Bill 12 explained in plain English
Helping Volunteers Give Back Act, 2011
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th 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
The Helping Volunteers Give Back Act, 2011, limits how often organizations can request criminal record checks for volunteers and aims to reduce the cost for volunteers to obtain them, while ensuring public safety.
Bill 12, the Helping Volunteers Give Back Act, 2011, aims to make it easier for volunteers to contribute by reducing how often organizations can ask for criminal record checks and lowering the cost for volunteers to get them. The Act sets rules for when organizations can require a volunteer to get a criminal record check and also addresses the number of original copies a police force must provide to a volunteer at no extra cost. The Act does not apply in municipalities where police forces do not charge fees for these checks.
- Establishes rules for when organizations can require a volunteer to obtain a criminal record check.
- Prohibits organizations from requiring a criminal record check for a volunteer if they have a recent check (dated within the past year) that is the most recent one the volunteer has obtained.
- Allows organizations to ask for notice of any pending criminal proceedings against a volunteer that could lead to a conviction added to their record, and the final disposition of those proceedings.
- States that organizations can require a new criminal record check at yearly intervals after a volunteer has started working.
- Allows organizations to require a criminal record check at any time if they have reasonable grounds to believe a conviction has been added to the volunteer's record since the last check, or if specific circumstances prescribed by regulation exist.
- Requires police forces to provide up to five additional original copies of a criminal record check to a volunteer at no extra charge, if requested when the organization requests the check or when the volunteer requests it directly.
- Specifies that the Act does not apply in municipalities where police forces do not charge a fee for releasing a criminal record check for a volunteer.
- Organizations that retain the services of volunteers
- Volunteers
- Police forces in Ontario municipalities
- Organizations are prohibited from requiring a criminal record check if a recent, valid one already exists.
- Organizations may require notice of pending criminal proceedings and their final disposition.
- Organizations can require subsequent checks at yearly intervals or sooner if there are reasonable grounds to believe new convictions exist.
- Police forces must provide up to five additional original criminal record checks to a volunteer at no extra charge when requested.
- The Act does not apply in municipalities where police forces do not charge a fee for criminal record checks.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Police forces are required to provide up to five additional original criminal record checks to a volunteer at no additional charge when requested.
- The Act does not apply in municipalities where police forces do not charge a fee for releasing a criminal record check for a volunteer, which could mean volunteers in these areas are not subject to any fees charged by police for such checks.
- The Act's application is limited to municipalities where police forces charge a fee for releasing criminal record checks for volunteers. It does not apply in municipalities where no fee is charged.
- The Act allows for regulations to be made that may specify additional circumstances under which an organization can require a criminal record check, and also specify time periods for compliance with obligations.
- The text does not specify what happens if an organization fails to comply with the Act's provisions.
This bill creates a new law concerning criminal record checks for volunteers in Ontario.
Source: Section 1
This Act references the Criminal Code (Canada) in its definition of 'criminal record'.
Source: Section 2
This Act references the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) in its definition of 'criminal record'.
Source: Section 2
This Act references the Criminal Records Act (Canada) in its definition of 'criminal record'.
Source: Section 2
The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing details for the Act, including authenticity requirements for criminal record checks and specific time periods for compliance.
Source: Section 6
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