Bill 154, Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape, 2017
Bill 154, Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Act, 2017 (“Bill 154”), received first reading in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on September 14, 2017. Bill 154 introduces changes to the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (“ONCA”) substantially similar to those contained in Bill 85, Companies Statute Law Amendment Act, 2014, along with additional proposed amendments. Charity Law Bulletin No. 315 covered Bill 85 soon after it was first introduced on June 5, 2013, before it died on the order paper upon the dissolution of the Provincial Parliament on May 2, 2014. Bill 154 proposes to amend, repeal and enact a number of other acts which will impact charities and not-for-profits in Ontario, namely: amendments to the Corporations Act intended to enable the future proclamation of the ONCA, discussed in Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 406, below, as well as amendments to the Charities Accounting Act permitting “social investments”, discussed in separate Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 407, below. A description of the amendments to the ONCA being proposed by Bill 154 will be discussed in an upcoming Charity & NFP Law Bulletin.
Bill 149, Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions Act, 2017
On September 14, 2017, Bill 149, an Act to establish the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. Bill 149 proposes to establish a new Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions (“Ministry”), provide for the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions (“Minister”) to preside over the Ministry and assign the duties and functions of the Minister, including: improving access to mental health and addiction support services, being responsible for and leading the development of the mental health and addictions system, developing a wait times strategy, and working in partnership with organizations, communities and stakeholder to respond to public health emergencies, such as the “emergency of opioid addiction and overdose fatalities”.
Proposed Amendments to Regulation 79/10 under Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (“MHLTC”) is proposing amendments to Regulation 79/10 of the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 (“LTCHA”). Between September 11, 2017 and October 26, 2017, the MHLTC is accepting comments from the public regarding the proposed amendments, which, if approved, would come into force on January 1, 2018. The amendments would allow the Director under the LTCHA (the “Director”) to designate “reunification priority access beds” that would help to reunite spouses and partners who have been separated. Long-term care homes would be required to keep separate waiting lists for the designated beds and to admit qualified applicants in order of priority as set out in the draft Regulations. The draft Regulations also require the Minister or the Director to disclose personal information to a health regulatory college and the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers where required for the administration or enforcement of various statutes including the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998.
Proposed Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations under PIPEDA
A draft Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations (“Draft Regulations”) under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on September 2, 2017. The Draft Regulations will be open for comments for a period of 30 days from its publication, until October 2, 2017. Among other proposed changes, the Draft Regulations support Division 1.1 of PIPEDA, which, when it comes into force, will establish mandatory reporting of data breaches that pose a “real risk of significant harm” to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) as well as mandatory notification of individuals affected by such data breaches. For more information, see Proposed Breach of Security Safeguards Regulations under PIPEDA below.