Bill 193 explained in plain English
Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2020
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 Ontario Minister of Health to develop a strategic action plan to prepare health systems for climate crisis impacts, establish a secretariat and science advisory board, and review the plan every four years.
Bill 193, the Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2020, aims to prepare Ontario's health systems for the impacts of the climate crisis. It requires the Minister of Health to create a strategic action plan, establish a Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat, and set up a science advisory board. The action plan must be reviewed and updated at least every four years. The bill specifies details about the content of the action plan, the functions of the Secretariat and the advisory board, and consultation requirements. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Requires the Minister of Health to develop and publish a strategic action plan to prepare Ontario's public health and health care systems for health risks caused by the climate crisis.
- Requires the establishment of the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat to help the Minister develop, revise, and implement the action plan.
- Requires the establishment of a science advisory board composed of public health professionals and climate scientists to advise the Minister on climate change and health science related to the climate crisis.
- Mandates that the strategic action plan be reviewed and updated at least every four years.
- Specifies the required contents of the strategic action plan, including identifying health risks, vulnerable populations, communication strategies, research programs, existing strategies, infrastructure priorities, funding guidance, modeling tools, and support for centres of excellence.
- Requires the action plan to include systems for monitoring and responding to the health impacts of the climate crisis, such as infectious diseases, extreme temperatures, air and water quality, mental health, and food insecurity.
- Defines the functions of the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat, including assisting with the action plan, gathering and disseminating information, tracking data, expanding modeling capacity, conducting research, identifying at-risk groups, communicating risks, developing partnerships, providing technical assistance to municipalities and Indigenous communities, developing response plans, and creating training programs.
- Outlines the functions of the science advisory board, which include providing scientific and technical advice on health impacts and strategies, and advising on scientific developments for the action plan.
- Requires the Minister to consult with various individuals and organizations when developing or revising the action plan, including other government ministers, Indigenous communities, municipalities, scientists, at-risk communities, and healthcare professional organizations.
- Empowers the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations to carry out the Act's intent and purpose, including those governing the action plan's implementation, prescribing matters for monitoring, and governing the science advisory board's procedures.
- The Minister of Health
- The public in Ontario
- Public health organizations
- Health care facilities
- Health professionals
- Municipalities
- First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities
- Scientific community
- Representatives of communities at risk of negative health outcomes
- Organizations representing healthcare professionals and providers
- The Minister has the obligation to develop and publish a strategic action plan within two years of Royal Assent.
- The Minister has the obligation to establish the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat and a science advisory board.
- The strategic action plan must be reviewed and potentially updated at least every four years.
- The Minister must consult with specified groups when developing or revising the action plan.
- The Secretariat has obligations to assist the Minister, gather and disseminate information, track data, conduct research, communicate risks, develop partnerships, and provide technical assistance.
- The science advisory board has the obligation to provide scientific and technical advice to the Minister.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The strategic action plan must be developed and published on or before the second anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The strategic action plan must be reviewed on or before the fourth anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent and every four years thereafter.
- The Act requires the strategic action plan to include provisions for providing funding and guidance to public health units and health care facilities.
- The Act may lead to the establishment of government programs that aim to advance research on the impacts of the climate crisis on health, which could have financial implications.
- The bill does not specify any penalties or enforcement mechanisms for non-compliance by individuals or organizations, beyond the Minister's duties.
- The specific functions assigned to the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat by the Act are outlined, but the bill notes that the Minister or the Environment Minister can assign any other function they consider advisable.
- The Act allows the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out the intent and purpose of the Act, meaning further details may be prescribed by regulation.
- The precise composition of the science advisory board beyond the minimum and maximum number of members and general expertise is not detailed.
- The bill does not specify the exact budget or staffing for the Secretariat or the advisory board.
This is a new Act that establishes requirements for a strategic action plan, a secretariat, and a science advisory board related to the health impacts of the climate crisis.
Source: Bill 193, Explanatory Note; Section 9
Adds new duties for the Minister of Health related to developing and overseeing a climate crisis health action plan, establishing related bodies, and regular reviews of the plan.
Source: Section 2
Allows for the assignment of the administration of this Act to a member of the Executive Council other than the Minister of Health.
Source: Section 1
Allows for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (or their delegate) to be assigned responsibility for certain aspects related to the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat's functions.
Source: Section 4(2)
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
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