Bill 54 explained in plain English
End the Public Funding of Partisan Government Advertising Act, 2025
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 44th 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 54, the End the Public Funding of Partisan Government Advertising Act, 2025, amends the Government Advertising Act, 2004, to restore previous rules about government advertising review and prohibit the use of partisan advertising.
This bill proposes to amend the Government Advertising Act, 2004, to revert changes made in 2015 regarding the review of government advertising. The proposed changes aim to prevent the use of government advertising that is considered partisan by the Auditor General. It also specifies the standards that government advertising must meet, including not being partisan and not primarily aiming to foster a positive impression of the governing party or a negative impression of critics. The bill outlines a process for the Auditor General to review advertisements, printed matter, and messages, and imposes prohibitions on their use if they do not meet the required standards. It also restricts the use of such materials during election periods, with some exceptions. The bill will come into force on a day appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- Amends the Government Advertising Act, 2004.
- Reverts changes to the rules governing the Auditor General's review of government advertising that were made in 2015.
- Prohibits the government from using advertisements, printed matter, or messages that the Auditor General deems to be partisan.
- Establishes specific standards for government advertising, including that it must not be partisan and must not primarily aim to create a positive impression of the governing party or a negative impression of government critics.
- Introduces new prohibitions on the use of government advertisements, printed matter, and messages during election periods, with specific exceptions.
- Specifies that the bill comes into force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- Government offices
- The Auditor General of Ontario
- The public (as recipients of government advertising)
- Members of the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly (indirectly, due to restrictions on their use in advertising)
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council (responsible for bringing the Act into force)
- Government offices are prohibited from publishing, displaying, broadcasting, distributing, or conveying advertisements, printed matter, or messages if the Auditor General determines they do not meet the Act's standards.
- Government offices are prohibited from using advertisements, printed matter, or messages pending review by the Auditor General.
- Government offices are prohibited from using items during specific election periods, except under certain conditions.
- The Auditor General has the duty to review government advertising items to determine if they meet the required standards.
- The Office of the Auditor General must notify the head of a government office of the results of a review within a prescribed number of days.
- This Act comes into force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- The bill does not specify what 'prescribed' means in relation to additional standards, numbers of days for review notifications, or criteria for exceptions during election periods. These details would likely be set out in regulations.
- The bill relies on the Auditor General's opinion to determine if advertising is partisan or does not meet standards. The criteria for the Auditor General's decision-making process are partially defined but also allow for prescribed factors and additional factors the Auditor General considers appropriate.
- The bill does not detail the specific financial implications or costs associated with implementing these changes.
This bill makes significant changes to this Act, including redefining 'item' and 'standards', introducing new prohibitions on partisan advertising, and altering the review process by the Auditor General. It also modifies rules around government advertising during election periods.
Source: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.1, 9, 10, 11, 12
The definition of 'item' is updated to mean a reviewable advertisement, reviewable printed matter, or a reviewable message.
Source: Section 1 (1)
The definition of 'standards' is removed.
Source: Section 1 (2)
Section 1.1 of the Act is removed.
Source: Section 2
The word 'preliminary' is struck out.
Source: Section 3 (1)
New subsections are added that prohibit government offices from publishing, displaying, or broadcasting an advertisement before receiving notice of the review results, or if the Auditor General determines it does not meet the required standards.
Source: Section 3 (2)
The word 'preliminary' is struck out.
Source: Section 4 (1)
New subsections are added that prohibit government offices from distributing printed matter before receiving notice of the review results, or if the Auditor General determines it does not meet the required standards.
Source: Section 4 (2)
The word 'preliminary' is struck out.
Source: Section 5 (1)
New subsections are added that prohibit government offices from conveying a message before receiving notice of the review results, or if the Auditor General determines it does not meet the required standards.
Source: Section 5 (2)
Section 4.1 of the Act is removed.
Source: Section 6
This subsection is replaced with new text stating that the Auditor General shall review an item to determine if it meets the Act's standards.
Source: Section 7
These sections are repealed and replaced with new provisions outlining the required standards for government advertising items, the process for notifying the head of a government office about review results, and procedures for submitting and reviewing revised versions of items.
Source: Section 8
The number '4.1' is struck out.
Source: Section 9
The number '4.1' is struck out.
Source: Section 10
These clauses are removed.
Source: Section 11 (1)
The reference to 'paragraph 3' is changed to 'paragraph 6'.
Source: Section 11 (2)
These clauses are repealed and replaced with new provisions related to prescribing factors for partisan advertising assessment, numbers of days for review notifications, and criteria for exceptions during election periods.
Source: Section 11 (3)
Subsection 12 (2) is removed.
Source: Section 11 (4)
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.
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