Policy on fraudulent job postings

What this policy covers

This is Hire a Canadian's written policy on fraudulent publicly advertised job postings, published because section 8.7 of Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 requires an operator of a job posting platform to have one and to keep it posted where users will see it.

A posting is fraudulent for the purposes of this policy if it advertises a role that does not exist and is not disclosed as a pipeline posting, impersonates a real company or a real person, exists to collect money, banking details or identity documents from applicants, or is placed to harvest personal information rather than to hire.

How to report one

Use the report form. It takes about a minute, it does not require an account, and you do not need to have applied to the posting. The link appears in the footer of every page on this site and on every job posting.

You can also email hello@hirea.ca.

What we do with a report

1. We acknowledge it. If you leave an email address, you get confirmation.
2. We review it within two business days. A person reads every report.
3. We unpublish first where the report is credible. A posting that is

plausibly fraudulent comes down while we look at it, rather than staying up until we are certain. A wrongly unpublished real job costs an employer a few days. A fraudulent job left up costs an applicant much more.

1. We check the employer. We look at the account, the company, the other

postings under it, and how the posting arrived — whether it was posted directly or collected from a company's own careers page.

1. We act on the account. A confirmed fraudulent posting is removed

permanently. The account that placed it is suspended, and any other postings under it are reviewed.

1. We record it. Reports, decisions and the reasons for them are logged

with a timestamp, and retained.

What we cannot do

We are not a law enforcement body and we cannot recover money. If you have lost money, sent banking details, or provided identity documents, contact your bank immediately and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

If the posting appeared somewhere other than Hire a Canadian, report it to that platform as well. Many fraudulent postings are copied across several boards.

Postings collected from other sources

Some listings here are collected automatically from companies' own public careers pages, through interfaces published for that purpose. Those listings are labelled and link to the original.

A report about a collected listing is handled the same way. If we confirm a problem we remove the listing and stop collecting from that source.

Complaints about this policy

Section 8.7(4) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 provides that a person may not file an ESA complaint alleging a contravention of section 8.7. That does not stop you telling us we have got this wrong, and we would rather hear it: hello@hirea.ca.

Retention

This policy is retained for three years after it stops being in effect, and reports and the decisions made on them are retained for three years.

Last updated 14 August 2026.