Summary#

Bill 84, the Fewer Fees, Better Services Act, 2022, enacted two new Acts and amended nine others. Its stated goals include improving government service and supporting Ontario businesses; those are goals, not guaranteed results. The bill received Royal Assent and became Chapter 2 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2022, but some schedules require a later proclamation to come into force.

• Ministries and prescribed entities must follow service standards that apply to them. If regulations make compensation available for missing a guaranteed standard, they must pay it, up to the fee paid.
• Public-sector entities must give Ontario businesses preference in certain procurements. Regulations will set which businesses, goods and services, and spending thresholds are covered.
• Child-welfare societies and prescribed service providers must give certain First Nations, Inuit and Métis children information about services and, if requested, take prescribed steps to help them access those services. The Minister may designate prevention-focused Indigenous service providers.
• Under specified conditions, customary care is treated as outside the residential-care licensing rules in Part IX of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017; licensees caring for children in that customary care are exempt from those rules, subject to regulations.
• The Minister of Infrastructure must establish a centre of realty excellence inside the ministry to coordinate identifying underused government property for productive use and identifying government property for disposal.
• The Act also allows refunds or waivers of certain vehicle-permit validation fees, reduces Laurentian University’s board to 16 members, and gives police specified inspection and investigation powers under liquor laws. Other schedules make changes to budget timing, Highway 407 East’s legal definition, towing-appeal rights and mining rules.

What it means for you#

• People seeking government services: If a service standard applies, the ministry or prescribed entity must meet it. A refund or compensation is not automatic: it is available only if regulations provide for it and their conditions are met. The bill caps compensation at the fee, if any, for the service.
• Ontario businesses and public-sector buyers: Covered public-sector entities must give Ontario businesses preference in covered procurements. The bill leaves the definition of an Ontario business and the details of the preference to regulations.
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and families: Societies and prescribed service providers must seek and provide information about eligible prevention services and, where applicable, community services. If the child or prescribed person wants a listed service, providers must take prescribed steps to enable access. A supportive circle must be established if requested, at prescribed times and in prescribed circumstances.
• Children in customary care: The licensing exemption applies only when the conditions set in the Act and regulations are met. The bill does not remove every requirement that may apply to customary care.
• Laurentian University: Its board is set at 16 members: 10 elected by the board, five appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, and the university president.
• Drivers: The Minister may refund or waive eligible vehicle-permit validation fees for periods on or after March 1, 2020. The Minister may seek repayment if a refund was wrongly received.
• General public: The centre of realty excellence is a ministry office, not a new independent agency. The bill does not itself require the sale of any particular property.
• People challenging towing-related decisions: The bill adds the towing and storage law to the list of matters for which a party may appeal a Licence Appeal Tribunal decision or order to Divisional Court.
• People and businesses affected by liquor-law inspections or investigations: Police officers gain specified inspection and investigator powers under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019.
• Other changes: The 2022–23 budget deadline was changed to April 30, 2022; the new deadline has passed. The Highway 407 East definition change is set to start June 1, 2023. The supplied material does not explain the practical effect of the definition change or the mining amendments.

Money#

No publicly available information on the bill’s total public cost is included in the supplied material.

• The bill requires ministries or prescribed entities to pay compensation when regulations make it available for a missed guaranteed service standard. The amount cannot exceed the applicable fee.
• The Minister may refund or waive prescribed vehicle-permit validation fees; the amount and eligible groups depend on regulations.
• The infrastructure centre must be established, but the bill gives no staffing or cost estimate.
• No cost estimate is provided for procurement changes or the child and family service duties.

What is unclear#

• The bill leaves key details of service standards, guaranteed standards, compensation eligibility and procedures to regulations. It also limits other remedies for failures under the At Your Service Act.
• Procurement regulations will determine which businesses qualify, which purchases are covered, the threshold amounts, how preference works, and any exemptions.
• The child and family service rules depend on regulations, including who counts as a prescribed person or provider, the required steps to connect children with services, and how supportive circles operate.
• The conditions for customary care agreements, community declarations and licensing exemptions are not fully set out in the bill.
• The bill requires proclamations for several schedules, including the procurement law, child-welfare changes, Laurentian board changes and realty centre. The supplied material does not say when those provisions were proclaimed or whether all are now in force.
• The parent Acts were not supplied, so the full current-law context and the practical effects of the Highway 407 East definition and mining changes could not be verified.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to make some government services more predictable by requiring applicable service standards and public reporting on compliance.
• A possible argument for procurement preferences is that they can direct some public purchasing toward Ontario businesses, while regulations can set limits and exemptions.
• Requiring child-welfare providers to share information and help connect Indigenous children with services could make those services easier to find and access.
• A central ministry office for government property could support a coordinated approach to putting underused property to use and identifying property no longer needed.

Case against#

• Many important details are left to regulations, so the bill itself does not show how broad the procurement preference, compensation rules or child-service duties will be.
• The service-standard law limits remedies: compensation is conditional and capped at the fee, and the Act bars other remedies for failures under it.
• The customary-care exemption removes some licensing requirements in qualifying cases. The bill’s effect will depend on conditions and safeguards set through regulations.
• The bill gives police additional liquor-law inspection and investigation powers, but the supplied material does not explain how those powers will be used in practice.
• The bill requires new duties and an internal government office without giving cost estimates.