Bill 165 explained in plain English
Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector 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 mandates the creation of an Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from public sector operations.
Bill 165, the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector Act, 2019, requires the Ontario government to create a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption in the public sector. The strategy will set goals for capping and reducing emissions from public sector facilities and vehicles, and require new facilities to have significantly lower energy consumption, eventually reaching net zero. It also mandates the development of purchasing guidelines to favour environmentally friendly options and requires the responsible Minister to report on energy consumption, with audits. The Act comes into force upon receiving Royal Assent.
- Requires the Lieutenant Governor in Council to establish the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector.
- Sets a deadline for establishing the Strategy, which is one year after the Act receives Royal Assent.
- Specifies that the Strategy must take effect no later than one year after the Act receives Royal Assent.
- Requires the Strategy to include goals for capping greenhouse gas emissions from public sector facilities and vehicles within 12 months of the Strategy taking effect.
- Requires the Strategy to set a goal for annually reducing these emissions by at least 5 per cent until net zero is reached.
- Mandates that the Strategy include goals for reducing energy consumption in new public sector facilities, with specific targets for facilities starting construction on or after the second and fifth anniversaries of the Act receiving Royal Assent.
- Requires the Strategy to outline initiatives for retrofitting public sector facilities and making public sector vehicles more environmentally friendly.
- Requires the Strategy to include purchasing guidelines that promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in public sector procurement.
- Specifies that proposals for public sector purchases that result in more than a certain percentage of greenhouse gas emissions compared to other proposals may be disqualified.
- Allows for other goals and initiatives to be prescribed by regulations.
- Requires the Minister responsible to prepare and make public reports on public sector energy consumption, reductions, and new or retrofitted facilities.
- Requires these reports to be audited according to regulations.
- States that Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to the Strategy.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council
- The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act
- The public sector (as defined by the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996)
- Manufacturers and providers of goods and services to the public sector
- Owners and operators of public sector facilities
- Operators of public sector vehicles
- The obligation to establish the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector.
- The obligation to set specific goals for capping and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from public sector activities.
- The obligation to set goals for reducing energy consumption in new public sector facilities.
- The obligation to develop and implement programs and purchasing guidelines to support climate action.
- The obligation for the Minister to report on energy consumption and reductions.
- The right for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations to carry out the Act's purposes.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Strategy must be established on or before the first anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The Strategy must take effect no later than one year after the Act receives Royal Assent.
- Greenhouse gas emissions from public sector activities must be capped within 12 months after the Strategy takes effect.
- Construction of new facilities with at least 50 per cent less energy consumption than average comparable private sector facilities must commence on or after the second anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- Construction of new facilities with zero net energy consumption must commence on or after the fifth anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The Act may lead to increased costs for retrofitting public sector facilities and making vehicles more environmentally friendly.
- Purchasing guidelines may influence the cost of goods and services procured by the public sector.
- The bill does not specify penalties for non-compliance.
- The specific definition of 'average comparable new private sector facility' is not provided and will be determined by regulations.
- The exact percentage for disqualifying proposals based on greenhouse gas emissions is not set and will be determined by regulations, although it cannot exceed 10 per cent.
- Details regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the strategy and its reporting and auditing requirements will be further defined by regulations.
- The bill does not specify penalties for non-compliance.
Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006, does not apply to the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector.
Source: Section 2 (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.
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Vote Summary
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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.
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