Ontario proposes legislation to allow delivery drivers access to washrooms at businesses

The Ontario government is proposing legislation to allow delivery drivers and couriers access to washrooms at businesses where they drop off or pick up packages or food.

“Consultations conducted by the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee have indicated that couriers, truck drivers, and people who deliver food, including those for online delivery platform companies such as SkipTheDishes, are often denied use of a washroom at businesses they serve,” the government said in a release.

Ontario’s labour minister Monte McNaughton made the announcement on Wednesday and said the move is part of the government’s efforts to protect and support vulnerable workers such as those who move essential goods and have kept the economy going through the pandemic.

If the legislation is passed, the government said it would require business owners to open up their washrooms for delivery drivers, McNaughton said.

McNaughton said the law would apply to commercial businesses, for example a restaurant where a driver is picking up food, and not to a private residence where the item or food is being dropped off.

“This is something most people in Ontario take for granted but access to washrooms is a matter of common decency currently being denied to hundreds of thousands of workers in this province,” McNaughton said.

“Providing these hardworking men and women with access to washrooms is a small change that will make a big difference, so they can do their jobs with the dignity and respect they deserve.”