Bill 32 explained in plain English
Black Mental Health Day Act, 2022
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd 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
Bill 32 proclaims the first Monday in March as Black Mental Health Day in Ontario and requires health care providers to collect race-based patient data and provide culturally appropriate services.
Bill 32 is a private members' bill that makes three main changes to Ontario law: First, it officially designates the first Monday in March each year as Black Mental Health Day in Ontario. This is meant to raise awareness about the mental health needs of Black communities and acknowledge the impact of anti-Black racism on mental health. Second, it changes the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 to require the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Long-Term Care, Ontario Health, and any organization that receives Ontario government funding to provide health care services to collect information about the race of patients. This data collection is intended to help identify and address racial health inequities. The bill also removes a previous exemption (subsection 6(7)) from this requirement and confirms that data collection standards are expected to include whatever personal information is needed for this purpose. Third, it amends the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act to add a new duty: the Minister must ensure that health services are provided in a culturally appropriate manner. The bill comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Proclaims the first Monday in March in each year as Black Mental Health Day in Ontario
- Requires the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Long-Term Care, Ontario Health, and any person receiving Ontario government funding to provide health care services to collect information relating to the race of patients
- Removes a previous exemption (subsection 6(7)) from the Anti-Racism Act, 2017
- Confirms that data standards and regulations must include personal information necessary for race-based data collection in health care
- Adds a new duty to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Act: to ensure health services are provided in a culturally appropriate manner
- Comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent
- Black Ontarians and other patients in Ontario whose health care is affected by these requirements
- The Ministry of Health
- The Ministry of Long-Term Care
- Ontario Health
- All persons and organizations in Ontario that receive government funding to provide health care services
- Health care providers and professionals in Ontario
- Health authorities, Ontario Health, and funded health care providers must take all reasonable steps to collect information relating to the race of patients in Ontario
- Data standards and regulations are deemed to include any personal information necessary for race-based data collection unless already provided for in existing standards
- The Minister of Health must ensure that health services are provided in a culturally appropriate manner
- Black Ontarians are recognized as having specific mental health needs related to anti-Black racism that require attention
- Black Mental Health Day is the first Monday in March in each year
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent (Royal Assent date is not listed in the provided bill information)
- The bill text does not specify what subsection 6(7) of the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 contained or why it is being repealed
- The bill uses the term 'all reasonable steps' for data collection but does not define what constitutes reasonable steps
- The bill does not specify how the collected race-based data will be used, stored, protected, or reported
- The bill does not specify timelines for implementing data collection or achieving culturally appropriate service delivery
- The bill does not define what 'culturally appropriate manner' means for health service delivery
- The bill does not specify enforcement mechanisms or consequences for failure to comply with these requirements
- The bill status is listed as 'Attempts' — it is unclear whether this bill has passed or become law
Subsection 6(7) is repealed, and a new section 6.1 is added requiring health authorities and Ontario-funded health care providers to collect race-based patient data to identify and address health inequities
Source: Section 2 of Bill 32
A new duty is added to subsection 6(1): the Minister must ensure health services are provided in a culturally appropriate manner
Source: Section 3 of Bill 32
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