Ontario repeals Bill 124, wage restraint law twice found unconstitutional

An Ontario public sector wage-restraint law that advocates and opposition critics blamed for heightening a health-care staffing crisis is now officially off the books after it was twice declared unconstitutional.

The province's top court ruled recently that a law that capped salary increases for broader public sector workers at one per cent a year for three years violated collective bargaining rights, largely upholding a lower court ruling.

Hours after the Appeal Court ruling, the government announced that it would repeal the law, known as Bill 124, something that opposition critics, labour advocates and health-care workers had long urged.

WATCH | Premier reacts to court ruling: 

Ford says government 'respects' Bill 124 appeal ruling

12 months ago

Duration 1:31

A day after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled his government’s wage-cap law on public sector workers was unconstitutional, Premier Doug Ford commented on the decision publicly, saying: "People elect the parliament, they should make the decisions."

The government announced Friday in a brief news release that it has repealed Bill 124 in its entirety through an order in council, which is a government order recommended by cabinet and signed by the lieutenant-governor.

The Progressive Conservatives enacted the law in 2019 as a way to help the government eliminate a deficit.

The law applied to workers including teachers and nurses, and advocates and critics have said the constrained pay, particularly coming during the COVID-19 pandemic, drove nurses out of the sector.'