How to write the AI-use statement in an Ontario job posting

Since January 1, 2026, an Ontario employer with 25 or more employees has to say in a public job posting whether artificial intelligence is used to screen, assess or select applicants. The rule tells you what to disclose, not how to word it. That leaves room for statements that are technically present and practically useless.

A good statement does three things: it says AI is used, it says what for, and it says who decides.

Start from what your tools actually do

Before you write anything, list every tool in your hiring process that touches applicants. Typical ones are résumé screening or ranking, a chat that asks screening questions, scored assessments, and software that evaluates recorded interviews. Ask each vendor what their tool does with an application, and whether it uses AI as the regulation defines it.

A tool that only schedules interviews is not screening anyone. A tool that suggests which résumés to read first is.

Write it in plain words

Use one sentence to say that AI is used, then one sentence for each kind of tool, then one sentence about people:

• That AI is used. Name the purpose: to help screen and assess applicants for this position.
• What each tool does. “AI tools compare the information in each application with the requirements of the job and suggest an order for review” tells a candidate far more than “we use technology to enhance our process”.
• Who decides. If a person on your team reviews every result and makes every decision, say so. If candidates can ask to deal with a person instead, say how.

If your process uses recorded interviews, say what is and is not analyzed. Candidates worry about face and voice analysis; if you do not do it, a single sentence settles it.

You can see the full statement we insert in our own product on our Ontario explainer, or generate one for your posting in English and French with our free generator.

What to leave out

• Vague wording. “May use automated tools” tells candidates nothing and invites the question you were trying to avoid.
• Claims you cannot support. “Bias-free” and “fully objective” are promises no tool can keep. Describe what you do about bias instead, if you do something.
• Marketing. The statement is information for a candidate, not a feature list.
• Fine print. Put the statement in the posting body, where the pay and the duties are.

Keep it in both languages, and keep each version

If you publish the posting in French too, the statement goes in both versions. And because Ontario requires you to keep postings for three years after they come down, keep the statement exactly as it appeared in each one. If you change tools mid-year, your old postings should still show the statement that was true at the time.

Beyond Ontario

The rule applies to Ontario postings, but candidates elsewhere ask the same question. Ontario’s privacy and human-rights commissioners have published principles for responsible AI that put transparency first, and the Human Rights AI Impact Assessment asks employers to explain AI use to the people it affects. Disclosing by default, in every province, is simpler than deciding posting by posting.