Bill 132 explained in plain English
Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2016
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st 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 132 amends various Ontario laws to address sexual violence, sexual harassment, and domestic violence by changing limitations periods, imposing new policies on educational institutions, defining workplace harassment, and altering rules for tenants in cases of abuse.
Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2016, makes several changes to Ontario laws aimed at addressing sexual violence, sexual harassment, and domestic violence. It amends existing legislation related to victims' compensation, limitations periods for legal claims, the operation of colleges and universities, workplace safety, private career colleges, and residential tenancies. Key changes include removing limitation periods for certain sexual assault claims, requiring educational institutions to have sexual violence policies, defining and addressing workplace sexual harassment, and allowing tenants experiencing violence or abuse to terminate their leases under specific conditions. The bill also introduces new duties for employers and educational institutions and creates new rights for tenants in certain situations. Most of the changes came into effect on March 8, 2016, with some provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act coming into force on July 1, 2016, and some provisions related to colleges and universities and private career colleges coming into effect on January 1, 2017.
- Amends several Ontario statutes to address sexual violence, sexual harassment, and domestic violence.
- Removes or modifies limitation periods for claims related to sexual assault and other misconduct of a sexual nature.
- Requires colleges, universities, and private career colleges to establish and implement sexual violence policies.
- Adds a definition for 'workplace sexual harassment' and related duties for employers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- Introduces new provisions allowing tenants experiencing violence or abuse to terminate their tenancy agreements under specific circumstances.
- Amends the Compensation for Victims of Crime Act to remove limitation periods for certain applications.
- Survivors of sexual violence and harassment
- Individuals experiencing domestic violence
- Tenants
- Landlords
- Students
- Colleges and universities
- Private career colleges
- Employers
- Workers
- Victims of crime
- Individuals bringing legal claims
- New rights for tenants to terminate leases due to violence or abuse.
- Obligations for educational institutions to develop and implement sexual violence policies.
- New obligations for employers to address workplace sexual harassment and investigate complaints.
- Changes to limitation periods for sexual assault claims, potentially allowing claims that were previously time-barred.
- Royal Assent: March 8, 2016 (Bill 132 came into force on this date, with exceptions).
- January 1, 2017: Certain provisions of Schedule 3 (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act) and Schedule 5 (Private Career Colleges Act, 2005) came into force.
- July 1, 2016: Certain provisions of Schedule 4 (Occupational Health and Safety Act) came into force.
- Certain provisions of Schedule 6 (Residential Tenancies Act, 2006) came into force six months after Royal Assent or on July 1, 2016, whichever was later.
- The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, makes it an offense to knowingly provide false or misleading information in connection with giving a notice under new sections 47.1 or 47.2, or to contravene the confidentiality obligations in section 47.4.
- The Occupational Health and Safety Act allows an inspector to order an employer to investigate workplace harassment, with potential implications for non-compliance with orders.
- The bill states that regulations may specify further elements for sexual violence policies in colleges, universities, and private career colleges.
- The application of the removal of limitation periods for certain claims is subject to specific exceptions.
- The definition of 'violence or another form of abuse' for residential tenancy termination is detailed and relies on specific orders or statements.
- The exact content and implementation of 'other measures' and 'other things' required by regulations under the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act and the Private Career Colleges Act are not fully detailed in the bill text.
Removes the two-year limitation period for applications for compensation resulting from crimes of sexual violence or violence within intimate or dependent relationships. This change applies to applications commenced before the amendments came into force, with some exceptions.
Source: SCHEDULE 1
Eliminates the limitation period for proceedings based on sexual assault or, in specified circumstances, other misconduct of a sexual nature or assault. This applies regardless of when the act occurred or if any previous limitation period had expired, subject to exceptions. It also repeals section 10 and amends section 15 and 16 of the Act.
Source: SCHEDULE 2
Imposes obligations on colleges and universities to have sexual violence policies that outline response processes for incidents and complaints, and to address other matters required by regulations. It also requires student input in policy development, annual reporting to governing boards, and grants the Minister power to direct surveys. New regulation-making powers are added.
Source: SCHEDULE 3
Defines 'workplace sexual harassment' and includes it in the definition of 'workplace harassment.' It also adds new duties for employers to protect workers from workplace harassment, requires specific elements in workplace harassment policies and programs, and allows inspectors to order third-party investigations into workplace harassment.
Source: SCHEDULE 4
Imposes obligations on private career colleges to have sexual violence policies, similar to those for colleges and universities, addressing incidents and complaints involving students. These policies must be included in student contracts, and colleges must report data on sexual violence to the Superintendent. New regulation-making powers are added.
Source: SCHEDULE 5
Allows tenants or a child residing with them, who are deemed to have experienced violence or abuse, to terminate a tenancy agreement with 28 days' notice. It also allows a joint tenant to terminate their interest in a tenancy under similar conditions, with specific rules for joint tenancies. The Act outlines conditions for when a tenant is deemed to have experienced violence or abuse, introduces new confidentiality requirements for landlords, and creates offenses for providing false information or breaching confidentiality.
Source: SCHEDULE 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 does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
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