Bill 121 explained in plain English
Municipal Representation and Restructuring Protection Act, 2019
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd 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
This Act requires the Province of Ontario to consult with and obtain approval from municipalities through by-laws before making legislative or regulatory changes to municipal representation or structure.
Bill 121, also known as the Municipal Representation and Restructuring Protection Act, 2019, establishes principles for the relationship between the Province of Ontario and its municipalities. It requires public notice, public consultation, and by-law approval from affected municipalities before the Province can introduce legislation or make regulations that change municipal representation, ward boundaries, or municipal structures. The Act also allows municipal councils to require voter approval for such changes.
- Declares the Province's commitment to a relationship with municipalities based on mutual respect, consultation, and co-operation.
- Prohibits the Province from introducing legislation that changes municipal representation or structure without public notice, public consultation, and municipal by-law approval.
- Prohibits the Province from making regulations that change municipal representation or ward boundaries without public notice, public consultation, and municipal by-law approval.
- Allows municipal councils to require a referendum for by-laws that approve changes to municipal representation or structure.
- Empowers the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations about the process for public notices, consultations, and municipal approvals.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Municipalities in Ontario
- The Province of Ontario
- Members of the Executive Council
- The public in affected municipalities
- Municipal councils
- The Province has an obligation to provide public notice and conduct public consultations before introducing legislation or making regulations that affect municipal representation or structure.
- Municipal councils have the right to approve or reject proposed changes to their representation or structure through by-laws.
- Municipal councils have the right to require voter assent for by-laws approving such changes.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The specific details regarding how public notice and consultations must be carried out (e.g., form, manner, entities to be consulted) are to be defined by regulations made under the Act.
- The text does not specify penalties for non-compliance with the Act's provisions.
The Act references this law in stating the principles of mutual respect, consultation, and co-operation between the Province and municipalities. It also specifies that certain regulations under this Act concerning changes to municipal council composition or ward boundaries cannot be made without prior public notice, consultation, and municipal by-law approval.
Source: Section 1, Section 2(3)
The Act specifies that certain regulations under this law concerning changes to municipal council composition or ward boundaries cannot be made without prior public notice, consultation, and municipal by-law approval.
Source: Section 2(3)
The Act allows municipal councils to require that a by-law approving changes to municipal representation or structure receive the assent of its electors in accordance with this Act.
Source: Section 2(5)
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