Bill 179 explained in plain English
Flood Avoidance, Insurance and Recovery Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 2nd 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 Ontario's Building Code Act, Insurance Act, and Municipal Affairs Act to improve flood avoidance, insurance, and recovery measures.
Bill 179, the Flood Avoidance, Insurance and Recovery Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017, makes changes to Ontario's Building Code Act, 1992, Insurance Act, and Municipal Affairs Act. It aims to address issues related to flood avoidance, insurance coverage, and disaster recovery. The bill mandates the installation of rainwater tanks in new residential buildings, requires insurance companies to publicly share property insurance claim histories, and modifies rules for flood insurance coverage. It also introduces a program for disaster recovery assistance for flood damage caused by sewer backup during declared emergencies.
- It requires new residential buildings to have a rainwater tank with a capacity of at least 204 litres that receives water from a downspout.
- It requires insurance companies to publish the claims history for all insured residential properties on their websites.
- It prevents insurers from declining to issue, terminating, or refusing to renew residential property insurance contracts solely because of past water damage claims, if the damage occurred during a declared emergency.
- It establishes a disaster recovery assistance program for owners of residential properties that suffer flood damage due to sewer backup caused by a sudden, unexpected natural disaster.
- It specifies that disaster recovery assistance will be provided without regard to the income of the property owners.
- It states that the disaster recovery assistance program will only be implemented if money is appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose.
- Owners of new residential buildings
- Owners of residential properties in Ontario
- Insurance companies
- The Minister responsible for the Municipal Affairs Act
- The Legislature of Ontario
- Builders of new residential buildings must ensure they have a rainwater tank of at least 204 litres.
- Insurance companies must publish residential property insurance claims history online.
- Insurance companies cannot deny, terminate, or refuse renewal of flood insurance due to past claims if damage occurred during a declared emergency.
- Property owners who experience flood damage from sewer backup during a declared natural disaster may be eligible for disaster recovery assistance.
- The Act comes into force three months after receiving Royal Assent.
- The disaster recovery assistance program is contingent on money being appropriated by the Legislature.
- The exact timing of the Act's commencement depends on when it receives Royal Assent.
- The implementation of the disaster recovery assistance program is dependent on a future appropriation of funds by the Legislature.
- The bill does not specify the criteria or process for determining eligibility for disaster recovery assistance beyond sewer backup flood damage from a sudden, unexpected natural disaster.
- The bill does not specify the maximum amount of disaster recovery assistance that will be provided.
Requires that the building code include standards for residential buildings to have a downspout that flows into a rainwater tank with a capacity of at least 204 litres.
Source: Section 1
Requires every insurer to make available to the public on their website the history of all property insurance claims for each insured residential real property in Ontario.
Source: Section 2 (1)
Adds a new Part (Part IV.1) regarding flood insurance, preventing insurers from declining, terminating, or refusing to renew a contract based on past water damage claims if the damage occurred during a declared emergency.
Source: Section 2 (2)
Adds a new Part (Part IV) establishing a disaster recovery program to provide assistance to owners of residential property experiencing flood damage from sewer backup due to a sudden, unexpected natural disaster, without considering the owners' income.
Source: Section 3
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
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