Bill 74 explained in plain English
Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry) Amendment Act (Information Disclosure), 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 74 amends Ontario's sex offender registry law to allow the Ministry to disclose registry information to police services and prescribed entities for crime prevention and law enforcement purposes, with agreements required before disclosure to prescribed entities.
Bill 74 proposes changes to Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, which governs how information from Ontario's sex offender registry can be shared. Currently, police and ministry staff can disclose registry information to other police services for crime prevention and law enforcement. Bill 74 would expand this by allowing the Ministry to disclose registry information to additional entities that the government prescribes (specifies by regulation) for the same crime prevention and law enforcement purposes. Before the Ministry discloses information to any of these prescribed entities, it must first enter into a written agreement with that entity governing how the information will be handled. The bill also updates related rules in the law to account for these new disclosure pathways. Most of the amendments would come into effect on a date chosen by the government, though the core change allowing disclosure to prescribed entities would take effect immediately when the bill receives Royal Assent (if it passes).
- Amends subsection 10(1) of Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000 to reference new disclosure provisions for prescribed entities
- Clarifies that police members and ministry employees/authorized persons may disclose sex offender registry information to police services and policing entities in other jurisdictions for crime prevention or law enforcement purposes
- Adds a new provision (3.0.2) allowing the Ministry to disclose registry information to prescribed entities for crime prevention or law enforcement purposes
- Requires the Ministry to enter into an agreement with prescribed entities before disclosing registry information to them
- Gives the government power to prescribe (define by regulation) which entities may receive registry information
- Gives the government power to regulate the form and content of agreements between the Ministry and prescribed entities
- Updates subsection 10(4) to reflect new disclosure pathways to prescribed entities
- Ontario Ministry responsible for administering the sex offender registry
- Police services in Ontario
- Policing entities in other Canadian and international jurisdictions
- Entities prescribed by regulation that may receive sex offender registry information for crime prevention or law enforcement purposes
- Individuals required to register in the Ontario sex offender registry
- The public, to the extent crime prevention and law enforcement activities use this information
- The Ministry must enter into a written agreement with any prescribed entity before disclosing registry information to it
- Prescribed entities receiving registry information may collect, retain, and use it for crime prevention or law enforcement purposes
- Police services and authorized ministry staff retain the existing right to disclose registry information to other police services and foreign policing entities
- The agreement requirements and the definition of prescribed entities will be established through government regulation
- The core amendment allowing disclosure to prescribed entities (subsection 1(2)) comes into force on the day Bill 74 receives Royal Assent, if it is passed
- All other provisions of the bill come into force on a date to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council – meaning the government will set the date after the bill is passed
- The bill text does not identify specific financial costs or tax impacts
- The bill text does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties for violation of the disclosure restrictions or agreement requirements
- The bill does not specify which entities will be prescribed to receive registry information – this will be determined later by government regulation
- The bill does not specify what terms or conditions must be included in disclosure agreements with prescribed entities – this will be governed by future regulations
- The bill text does not clarify what 'crime prevention or law enforcement purposes' includes or how broadly this should be interpreted
- The commencement date for most provisions has not been set – the government will choose this date by order after the bill passes
- It is unclear what remedies or penalties apply if a prescribed entity misuses disclosed information or fails to comply with an agreement
The bill modifies how sex offender registry information can be disclosed. It expands from current disclosure rules (which allow sharing with police services and foreign policing entities) to also permit disclosure to government-prescribed entities, with agreements required before such disclosure occurs.
Source: Section 1 and Section 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.
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
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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.
How this data is sourced