Geneva negotiations opening June 1 could reshape platform worker protections as Canada’s own rules take hold
The International Labour Organisation opened its final round of negotiations on 1 June 2026 in Geneva on the first-ever binding international convention for platform workers — talks that will be watched closely by Canadian employers already navigating a rapidly shifting domestic regulatory landscape.
The ILO's standard-setting committee is holding its final discussions from June 1–11 at the 114th International Labour Conference, with members aiming to agree on binding rules and recommendations by the close of next week.
The gig economy nearly doubled in size between 2016 and 2021, according to the ILO, reaching an estimated market value of roughly $10.2 trillion in 2023. It now counts up to 435 million workers, or 12.5 per cent of the global labour workforce, according to the World Bank.
Worker classification at the heart of the talks
A central sticking point is whether protections such as the minimum wage and benefits including healthcare, sick leave, and social security should apply to all workers on these platforms or depend on whether they are classified as employees or self-employed.
Rights organizations say the answer to that question has real consequences. A May 2026 Human Rights Watch report, Algorithms of Exploitation, examined working conditions across nine countries and found that workers face low and unstable earnings, unsafe working conditions, and little to no protection when injured or unable to work.
The growing reach of algorithmic management is also in the frame. “There is a serious problem with transparency and accountability around how algorithms are used to determine pay and performance,” said Lena Simet, senior advisor on economic justice at Human Rights Watch.
Divisions among member states
Negotiations are expected to be difficult. According to Reuters, the US, China, Argentina, and India favour a less prescriptive approach, while the European Union, Brazil, and Mexico support stronger protections.
The International Organization of Employers, which represents about 50 million companies worldwide, has said any framework should remain flexible, allowing countries to adapt rules to national circumstances. Ride-hailing company Uber said any outcome “should enable countries to provide meaningful protections while preserving the flexibility, choice, and independence that many workers value.”
The International Trade Union Confederation has taken a harder line. Its General Secretary Luc Triangle told Reuters: “Technological innovation cannot be used as an excuse to weaken democratic labour rights.”
The seven-page draft text sets out rules to guarantee core labour rights, fair pay, and safe working conditions for all platform workers, regardless of how companies classify them.
Why this matters in Canada
Canada is in the middle of its own reckoning with platform work — and the ILO talks arrive as new provincial rules are still bedding in. Ontario's Digital Platform Workers' Rights Act, 2022 took effect on July 1, 2025, creating a separate category of worker protections specific to platform-based work rather than reclassifying gig workers as employees. Workers receive transparency regarding pay, minimum wage guarantees for active work time, and protection from arbitrary platform removal.
British Columbia has moved further, amending both its Employment Standards Act and Workers Compensation Act — amendments that came into force in September 2025 — introducing better working conditions and new protections for app-based ride-hailing and food-delivery gig workers.
The scale of the workforce affected is considerable. A March 2026 survey commissioned by H&R Block Canada found that nearly one in five Canadians — approximately six million adults — reported working in the gig economy in 2025, with over a quarter of those aged 18 to 34 having done gig work in the past year.
With Ontario and BC having taken different approaches to worker classification, and no federal framework yet in place, the ILO convention — if adopted and eventually ratified — could add pressure for greater consistency across Canada’s patchwork of provincial rules.
