# Ministry of Labour (Ontario)

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development is responsible for labour issues in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and its agencies are responsible for employment equity and rights, occupational health and safety, labour relations, and supporting apprenticeships, the skilled trades, and industry training. The ministry's three program responsibilities are delivered from a head office in Toronto and 19 offices organized around four regions, centred in Ottawa, Hamilton, Sudbury and Toronto. As well, the ministry oversees the work of eight specialized agencies.
The current minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development is David Piccini.

## History

The Province entered the field in 1882 with the creation of the Bureau of Industries, which was attached to the Department of the Commissioner of Agriculture. In 1900, it was transferred to the Department of the Commissioner of Public Works and renamed as the Bureau of Labour, which subsequently became the Trades and Labour Branch in 1916.
In 1919, the Conservative government of William Howard Hearst secured passage of an Act to raise the Branch into a Cabinet-level department to be known as the Department of Labour. Finlay MacDiarmid, the Minister of Public Works, was appointed the first Minister of Labour as well, but the first full-time minister was Walter Rollo of the Independent Labour Party in the government of E.C. Drury that took office after the Conservative defeat in the 1919 general election.
In 1972, as part of a general reorganization of departments initiated by the government of Bill Davis, the department was renamed the Ministry of Labour.
In 2019, the Ministry of Labour changed its name to Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development to reflect its expanding mandate of training, apprenticeships and Employment Ontario.
Following the 2022 provincial election, the ministry was renamed to Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.

## List of ministers

| | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Tenure | Political party (Ministry) |
| | Minister of Labour | Minister of Labour | Minister of Labour | Minister of Labour | | United Farmers (Drury) |
| 1 | | Walter Rollo | November 14, 1919 | July 16, 1923 | 3 years, 244 days | |
| 2 | | Forbes Godfrey | July 16, 1923 | December 15, 1930 | 7 years, 152 days | Conservative (Ferguson) |
| 3 | | Joseph Monteith | December 15, 1930 | January 2, 1934 | 3 years, 18 days | Conservative (Henry) |
| 4 | | John Robb | January 2, 1934 | July 10, 1934 | 189 days |
| 5 | | ??? | July 10, 1934 | May 21, 1935 | 315 days | Liberal (Hepburn) |
| 6 | | David Croll | May 21, 1935 | April 14, 1937 | 1 year, 329 days | |
| 7 | | Mitch Hepburn interim | April 14, 1937 | October 12, 1937 | 181 days | |
| 8 | | Morrison MacBride | October 12, 1937??? | September 2, 1938 | 325 days | |
| 9 | | Norman Hipel | September 2, 1938 | May 27, 1941 | 2 years, 267 days | |
| 10 | | ??? | May 27, 1941 | October 21, 1942 | 1 year, 147 days | |
| 11 | | ??? | October 21, 1942 | May 18, 1943 | 209 days | Liberal (Conant) |
| 12 | | ??? | May 18, 1943 | August 17, 1943 | 91 days | Liberal (Nixon) |
| 13 | | Charles Daley | August 17, 1943 | October 19, 1948 | 18 years, 83 days | PC (Drew) |
| October 19, 1948 | | Charles Daley | May 4, 1949 | PC (Kennedy) | 18 years, 83 days |
| May 4, 1949 | | Charles Daley | November 8, 1961 | PC (Frost) | 18 years, 83 days |
| 14 | | Bill Warrender | November 8, 1961 | October 25, 1962 | 351 days | PC (Robarts) |
| 15 | | Leslie Rowntree | October 25, 1962 | November 24, 1966 | 4 years, 30 days |
| 16 | | Dalton Bales | November 24, 1966 | March 1, 1971 | 4 years, 97 days |
| 17 | | Gordon Carton | March 1, 1971 | February 2, 1972 | 338 days | PC (Davis) |
| 18 | | Fernand Guindon | February 2, 1972 | May 31, 1974 | 2 years, 118 days | |
| 19 | | John MacBeth | May 31, 1974 | October 7, 1975 | 1 year, 129 days | |
| 20 | | Bette Stephenson | October 7, 1975 | August 18, 1978 | 2 years, 315 days | |
| 21 | | Robert Elgie | August 18, 1978 | February 13, 1982 | 3 years, 179 days |
| 22 | | Russ Ramsay | February 13, 1982 | February 8, 1985 | 3 years, 77 days |
| 23 | | Russ Ramsay | February 8, 1985 | May 17, 1985 | 3 years, 77 days | PC (Miller) |
| 24 | | Robert Elgie | May 17, 1985 | June 26, 1985 | 40 days | |
| 25 | | Bill Wrye | June 26, 1985 | September 9, 1987 | 2 years, 75 days | Liberal (Peterson) |
| 26 | | Greg Sorbara | September 9, 1987 | August 2, 1989 | 1 year, 327 days |
| 27 | | Gerry Phillips | August 2, 1989 | September 9, 1987 | 1 year, 60 days |
| 31 | | Bob Mackenzie | October 1, 1990 | October 20, 1994 | 4 years, 19 days | NDP (Rae) |
| 32 | | Shirley Coppen | October 20, 1994 | June 26, 1995 | 249 days | |
| 33 | | Elizabeth Witmer | June 26, 1995 | October 10, 1997 | 2 years, 106 days | PC (Harris) |
| 34 | | Jim Flaherty | October 10, 1997 | October 10, 1999 | 2 years, 0 days | |
| 35 | | Chris Stockwell | October 10, 1999 | April 15, 2002 | 2 years, 187 days | |
| 36 | | Brad Clark | April 15, 2002 | October 22, 2003 | 1 year, 190 days | PC (Eves) |
| 37 | | Chris Bentley | October 23, 2003 | June 29, 2005 | 1 year, 249 days | Liberal (McGuinty) |
| 38 | | Steve Peters | June 29, 2005 | October 30, 2007 | 2 years, 123 days | |
| 39 | | Brad Duguid | October 30, 2007 | September 18, 2008 | 16 years, 178 days | |
| 40 | | Peter Fonseca | September 18, 2008 | December 16, 2010 | 2 years, 89 days | |
| 41 | | Charles Sousa | December 16, 2010 | October 20, 2011 | 308 days | |
| 42 | | Linda Jeffrey | October 20, 2011 | February 11, 2013 | 1 year, 114 days | |
| 43 | | Yasir Naqvi | February 11, 2013 | March 25, 2014 | 1 year, 42 days | Liberal (Wynne) |
| 44 | | Kevin Flynn | March 25, 2014 | June 29, 2018 | 4 years, 96 days | |
| 45 | | Laurie Scott | June 29, 2018 | June 20, 2019 | 356 days | PC (Ford) |
| 46 | | Monte McNaughton | June 20, 2019 | October 21, 2019 | 123 days | |
| | Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development | |
| 1 | | Monte McNaughton | October 21, 2019 | June 24, 2022 | 2 years, 246 days | |
| | Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development | Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development | |
| 1 | | Monte McNaughton | June 24, 2022 | September 22, 2023 | 1 year, 90 days | |
| 2 | | David Piccini | September 22, 2023 | present | 1 year, 174 days | |