Minister of the Environment,Conservation and Parks
From 2021 to 2023,Piccini served as Ontario's youngest-ever (at 33 years of age) Minister of the Environment,Conservation and Parks. [7]
During his tenure,he made significant investments and changes to protect conservation efforts and wildlife in Ontario. In 2023,he announced an investment of $20 million in a Caribou Conservation, [8] as well as the first new all-season,full-service provincial park in 40 years. [9] He also announced millions of dollars in investments in 2022 to help municipalities build,upgrade and rehabilitate storm and wastewater infrastructure [10] and in 2023 to support multi-year projects to protect,conserve and restore the Great Lakes. [11]
Minister of Labour,Immigration,Training and Skills Development
Piccini has been Ontario's Minister of Labour,Immigration,Training &Skills Development since September 22,2023. [7] While leading this file,Piccini has made a crucial impact in the health and safety of Ontario's workforce and has brought a renewed energy to promoting careers in the skilled trades through multiple Working for Workers legislation and rounds of Skills Development Fund investments.
Working for Workers Four
On November 14,2023,Piccini introduced Ontario's Working for WorkersFourAct,his first as Minister of Labour,Immigration,Training and Skills Development . [12] The bill received Royal Assent on March 21,2024, [13] introducing changes to allow firefighters and fire investigators to receive cancer coverage faster by lowering the employment period needed to receive compensation when diagnosed with esophageal cancer from 25 to 15 years.
The legislation also made changes to the Employment Standards Act (ESA),to strengthen protection for workers including prohibiting employers from deducting wages for stolen property or unpaid bills,and mandating payment for trial shifts. It also required transparency in tip-sharing practices and salary disclosures in job postings, [14] [15] banned the use of Canadian work experience as a job application requirement,improved oversight of third-party assessments for international qualifications,clarified vacation pay provisions,and allowed inflation-adjusted increases to Workplace Safety and Insurance Board benefits. [16]
Working for Workers Five
Building on the changes in the fourth Working for Workers bill,Piccini introduced the Working for Workers Five Act,2024 on May 6,2024. This bill included first-in-Canada provisions,as well as protections for workers to increase fairness,promote careers in the skilled trades,and make workplaces safer and more accessible. [17]
Receiving Royal Assent on October 29,2024,Working for Workers Five included additions that highlighted the government's worker-first approach to labour legislation. [18] This included ensuring feminine hygiene products are available on certain construction sites,cracking down on bad actor employers and virtual harassment,increasing transparency in job postings and prohibiting sick notes as evidence for the three job-protected unpaid sick-leave days. [18]
This act also builds on firefighter,investigator,and volunteer protections by lowering the required duration of service to be eligible for presumptive coverage for primary-site skin cancer from 20 years to 10. This is in addition to ensuring wildland firefighters and fire investigators have the same coverage as municipal firefighters. [18]
Working for Workers Six
As Minister of Labour,Immigration,Training and Skills Development,Piccini introduced his third bill,the Working for Workers Six Act,2024,on November 27,2024. [19] This bill followed the progress made through the previous bills with additional protections for workers in the province. Receiving Royal Assent on December 19,2024,this bill made headlines with the introduction of a new parental leave for parents through adoption and surrogacy and a new 27-week long-term illness leave,as well as cracking down on fraudulent immigration representatives using the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program. [20]
Also included in the Bill were changes that:reduced the required duration of service for firefighters for primary-site kidney cancer presumptive coverage from 20 to 10 years,and removing the requirement that their primary-site colorectal diagnosis must be made before the age of 61,requiring properly fitting personal protective equipment for women on construction sites and requiring clean bathrooms on job sites. [20]
Working for Workers Seven
Following a PC re-election in the 2025 Provincial Election,Piccini introduced Working for Workers Seven Act,2025. [21] This iteration of Ontario's Working for Workers series had a clear focus on protecting workers against economic threats brought upon by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs against Canadian goods. [21]
The legislation set out to create safer workplaces for stronger workers by requiring defibrillators on certain construction projects,fight worker abuse by cracking down on bad actor employers and streamlining the permitting process for the construction of training centres. [21]
Skills Development Fund
Under the leadership of Premier Ford,Ontario's Skills Development Fund (SDF) is a cornerstone of the PC government and the Ministry of Labour,Immigration,Training and Skills Development's mandate,with the intent to train workers for the jobs needed to build Ontario. Piccini announced in July 2024 that the Ontario government would be investing an additional $260 million through the Training Stream's fifth round,the largest investment in the fund at the time since it's launch in 2021. [22]
During the 2025 provincial election,the Ontario PCs announced they would,if re-elected,invest an additional $1 billion to the fund over the next three years,bringing the total to nearly $2.5 billion. In May 2025,Premier Ford and Piccini announced this funding in an effort to protect Ontario workers facing the looming economic threat of U.S. tariffs. [23]
Political Record
As a member of the Conservative Party of Canada,Piccini finished third while running in the 2015 Federal election for Ottawa-Vanier.
In 2018,Piccini ran in the Ontario provincial election and was elected under the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. He was subsequently re-elected in both the 2022 and 2025 provincial elections. Piccini was instrumental in the Progressive Conservative victory in the 2025 provincial election,helping to secure 21 worker's union endorsement. The PCs received more union endorsements than any other party and a first-ever PC endorsement by hospitality union UNITE HERE! Local 75,all evidence of the strong relationships and trust Piccini and Premier Doug Ford have built with workers and employers.
He is a proud representative of Northumberland-Peterborough South,advocating and delivering on many initiatives for his communities,like a new school in Newcastle [24] and a new Campbellford Memorial Hospital [25] in Northumberland County.
Piccini is also a strong advocate for the Jewish community in Ontario. In August 2024,he confronted Fred Hahn,the President of CUPE Ontario,and told Hahn "you have to stop hating Jews." [26] Piccini was praised for that by,among others,former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole,psychologist and author Jordan Peterson,and Conservative MPs Michelle Rempel Garner and Melissa Lantsman. [27]
