As organizations look ahead to 2026, leaders across Canada are navigating a compensation landscape shaped by economic uncertainty, tightening budgets, and evolving employee expectations. At the same time, Ontario employers are preparing for Ontario’s updated Employment Standards Act (ESA) requirements on pay transparency, which come into effect on January 1 and will shift how organizations approach hiring and compensation communication.
To support HR, Total Rewards, and organizational leaders during this planning period, Stratford Group’s People & Culture practice has released a new set of timely resources, including an opinion letter from our President of People & Culture, Mike D’Amico, designed to offer clarity and support as organizations enter their planning cycles.
Alongside the opinion letter, Stratford is also providing a bonus readiness checklist that offers a practical, phased roadmap to help HR and Total Rewards teams prepare for transparency expectations in a manageable way. Whether you’re in Ontario or operating elsewhere in Canada, these tools can help you assess where you stand today and identify opportunities to improve governance, consistency, and trust in your compensation practices.
If your organization is finalizing salary planning for the year ahead—or beginning to prepare for new transparency requirements—we encourage you to explore these resources.
👉 Access the full set of resources and downloads here.
For tailored support, or to discuss how these changes may apply in your specific context, our People & Culture team is always here to help.