
- Communicating accurate factual information about unions, dues, and collective bargaining
- Expressing opinions that are not coercive, threatening, or misleading
- Enforcing existing neutral policies consistently, since selective application is unlawful
- Making genuine business decisions unconnected to organizing, with documentation predating the drive
- Addressing underlying workplace issues lawfully through proper channels
Our article on responding to employee unionization works through the operational side in more detail, including manager training and the certification timeline.
Remedial certification: worse than most employers assume
The consequences of getting this wrong are not limited to damages.
Section 11 allows the Board to certify a union as a remedy where the employer’s contravention means the true wishes of the employees are not likely to be revealed by a vote. The detail employers miss is this: it is available even where the union has not demonstrated enough support to win, or even to trigger, a vote.
The practical implication is uncomfortable. An employer facing a campaign that was going to fail can convert it into a certified bargaining unit by dismissing the organizer. The Board has inferred knowledge of an employee’s organizing role from the timing of a dismissal alone, without any direct evidence that the employer knew. Acting decisively early is precisely the instinct that produces this outcome.
Aware of organizing activity in your workplace?
Every decision from this point carries risk, and the riskiest moment is before anyone has taken advice. We can tell you what you can say, what you cannot, and how to keep a legitimate business decision defensible.
Get Labour Law Advice
Or call us: 1-800-771-7882
What actually reduces organizing pressure
The honest answer to “what can we do instead” is that almost everything effective has to happen before a drive begins, because once cards are circulating the same measures become unlawful inducements.
Fix the issues while it is still lawful
Organizing is usually a response to something: scheduling, pay compression, an unpopular supervisor, a grievance nobody answered. Addressing those in the ordinary course is lawful. Addressing them after cards start circulating is a promise of improved conditions, which is an unfair labour practice.
Train managers before you need to
Supervisory statements bind the organisation, and supervisors will be asked questions the day organizing becomes visible. Training after a drive starts is too late for the conversation that already happened.
Apply policies consistently, always
Selective enforcement is one of the most common findings against employers. Consistency is only credible if it predates the campaign, so the record you rely on is the one you built before anyone was watching.
Document decisions as you make them
A restructuring planned six months ago is defensible if the planning records exist. The same restructuring with no contemporaneous paper trail looks like a reaction, whatever the reality.
Frequently asked questions
Can an Ontario employer legally prevent unionization?
No. Employees have a protected right to organize, join a union, and participate in collective bargaining under Ontario’s Labour Relations Act, 1995. Employer conduct that interferes with, restrains, or coerces employees in exercising that right is an unfair labour practice. Attempting to prevent unionization through threats, promises, surveillance, or adverse employment action exposes the employer to certification without a vote, damages, and reinstatement orders.
Can an employer say anything at all during a union drive?
Yes, within limits. Section 70 preserves the employer’s freedom to express views provided it does not use coercion, intimidation, threats, promises, or undue influence. In practice the limits are tighter than they read: an implied threat is still a threat, and the Board has found violations where nothing overt was said. Communications should be centralised and reviewed before they go out.
Are supervisors’ comments attributed to the employer?
Yes. What a front-line supervisor says is treated as the employer speaking. Most unfair labour practice findings arise from individual managers answering employee questions without guidance rather than from formal company communications, which is why training and a single authorised channel matter more than the wording of any one message.
What is remedial certification and how bad is it?
It is an order certifying a union without a vote, available under section 11 where the employer’s contravention means the true wishes of employees are not likely to be revealed by a vote. It is significant because it is available even where the union had not demonstrated enough support to win or trigger a vote. An employer facing a campaign that would have failed can create a certified bargaining unit through its own misconduct.
We were already planning a restructuring. Can we proceed?
Possibly, but the burden is on the employer to show the decision was unconnected to organizing. Documentation created before any union activity is what makes that case. Proceeding without it invites the Board to infer a connection from the timing, and the Board has drawn inferences about employer knowledge from timing alone.
When should an employer contact a labour lawyer?
Before taking any action at all. Once cards are being signed or an application is filed, every management decision, communication, and employment action carries risk. Centralise communications, instruct managers not to answer employee questions without guidance, and take advice before anything else. Early guidance consistently produces better outcomes than repairing mistakes already made.
How Achkar Law helps Ontario employers
Achkar Law advises Ontario employers from the first sign of organizing through certification and first-contract bargaining. We tell you what can and cannot be said, train supervisors before the questions start, and help you make and document decisions in a way that survives scrutiny.
See how we act as a labour lawyer for employers, across our employer legal services, or through our Toronto employment lawyers if you are in the GTA.
Questions about organizing activity at your workplace?
We provide immediate support for Ontario employers responding to a drive, from communication guidance through certification applications and labour relations strategy. Tell us what has happened before you take any action.
Call us at 1-800-771-7882 or fill out the short form below and we will be in touch.
This article is general information about Ontario labour law and is not legal advice. The law described is current as of September 2026. The application of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and the OLRB’s remedial powers turns closely on the facts of each case. A labour lawyer can advise on your specific circumstances.
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