Bill 147 explained in plain English
Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Firefighter Benefits), 2015
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
This bill amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, to change how benefits are determined for firefighters with occupational diseases who worked for multiple employers, by specifying how the Board must identify responsible employers and apportion costs.
Bill 147, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment Act (Firefighter Benefits), 2015, changes how the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (the Board) determines which employer is responsible for a firefighter's benefits when an occupational disease may have resulted from working for multiple employers, some covered by Schedule 1 and others by Schedule 2 of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. The bill clarifies that an employer cannot be considered the responsible party solely because the firefighter was last exposed to the substance causing the disease while working for them. Instead, the Board must consider prescribed factors and follow prescribed rules to determine the employer's obligations, which may include dividing costs among employers. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is given the power to make regulations prescribing these factors and rules.
- Amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, to add a new section dealing with firefighters who have occupational diseases and worked for multiple employers (Schedule 1 and Schedule 2).
- Prohibits the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board from determining an employer's responsibility solely based on the last exposure to a substance that may have caused an occupational disease.
- Requires the Board to determine a firefighter's employer for benefit purposes by considering factors prescribed by regulation.
- Requires the Board to determine the obligations of all concurrent employers in accordance with rules prescribed by regulation, which may include apportioning costs.
- Grants the Lieutenant Governor in Council the power to make regulations prescribing the factors and rules mentioned above.
- Firefighters entitled to benefits for an occupational disease that may have resulted from concurrent employment with one or more Schedule 1 employers and one or more Schedule 2 employers.
- Schedule 1 employers of firefighters.
- Schedule 2 employers of firefighters.
- The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (the Board).
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- The Board's right/duty to determine a firefighter's employer and the obligations of concurrent employers based on prescribed factors and rules.
- The obligation of employers to make payments as determined by the Board if costs are apportioned.
- The right of the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations prescribing factors and rules for determining employer responsibility and obligations.
- The Act comes into force six months after receiving Royal Assent.
- The bill allows for the apportionment of costs for benefits between concurrent employers, as determined by the Board.
- The bill does not specify penalties. Enforcement mechanisms would typically be outlined within the general provisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, or related regulations, which are not detailed in this bill text.
- The specific factors and rules that the Board must consider when determining an employer's responsibility and apportioning costs are not detailed in the bill; these will be prescribed by regulation.
- The bill does not specify which occupational diseases are covered, other than stating it is a disease that 'may have occurred as a result of' exposure.
- The precise definition of 'concurrently employed' is not detailed in the bill text.
Adds a new section (94.1) to specify how the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board determines employers and their obligations for firefighter benefits in cases of occupational disease resulting from concurrent employment by Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 employers. It also grants the Lieutenant Governor in Council the power to create regulations for this purpose.
Source: Section 1
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.
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Vote Summary
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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.
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