Summary#

Bill 213, the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020, is an omnibus law that amends or repeals parts of many Ontario laws. It was enacted as Chapter 34 of Ontario’s 2020 statutes; some changes require a later proclamation to take effect. Its stated goal is to reduce burdens on people and businesses.

• Private corporations that are not offering corporations may pass some shareholder resolutions in writing, with signatures from holders of at least a majority of the voting shares. They must notify non-signing voting shareholders within 10 business days. The law also removes the requirement that a set share of a corporation’s directors be resident Canadians.
• The law exempts qualifying university land from development charges when development is intended for the university’s use. It also continues three colleges under new university names and changes which degrees some may grant.
• Certain individual and designated pension plans can be exempt from Ontario pension law and oversight. For some existing plans, the employer must file an election and obtain consent from specified people; qualifying new plans are exempt without that election process.
• For bottled-water groundwater permits, a person seeking to take at least 379,000 litres a day in a municipality must first ask its council for a supporting resolution. An objection blocks the permit application unless the council later withdraws it; no resolution within 12 months lets the applicant proceed.
• The law repeals the Public Vehicles Act and the Ontario Highway Transport Board Act, and gives the government new powers to regulate passenger transportation vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act. Those powers include rules on drivers, operators, vehicles, insurance and reporting.
• Other changes include new powers over wildlife licences and forfeited corporate property, a process to reject or remove vexatious property-security registrations, and new rules for preserving and transferring survey records.

What it means for you#

• Shareholders in private corporations: Some decisions that would otherwise be made at a meeting can be made by written resolution signed by the required majority. Non-signing voting shareholders must receive the resolution and an explanation of the business within 10 business days. A company’s articles or unanimous shareholder agreement can require more signatures.
• Universities and municipalities: Qualifying university developments intended for the university’s use are exempt from development charges. This could reduce charges paid for such projects and revenue received by municipalities, but the amount is unknown.
• Pension-plan members and employers: An employer can elect to exempt a qualifying existing individual or designated plan only if the required consents are obtained. The exemption removes Ontario pension-law protections and enforcement powers for matters relating to the plan, including accrued benefits. Qualifying new plans are exempt from establishment, but new members must be connected with the employer under the referenced federal tax rule.
• Bottled-water applicants and local councils: Councils may support or object to a qualifying application. An objection prevents the applicant from applying unless it is withdrawn. If council does not pass a resolution within 12 months, the applicant may proceed. This is a step before applying for a permit, not a guarantee that a permit will be granted.
• Passenger-transport businesses and drivers: The law authorizes regulations setting requirements for vehicles, drivers, operators and insurance, among other matters. It sets fines for breaking certain future regulations, including higher fines for some insurance violations. The Act does not itself set out all the detailed requirements.
• Other affected groups: The Minister may amend wildlife licences without the holder’s consent if the Minister considers it reasonably necessary for conservation or management. The Personal Property Security Act gives the registrar discretion to reject or discharge registrations considered vexatious, with appeals to court. People seeking an eligible change to a spouse’s surname can no longer use the removed election process, but some people who made an election before the change may resume an earlier surname.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The university development-charge exemption may reduce municipal revenue, but no estimate is provided.
• The law lets the Environment Minister make regulations setting fees for copies of ministry records or information, except for access requests under freedom-of-information law. It does not set the fee amounts.
• The law does not estimate costs for new regulatory, staffing or enforcement work.

What is unclear#

• Some provisions take effect only on a date set by proclamation. The supplied material does not establish when all such provisions took effect.
• Rules still to be made could set details for passenger transportation, environmental-document fees and other matters. Their content is not provided.
• The bill does not define “special circumstances” for the Minister’s new mining-claim order power, or “improper purpose” for vexatious registrations.
• The text does not provide a fiscal estimate or explain how agencies will cover any added work.
• The supplied material includes amendment text and explanatory notes, but not the full parent Acts. I could not verify all the prior rules or how every amendment fits with current law.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to remove procedural steps, such as allowing some private corporations to make decisions in writing rather than hold a meeting.
• Giving local councils a formal role before certain large bottled-water applications may give the host municipality a chance to support or object before the permit application proceeds.
• Allowing a registrar to address vexatious registrations could provide a way to challenge registrations alleged to be improper, while retaining court appeals.
• Replacing the Public Vehicles Act with regulation-making powers under the Highway Traffic Act could put rules for passenger transportation in one place.

Case against#

• Some new powers leave important decisions to ministers or officials. The text gives no detailed process for the mining Minister’s “special circumstances” orders or for changing wildlife licences without consent.
• Pension exemptions can remove Ontario legal protections and enforcement powers, including for benefits already accrued. For qualifying new plans, the bill does not require the consent process set out for some existing plans.
• The university development-charge exemption shifts costs away from qualifying universities, but the materials do not say how much revenue municipalities may lose or how that cost would be handled.
• The passenger-transport law allows detailed rules and fines to be set later. Until those rules are made, affected businesses and drivers cannot know the full requirements from this bill alone.