As previously reported, the amendments were outlined in Bill 21, New Retirement Homes Act, 2010, legislation introduced on March 30, 2010 providing legislative protection for seniors living in retirement homes.

O. Reg. 387/11 and parallel amendments to the Act will expand the ability of such nurses to provide and communicate a medical diagnosis to patients or their representatives, and permit them to perform certain medical procedures, including:

• procedures below the dermis or mucous membranes;
• prescribing, dispensing, compounding or selling a drug;
• setting or casting a fracture of a bone or dislocation of a joint; and
• the administration of a substance by injection or inhalation.

O. Reg. 387/11, and the amendments to the Act outlined in 18(7) of the Regulated Health Professions Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009, come into force on October 1, 2011.

As previously reported, Bill 21 provides legislative protection for seniors living in retirement homes.

As previously reported, Bill 140 carried at Third Reading after being reported with amendments by the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on April 19, 2011. When proclaimed in force, Bill 140 will repeal the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 and enact the Housing Services Act, 2010. 

The Bill should be consulted for coming into force information.

When proclaimed in force, Bill 140 will repeal the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 and enact the Housing Services Act, 2010. As previously reported, the legislation relates to the provision of housing and homelessness services under provincial oversight.

The Bill should be consulted for coming into force information.

Bill 140 would, if passed, repeal the Social Housing Reform Act, 2000 and enact the Housing Services Act, 2010. The legislation relates to the provision of housing and homelessness services under provincial oversight. Among other measures, the proposed legislation:

• sets out defined matters of “provincial interest” relating to housing and homelessness services and provides for Ministerial policy statements on such matters;
• requires prescribed housing and homelessness plans to address the matters of provincial interest and be consistent with the Ministerial policy statements;
• provides for the designation of “service managers” (i.e. a municipality or a district social services administration board) and their service areas by regulation;
• sets out the general powers and duties of service managers, including reporting to the Minister and public; and
• sets out the rules governing the operation of defined “local housing corporations”.

With respect to rent-geared-to-income assistance, Bill 140 provides for the recovery of assistance for which a household was not entitled, as well as the designation of eligibility review officers and family support workers.

In addition, Bill 140 provides general rules for transferred housing programs and projects; outlines the duties of a service manager with respect to designated housing projects; and provides for records, audits or investigations and notices to the Minister if certain designated housing projects are in difficulty.

With respect to enforcement, Bill 140 permits the appointment a person to conduct an audit or investigation of a housing provider, as well as prescribed “triggering events” including:

• contravention of the Act or its regulations;
• bankruptcy or insolvency of the housing provider;
• the cessation or threatened cessation to carry on business in the normal course;
• the incursion of an expenditure that is substantial and excessive, having regard to the normal practices of similar housing providers;
• the incursion of a deficit or accumulated deficit if the deficit or accumulated deficit is substantial and excessive, having regard to the normal practices of similar housing providers; or
• failure to operate a designated housing project properly, having regard to the normal practices of similar housing providers.

Bill 140 was introduced at First Reading on November 29, 2010.

O. Reg. 26/11 (Community Care Access Corporations) prescribes a new “charitable object” for the purposes of section 5 of the Act, adding supportive housing programs that provide personal support and homemaking services to certain persons requiring 24-hour care, which are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care or by a local health integration network.

The amendments outlined in O. Reg. 26/11 come into force on April 1, 2011.

In part, the regulations would define “retirement home” for the purposes of the Act as a facility with a minimum of six qualifying residents, excluding the premises or parts of premises used to deliver certain programs for which there is already oversight (i.e. residential treatment programs or supportive housing programs under the Home Care and Community Services Act, 1994, Local Health System Integration Act, 2006 and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act, 1990).

In addition, the regulations would outline retirement home licensing and complaints procedures, care and safety standards and resident rights and protections.

As previously reported, the Act received Royal Assent on June 8, 2010 and provides legislative protection for seniors living in retirement homes. Parts III to IX of the Act come into force on a date to be named by Proclamation.

The proposed regulations follow a consultation period with various stakeholders and experts, including municipalities and operators.

Interested persons may comment on the proposed regulations before April 8, 2011.

The government first announced that it would consider providing solvency funding relief for university pension plans on August 5, 2010 (which was consistent with the 2010 Budget announcement that solvency funding relief may be provided to BPS employers). The goal of the solvency funding relief is to support sustainable public sector and BPS defined benefit or hybrid pension plans, including Ontario university pension plans.

Under the proposed relief, eligible plans may receive solvency funding relief in two stages. During Stage 1, plans will not be required to make solvency payments for a three year period while considering the necessary changes to make their pension plans sustainable. If the government is satisfied with the progress a plan is making in meeting certain “savings targets”, it will be eligible for Stage 2 relief, during which any solvency deficiency (that exists after the end of the three year period) will be amortized over 10 years.

Plans with actuarial valuation reports dated in 2010 will be required to file an application by March 23, 2011 in order to be eligible to enter Stage 1 of the relief. More deadlines will be announced in the future for plans with valuation reports dated in 2011 or 2012. The government has proposed amending the Pension Benefits Act regulations to provide an extension to the filing deadline for any plans that must file their actuarial valuation reports before April 30, 2011.

The government is also seeking comments on the proposed details by March 28, 2011. An FTR Now discussing these complex proposals will be available shortly on our website.

For a detailed discussion of Bill 46 and how it may impact your organization, see our FTR Now of May 5, 2010.

• the amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act ("FIPPA"), which come into force on January 1, 2012; and
• sections 5 to 16, dealing with the reporting of consultants and expense claims, procurement standards and compliance reports, which will come into force on April 1, 2011.

For more detailed information about the Bill, please read our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government Introduces Public Sector Accountability Legislation".

More information about the extension of FIPPA to hospitals is available in our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government to Bring Hospitals Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act".

As previously reported, the Bill passed at Third Reading on December 2, 2010 after being amended by the Standing Committee on Social Policy under an accelerated schedule for consideration and debate.

The Bill will come into force on a date to be named by proclamation, with the exception of the amendments to FIPPA, which will come into force on January 1, 2012.

For more detailed information about the Bill, please read our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government Introduces Public Sector Accountability Legislation".

More information about the extension of FIPPA to hospitals is available in our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government to Bring Hospitals Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act".

• O. Reg. 444/10 (Executives), defining public hospital executives for the purposes of section 1 of the Act to include certain members of senior management, chiefs of staff of the hospital and the chief nursing executive of the hospital as defined in Regulation 965 (Hospital Management) under the Public Hospitals Act; and
• O. Reg. 445/10 (General), setting out the rules applicable to the composition of Quality Committees, and the composition and powers of the Ontario Health Quality Councils and their members. In part, the regulation expressly addresses the Councils’ power to collect “de-identified personal health information” for the purposes of carrying out their functions and making their reports.

In addition, the government filed a supporting hospital management regulation under the Public Hospitals Act. O. Reg. 448/10 amends Regulation 965, identifying additional members of the hospital board and setting out its various reporting obligations under the Act.

As previously reported, the Bill was amended by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and ordered for Third Reading on November 30, 2010 under an accelerated schedule for consideration and debate.

The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent shortly and will come into force on a date to be named by proclamation, with the exception of the amendments to FIPPA, which will come into force on January 1, 2012.

For more detailed information about the Bill, please read our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government Introduces Public Sector Accountability Legislation".

More information about the extension of FIPPA to hospitals is available in our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government to Bring Hospitals Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act".

The Committee amendments include:

• an express protection against the disclosure of information protected by solicitor-client privilege, litigation privilege or settlement privilege; and
• an express obligation for hospitals and local health integration networks to post compliance attestations publicly on their websites.

The Bill is expected to be debated at Third Reading on December 1, 2010, and to pass shortly thereafter.

For more detailed information about the Bill, please read our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government Introduces Public Sector Accountability Legislation".

More information about the extension of FIPPA to hospitals is available in our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government to Bring Hospitals Under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act".

The terms of the motion require the Committee to report the Bill to the House as amended no later than November 30, 2010. On that date, the Bill may be ordered for Third Reading, with no more than one (1) hour of debate. It is therefore likely to pass in early December.

As previously reported, Bill 122 would impose new rules and higher accountability standards for the broader public sector around the use of external lobbyists, consultants and expenses.

For more detailed information about the Bill, please read our FTR Now of November 5, 2010, "Government Introduces Public Sector Accountability Legislation".

The proposed legislation would apply to hospitals and Local Health Integration Networks ("LHINs"), as well as school boards, colleges, universities, hydro entities, community care access centres, Children's Aid Societies and other public sector organizations that receive more than $10 million in government funding.

Specifically, the legislation would, if passed:

• include strict compliance provisions that may impact hospital and LHIN executives' compensation;
• expand freedom of information legislation to cover hospitals;
• require hospitals and LHINs to post expenses of senior executives online; and
• require hospitals and LHINs to report annually on their use of consultants.

O. Reg. 299/10 establishes comprehensive quality assurance measures for defined service agencies. These measures specifically relate to human resources practices, such as orientation and training of employees and volunteers and police records checks, among other matters.

The regulation and parts of the Act come into force on January 1, 2011, with certain exceptions.

More information about the Act can be found on the government’s website.

As previously reported, the Act makes health care providers and executives accountable for improving patient care and enhance the patient experience. Although aimed at the hospital sector specifically, the Ontario government has indicated that following an assessment of its impact, these requirements may be extended to other health sectors as well.

For a detailed discussion of Bill 46 and how it may impact your organization, see our FTR Now of May 5, 2010.