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OntarioPassed41st Parliament, 2nd Session

Bill 193 explained in plain English

Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018

Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
41st Parliament, 2nd Session
Bill number
Bill 193
Full title
Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018
Current status
Passed
Latest event
Royal Assent received
Last updated
Mar 7, 2018

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.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Royal Assent received
Latest Activity
Mar 7, 2018
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, enacts new concussion safety protocols for amateur sports organizations and amends the Education Act regarding student concussions.

What It Means

Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, establishes new requirements for sport organizations in Ontario to prevent, detect, and manage concussions. It also amends the Education Act to include provisions for concussion management in schools. The law designates a specific day as Rowan's Law Day and requires government reporting on concussion safety recommendations.

What This Bill Does
  • Enacts Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, which introduces requirements for sport organizations regarding concussion awareness resources, codes of conduct, and removal-from-sport and return-to-sport protocols.
  • Amends the Education Act to address concussion policies and guidelines for pupils in Ontario schools.
  • Proclaims the last Wednesday in September as Rowan's Law Day, with the option for the Minister to declare a different day.
  • Requires the Minister to prepare and publish reports on the implementation of recommendations from the Rowan's Law Advisory Committee.
Who Is Affected
  • Amateur competitive sport organizations in Ontario
  • Individuals participating in sports (athletes, coaches, officials)
  • Parents and guardians of young athletes
  • The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport (or assigned Minister)
  • School boards
  • Private schools
  • Pupils in Ontario
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • Sport organizations must ensure individuals review concussion awareness resources and concussion codes of conduct.
  • Sport organizations must establish and adhere to removal-from-sport and return-to-sport protocols.
  • Parents/guardians must confirm review of concussion resources and codes of conduct for individuals under 18.
  • The Government of Ontario must make concussion awareness resources publicly available.
  • The Minister must establish and require compliance with concussion policies/guidelines for pupils in schools.
  • The Minister must prepare and publish progress reports on concussion safety recommendations.
Important Dates
  • The Act received Royal Assent on March 7, 2018.
  • The Act generally came into force on the day it received Royal Assent (March 7, 2018).
  • Specific sections (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8) came into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
  • Rowan's Law Day is proclaimed as the last Wednesday in September each year.
Financial Or Tax Impacts
  • The bill does not explicitly mention new taxes or direct financial impacts on individuals or organizations, but compliance with new protocols and resource review may incur administrative costs for sport organizations.
Enforcement Or Penalties
  • The bill text does not specify penalties for non-compliance by sport organizations or individuals. It notes that regulations may be made regarding exemptions and different requirements for different classes of sport organizations or sports.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The bill uses the term 'prescribed' frequently, indicating that many specific details (e.g., prescribed age, specific circumstances for review, prescribed positions, specific requirements for protocols) will be defined in regulations made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
  • The exact content and scope of concussion awareness resources, concussion codes of conduct, removal-from-sport protocols, and return-to-sport protocols are subject to regulations.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018
enacts

This is the primary law created by the bill, establishing concussion safety rules for sports organizations and related procedures. It defines terms like 'sport organization' and 'concussion awareness resources'.

Source: Sections 1-10

Education Act
amends

Amends Part XIII.1 of the Education Act, renaming it 'Pupil Health'. It adds a new section authorizing the Minister to establish and require school boards to follow concussion policies and guidelines for pupils, and to make regulations for concussion requirements in private schools, ensuring consistency with Rowan's Law.

Source: Section 8

Executive Council Act
affects

The definition of 'Minister' in Rowan's Law refers to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport or another member of the Executive Council assigned responsibility for the Act, implying a connection to the Executive Council Act.

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.

Official text

Process Snapshot

Step 1
First reading
Dec 14, 2017
Step 2
Second reading
Feb 21, 2018
Step 3
Committee review
Mar 1, 2018
Step 4
Third reading
Mar 6, 2018
Step 5
Royal assent
Mar 7, 2018

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.

Sponsor
Daiene Vernile
Sponsor party or district not listed
Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature

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