Bill 61 explained in plain English
Ontario's Wood First Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Ontario's Wood First Act, 2012, promotes wood as a primary building material in provincially funded buildings and amends the Building Code Act, 1992, to permit wood frame construction for buildings up to six storeys.
This bill enacts the Ontario's Wood First Act, 2012, which aims to promote the use of wood in building construction. It also amends the Building Code Act, 1992, to allow for wood frame construction in buildings up to six storeys high, with certain conditions. The Act specifies that provincially funded buildings must use wood as the primary building material, provided it is permitted by the Building Code Act, 1992, and subject to any exceptions defined in regulations. The Minister is given powers to promote wood use, such as recommending best practices and advising on agreements. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to make regulations for the Act's implementation.
- Enacts the Ontario's Wood First Act, 2012.
- Amends the Building Code Act, 1992.
- Requires that wood be the primary building material for provincially funded buildings, if permitted by the Building Code Act, 1992.
- Allows the building code to permit wood frame construction for buildings up to six storeys in height.
- Grants the Minister powers to promote the use of wood in building construction.
- Authorizes the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations related to the Act.
- Government of Ontario (as a funder of buildings)
- Recipients of provincial funding for buildings
- Ministers (specifically the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing or assigned delegate)
- Builders and designers of provincially funded buildings
- Construction industry
- Municipalities (in relation to unconditional grants)
- It is a condition of provincial funding for a building that wood be the primary building material, if permitted by the Building Code Act, 1992.
- Recipients of provincial funding must submit a report demonstrating wood was used as the primary building material.
- The building code must allow buildings of six storeys or less to be of wood frame construction.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- The bill does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms.
- The Building Code Act, 1992, may impose requirements or prohibit certain wood frame buildings, which could imply enforcement related to the code itself.
- The definitions of 'design' and 'primary building material' are not provided in the bill text itself but are to be prescribed by regulations.
- Exceptions to the requirement for wood as the primary building material will be prescribed by regulations.
- The specific powers of the Minister beyond recommending best practices and advising on agreements are to be prescribed by regulations.
- The details regarding the reporting requirements (content, time, form, manner) are to be prescribed by regulations.
- The bill does not specify the exact date of commencement, only that it will be proclaimed.
This new Act establishes rules and powers related to the use of wood as a primary building material in provincially funded buildings.
Source: Section 2
This Act amends the Building Code Act, 1992, to allow buildings of six storeys or less to be of wood frame construction.
Source: Section 6
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced