Skip to main content
Back to Bills
OntarioDid Not Pass42nd Parliament, 1st Session

Bill 277 explained in plain English

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Amendment Act (Supporting Individuals in their Homes and Communities with Assistive Devices for Mental Health), 2021

Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
42nd Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill 277
Full title
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Amendment Act (Supporting Individuals in their Homes and Communities with Assistive Devices for Mental Health), 2021
Current status
Did Not Pass
Latest event
Lost on division
Last updated
May 17, 2021

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.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Lost on division
Latest Activity
May 17, 2021
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

Bill 277 amends the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act to require that assistive devices for mental health needs, along with their data plans, be included in the Assistive Devices Program.

What It Means

This bill, titled the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Amendment Act (Supporting Individuals in their Homes and Communities with Assistive Devices for Mental Health), 2021, aims to amend the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act. It intends to ensure that the Assistive Devices Program, or similar programs, include assistive devices for mental health needs. This would also include any necessary data plans to connect these devices.

What This Bill Does
  • It requires the Minister to ensure that the Assistive Devices Program, or any other similar program for providing assistive devices for health needs, includes devices that support individuals with mental health needs.
  • It mandates that any necessary data plans to connect these mental health assistive devices are also included in such programs.
  • It states that the Act comes into force 90 days after receiving Royal Assent.
Who Is Affected
  • Individuals with mental health needs who could benefit from assistive devices.
  • The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.
  • The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • The Minister has the obligation to ensure that assistive devices for mental health needs and their data plans are included in relevant programs.
Important Dates
  • The Act comes into force 90 days after receiving Royal Assent.
Financial Or Tax Impacts
  • The bill mentions a pilot study comparing the cost of a hospital bed for individuals with mental health needs ($454 per day or $165,710 per year) to the cost of providing assistive devices at home ($12,000 per year, including licensing and billing fees). However, it does not specify the financial impact of this bill itself.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The exact definition of 'assistive devices' for mental health needs is not specified in the provided text.
  • The bill does not detail how the Minister will ensure these devices and data plans are included, nor does it outline specific timelines beyond the commencement date.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act
amends

Adds a new subsection to Section 6, requiring the Minister to ensure that assistive devices for mental health needs and their associated data plans are included in the Assistive Devices Program or similar programs.

Source: Section 1

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 text

Process Snapshot

Step 1
First reading
Apr 15, 2021
Step 2
Second reading
May 17, 2021
Step 3
Committee review
Not reached yet
Step 4
Third reading
Not reached yet
Step 5
Royal assent
Not reached yet

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.

Sponsor
Terence Kernaghan
New Democratic Party of Ontario | London North Centre
Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature

No published representative vote breakdown

The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.

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