Oct 2022 Charity & NFP Law Update
Ontario Bill 7, More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022
Amendments to Ontario’s Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 (the “LTC Act”) have been made through Bill 7, More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022, which received Royal Assent on August 31, 2022 and was proclaimed into force on September 21, 2022. Broadly speaking, the LTC Act sets out a foundation to regulate long-term care homes in the province.
Bill 7 amends both the LTC Act and the Health Care Consent Act to authorize certain actions to be carried out without the consent of alternate level of care patients (“ALC patients”), i.e. those who, in a clinician’s opinion, do not “require the intensity of resources or services provided in the hospital care setting.” More specifically, these actions include the determination of ALC Patients’ eligibility for long-term care home residence by a placement coordinator, who would select a home for the ALC Patient and authorize their admission to the home. Notwithstanding the above, reasonable efforts must be made to obtain an ALC Patient’s consent prior to the placement coordinator acting on their behalf without consent.
Amending Ontario Regulation 16 of the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act
The Government of Ontario is seeking comments on proposed amendments to Regulation 16 of the Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act. The proposed amendments would reduce the minimum member thresholds required for societies to qualify for an annual grant of $5,000 administered by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). To qualify for the grant, the government is proposing to reduce the member threshold of Agricultural Societies from 60 to 40 members, and from 50 to 30 members for Horticultural Societies, except in territorial districts, where it would be reduced from 25 to 15 members. Comments should be provided no later than November 21, 2022.
Alberta Bill C-12, Trustee Act Receives In-Force Date
Alberta’s new Trustee Act has now been proclaimed to be brought into force on February 1, 2023, according to the province’s Order in Council 339/2022, which was ordered on September 27, 2022. As reported in the May 2022 Charity & NFP Law Update, draft legislation had been proposed through Bill C-12, Trustee Act to replace Alberta’s current Trustee Act. The new Act clarifies the powers of trustees and the rules around trust property investment, and proposes a new standard of care for professional and institutional trustees.
Of particular note for charities, a new Part 7 has been included to specifically address charitable trusts and the court’s power to vary the trust or order sale of charitable trust property. In this regard, Part 7 allows the court, in certain circumstances upon application of trustees, to vary the trust instrument even where “an impracticability, impossibility or other difficulty hinders or prevents giving effect to the terms of the trust” or where a variation would facilitate the carrying out of the settlor’s general or specific charitable intent. It also permits courts to order a power of sale of charitable trust property where “it may no longer be used advantageously for the charitable purpose or should for any other reason be sold”, and to give directions concerning the conduct of the sale and the application of the proceeds of sale. The provisions for variation and power of sale prevail over contrary provisions in trust instruments.