Summary#

Bill 227, the Cutting Red Tape, Building Ontario Act, 2024, is an enacted law that amends many existing Ontario laws and repeals the University Health Network Act, 1997. Its stated goal is to reduce red tape and support better services and a stronger economy; that goal is not a guaranteed result.

• Courts and tribunals: The Attorney General may make, change or repeal civil and family court rules after consulting specified judges and committee members. The Attorney General’s rules prevail if they conflict with committee rules. Tribunal chairs gain powers to set deadlines and, in some cases, assign a new panel.
• Schools and northern local services boards: School boards may appoint “system principals” to lead work across multiple schools and manage employees; the Labour Relations Act, 1995 will not apply to them. Local Services Boards get longer member terms, new meeting-closure rules and Ombudsman investigations of certain closed meetings.
• Homebuilding and farm equipment dealerships: The Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Corporation may make by-laws requiring certain purchasers or landowners to report agreements, and setting compensation rules. Farm equipment dealership agreements continue in some disputes over termination or non-renewal.
• Property, land and infrastructure: New approval requirements limit when several named provincial bodies may acquire or dispose of freehold land. The law also allows regulations to restrict filing some site-condition records and changes rules for expropriation notices and land-title claims.
• Other changes: The law allows forgiveness of some old election-finance debts, makes certain family-arbitration support awards enforceable like court orders, adds a year of birth to jury-source lists, and changes requirements for tribunal hearings, tenant documents and professional-association reports.

What it means for you#

• Taxpayers and public bodies: This is mainly a set of changes to government powers, rules and procedures, not a new front-line service or general benefit.
• People in civil or family cases: The Attorney General may make or change court rules after consultation. A family-arbitration award requiring support or maintenance can be filed for enforcement like a court order. Filing does not remove a party’s right to ask a court to set the award aside.
• Tenants and landlords: An error in a form, notice or document can still count as substantial compliance if it does not significantly prejudice a party’s ability to take part in a proceeding. The bill does not say every error will be excused.
• School-board employees: A system principal may lead or support work across multiple schools, manage one or more board employees, and do other assigned or prescribed duties. The bill does not set out detailed employment terms.
• Farm equipment dealers and distributors: Ontario law and Ontario forums cannot be excluded by a dealership agreement for claims covered by the Act. In certain termination or non-renewal disputes, the agreement continues until a tribunal decision or 30 days after termination or expiry. Exceptions include written consent and specified insolvency or winding-up situations.
• People using northern local services: A person may ask the Ombudsman to investigate whether a Local Services Board wrongly closed a meeting. If the Ombudsman reports a concern, the Board must say by resolution how it intends to address it. Some meeting topics must be discussed in closed session; others may be.
• People called for jury service: The Health Minister must provide each eligible person’s year of birth as well as name and address for jury selection. The Jury Sheriff must use the information only to create the jury roll, keep it secure and not disclose it unless required by law.
• Businesses, property owners and public agencies: The bill creates powers for future rules that may affect site-condition filings, home-warranty compensation, expropriation notices and mining application timelines. It does not itself set all those rules or timelines.

Money#

No publicly available information on the bill’s total cost or expected savings.

• Local Services Boards must pay for an annual review of their financial statements; the Minister may also require an audit at the Board’s expense.
• Members of the public may request paper or other-format copies of architects’ and engineers’ annual reports at cost.
• The Chief Electoral Officer may forgive certain amounts owed from before 2017. The amount of any debt that may be forgiven is not stated.
• The bill creates or changes duties and powers involving staff, reporting and administration, but the materials give no cost estimates.

What is unclear#

• Some changes start only on a day set by proclamation. The materials do not say whether or when those provisions have been proclaimed into force.
• Future regulations and by-laws will set important details, including some home-warranty notice requirements and compensation limits, expropriation publication methods, and possible restrictions on filing site-condition records.
• The bill does not set mining service standards; it allows the Minister to make regulations about them.
• The meaning of “significantly prejudice” in the tenant-document rule is not further explained.
• The materials do not give the expected number of system principals, their employment terms, or the cost of adding or supporting those roles.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the bill is that it gives government and agencies more ways to simplify procedures, set service standards and adapt rules.
• Allowing support awards from family arbitration to be enforced like court orders may make enforcement more direct for people entitled to support.
• Keeping some dealership agreements in place while a termination dispute is decided may protect continuity during the dispute.
• Clearer rules for closed meetings, public reports and jury-list security may improve accountability and protect personal information.

Case against#

• The Attorney General’s court-rule powers may concentrate decision-making in a minister, even though consultation is required and rules committees retain their powers.
• Some important details are left to future regulations or by-laws, including home-warranty reporting and compensation. People cannot tell from this Act alone exactly how those rules will work.
• Some public agencies need approval before acquiring or disposing of land. This may add decision steps; the bill does not explain how quickly approvals will be handled.
• Tribunal chairs may set deadlines and replace panels in certain cases. The bill does not set a single deadline or explain how often a hearing might need to be repeated.