Summary#

Bill 146, the Building a Strong Ontario Together Act (Budget Measures), 2023, has been enacted as Chapter 21 of Ontario’s 2023 statutes. It amends existing laws and enacts new laws for interim spending authority and vaping-tax coordination. Its stated goal is to implement budget measures; the Act does not guarantee particular results.

• It changes securities and commodity-futures rules, including whistle-blower protections and the application in Ontario of certain orders and settlements from other provinces and territories.
• It expands claims for opioid-related health-care costs and liability to cover consultants, certain active-ingredient makers, and some corporate directors and officers.
• It extends two fuel-tax reductions to June 30, 2024, changes the Ontario Health Premium calculation for some people, and expands a tax credit for certain mineral exploration.
• It authorizes interim spending up to specified limits and allows municipal investment boards to join the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario.
• It changes some construction-bond rules, student-loan collection rules, and access to certified child-support calculation notices.

What it means for you#

• Investors, commodity-market participants, workers and contractors: Securities and commodity-futures whistle-blowers receive protection against reprisals, including possible reinstatement or compensation. Their identity is protected from disclosure in response to a freedom-of-information request. Certain orders and settlements from other Canadian provinces and territories apply in Ontario without prior notice or a hearing; the person affected can ask the Tribunal for clarification. The Tribunal may also make certain Ontario orders without a hearing based on specified court findings, convictions, regulator orders or settlement agreements.
• People and businesses connected to opioid products: Ontario’s health-care-cost claims can include consultants and makers of active ingredients. The federal Crown gets its own claim to recover certain health-care costs incurred in Ontario. Directors and officers may be jointly liable with a corporation for opioid-related costs or damages, but can avoid that liability by proving they lacked knowledge despite reasonable diligence or took reasonable steps to prevent the wrong.
• Taxpayers and drivers: The existing reductions to fuel tax on clear fuel and gasoline are extended to June 30, 2024. The Act does not state the amount of the reductions. For taxation years ending after December 31, 2023, split income is included in the Ontario Health Premium calculation for people to whom the relevant tax rules apply. Certain exploration expenses can qualify for an expanded Ontario tax credit.
• People repaying student loans: If a borrower is in default and the required agreement between ministries is in place, the Minister of Finance may use specified Ministry of Revenue collection measures. The prior notice and ministerial review requirements are removed. The supplied material does not describe the collection measures in detail.
• Public institutions and municipalities: Municipal Investment Boards and Joint Investment Boards become eligible to join the provincial investment corporation. Parents and specified child-support authorities can request certified copies of calculation and recalculation notices.
• General public: The Act does not create a new independent securities regulator or a general new public service. Some provisions have delayed starts set by proclamation; the supplied material gives no proclamation dates.

Money#

The Act authorizes interim spending up to stated limits, extends tax reductions and permits payments under a vaping-tax agreement; it does not provide a full estimate of the Act’s net cost.

• For 2024–25, it authorizes up to $186,796,902,100 for public-service expenses, $5,906,821,600 for investments, and $324,040,100 for Legislative Office expenses, pending the vote on supply. These are spending limits, not proof that all the money will be spent.
• For 2023–24, it authorizes additional amounts of up to $6,503,529,700 for public-service expenses, $1,053,160,900 for investments, and $25,849,500 for Legislative Office expenses.
• The Finance Minister may make vaping-tax agreement payments from money appropriated by the Legislature. No payment estimate is provided.
• No cost or revenue estimate is provided for the fuel-tax extensions, tax changes, staffing, loan collection changes, or other provisions.

What is unclear#

• The parent Acts were not supplied, so their full current wording and how every amendment changes existing practice could not be independently checked.
• Regulations may set bond requirements, rules for distributing disgorged money, and circumstances for deemed prospectus receipts. The supplied material does not give those rules.
• It is unclear when the provisions requiring proclamation will start.
• The material gives no estimate of how many people may qualify for disgorged-money payments, how much they may receive, or how the application process will work.
• The exact effect of the tax changes on individual taxpayers and the amounts involved in the vaping-tax agreement are not stated.

Case for#

• The bill appears intended to make it easier for Ontario’s securities and commodity regulators to act on certain findings and sanctions from elsewhere in Canada.
• Protecting whistle-blowers from disclosure in freedom-of-information responses and reprisals may make it safer to report suspected legal breaches.
• Expanding opioid-related claims may let governments seek recovery of health-care costs from a wider set of parties connected to opioid products.
• Interim appropriations allow government expenses and investments to be paid before the year’s full supply vote, subject to stated limits and later charging to proper appropriations.

Case against#

• Some Ontario securities and commodity orders can take effect without notice or a hearing, and the Act says the resulting automatic orders and clarification orders cannot be appealed under these Acts.
• The Act expands potential liability for companies and individuals, but the supplied material does not explain how the new provisions will be applied in particular cases.
• The spending limits are very large, and the materials do not state how much will actually be spent or the Act’s overall cost.
• Important details depend on future regulations or proclamation dates, so the practical effects of some provisions remain uncertain.