Gig worker rights in Canada sit in an uncomfortable middle ground. You are not an employee in most cases, so employment standards like minimum wage, overtime, and statutory holidays do not automatically apply. But you are not without protections either. Human rights law, workplace safety law, and contract law all apply to you regardless of your employment classification. The honest answer to “what rights do gig workers have?” is: fewer than employees, more than most people think, and the landscape is actively changing.

The contractor-employee line decides almost everything

The single most important distinction in Canadian labour law is whether you are an employee or an independent contractor. Nearly every right that gig workers ask about — minimum wage, overtime, vacation, sick days, termination notice — depends on this classification.

If you are an employee, your province’s employment standards legislation applies in full. If you are an independent contractor, most of it does not. The CRA and provincial labour boards determine which you are based on the reality of the relationship, not the label in the contract. The key factors include who controls the work, who provides the tools, who bears the financial risk, and whether the worker can serve other clients.

Most gig workers operating through marketplaces are classified as independent contractors. That classification is not inherently unfair, but it does mean that the protections you have are different from those of an employee, and it is worth knowing exactly what those are.

What protections apply to everyone, regardless of classification

Several important protections apply to you whether you are an employee or a contractor.

• Human rights protection. Federal and provincial human rights codes prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, and other protected grounds. These apply to all work relationships, not only employment.
• Workplace health and safety. If you work on someone else’s site, occupational health and safety legislation applies. In British Columbia, WorkSafeBC obligations can extend to contractors depending on the work. The client or site controller has a duty to ensure the workplace is safe, regardless of your employment status.
• Contract law. If a client agrees to pay you a specific rate for specific work, that agreement is enforceable. A client who refuses to pay for completed work is in breach of contract, and you have legal recourse through small claims court or civil action.
• Privacy. PIPEDA (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) governs how organizations collect and use your personal information, and this applies whether you are an employee, a contractor, or a platform user.

What protections you do not have as a contractor

If you are genuinely an independent contractor, the following typically do not apply:

• Minimum wage — you set your own rate
• Overtime pay — you manage your own hours
• Statutory holidays — you choose when you work
• Vacation pay — there is no statutory entitlement
• Sick days or personal emergency leave
• Employer-provided benefits or pension contributions
• Notice of termination — a client can stop using your services without statutory notice, unless your contract specifies otherwise

The trade-off is that you also have freedoms employees do not: you set your rate, choose your clients, work for multiple people simultaneously, and control how the work is done. Whether that trade-off is fair is a policy question Canada is actively debating.

What is changing

The federal government published a “What We Heard” report on gig workers through Employment and Social Development Canada, collecting input on whether and how federal labour protections should extend to gig and platform workers. The conversation is ongoing.

British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act has been under review with respect to gig and app-based workers, and Ontario has passed the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, which introduces specific protections for app-based workers including a minimum wage floor, written notice of pay and tips, and restrictions on withholding tips. Similar legislation may follow in other provinces.

The direction is clear: protections for gig workers in Canada are expanding, not contracting. The specifics and timelines vary by province, and nothing has settled into a final form yet.

What this means for workers on Djobzy

Djobzy is a location-based work and services marketplace. Workers on Djobzy operate as independent service providers, not as employees of Djobzy or of the clients who hire them. That means the contractor framework described above applies.

What Djobzy does provide within that framework: zero commission (workers keep 100% of the agreed worker price), payment held in escrow until the job is complete, transparent platform pricing (employers pay a 15% fee on top), and a Career Passport that carries your work history, reviews, and verification as a portable professional record.

What Djobzy does not provide: employment benefits, sick pay, vacation, pension, or insurance. No marketplace provides these to independent contractors. If these protections matter to you — and they should — understanding the distinction between contractor and employee is the starting point, and the legislation in your province is worth following.

About Djobzy

Djobzy is a location-based work and services marketplace with live map discovery. It connects people who need work or services completed with workers, freelancers, professionals and service providers who can provide them locally or remotely. Users can find opportunities, hire help, offer services and build portable reputation through Djobzy’s Career Passport. Workers pay zero commission and keep 100% of the agreed worker price, while employer and client platform pricing applies.

Understand the framework, then build within it

Gig work in Canada operates under a specific legal framework, and that framework is changing. Knowing what protections you have, what you do not, and what is coming puts you in a stronger position than most workers who never think about it. Find work and build your portable Career Passport at www.djobzy.com.