Bill 151 explained in plain English
Smoke-Free Ontario Amendment Act (Vaping is not for Kids), 2019
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd 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 151 amends the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, to implement stricter regulations on the sale, promotion, and access to vapour products, with a focus on preventing youth access and educating the public on health risks.
This bill, called the Smoke-Free Ontario Amendment Act (Vaping is not for Kids), 2019, makes several changes to how vapour products are regulated in Ontario. It aims to restrict the promotion and sale of vapour products, particularly those that are flavoured or have high nicotine content, and to limit their sale to designated specialty vape stores. The bill also introduces requirements for these stores, including obtaining approval from local health boards and restricting access for individuals under 19 years old. Additionally, it mandates annual reporting on youth vaping and allows for tax revenue from vapour product sales to be directed towards public education on vaping risks.
- Prohibits the promotion of vapour products in any manner.
- Restricts the sale of flavoured vapour products and vapour products with high nicotine content, with some exceptions for prescribed flavours or nicotine amounts.
- Mandates that vapour products can only be sold in specialty vape stores.
- Requires operators of specialty vape stores to obtain approval from the local board of health, which will consider public health impacts and proximity to schools.
- Sets conditions for specialty vape stores, including prohibiting persons under 19 from entering and requiring identification for those appearing under 25.
- Allows the Minister to direct tax revenue from vapour product sales in specialty vape stores to be used for public education on vaping risks, if funds are appropriated by the Legislature.
- Requires Ontario Health to prepare an annual report on youth vaping for the Minister.
- Amends definitions related to vapour products and repeals definitions for 'electronic cigarette' and 'e-substance'.
- Allows for limited sampling of vapour products in specialty vape stores under specific conditions.
- Introduces penalties for contravening certain provisions related to specialty vape stores.
- Retailers selling vapour products.
- Operators of specialty vape stores.
- Manufacturers and distributors of vapour products.
- Consumers of vapour products, particularly those under 19.
- Public health units (boards of health).
- Ontario Health.
- The Minister of Health.
- Prohibition on promoting vapour products.
- Restriction on selling flavoured or high-nicotine vapour products.
- Requirement to sell vapour products only in approved specialty vape stores.
- Obligation for specialty vape store operators to obtain board of health approval.
- Prohibition on persons under 19 from entering specialty vape stores.
- Requirement for boards of health to consider public health impacts when approving specialty vape stores.
- Requirement for Ontario Health to produce an annual report on youth vaping.
- The Minister's ability to direct tax revenue for public education.
- The Act comes into force 120 days after it receives Royal Assent.
- A specialty vape store operating on the day the Act comes into force has a 12-month transition period before subsection 10.2 (2) applies to it.
- The Minister may direct tax revenue generated from the sale of vapour products at specialty vape stores for public education on vaping risks, provided the Legislature appropriates funds for this purpose.
- A person who contravenes subsection 10.2 (2) (operating a specialty vape store without board of health approval) is guilty of an offence and liable for each day the offence continues to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- Contraventions of the Act respecting vapour products can lead to the revocation of a specialty vape store's approval.
- The specific 'prescribed requirements or conditions' for sampling vapour products are not detailed in the bill text.
- The bill text does not specify what 'prescribed amounts of nicotine' or 'prescribed flavours or flavouring agents' are.
- The specific procedures for obtaining and revoking board of health approval, and for inspections and reviews, are to be provided for in regulations.
- The exact amount of tax revenue that may be directed for public education is not specified.
- The bill refers to 'specialty vape store' requirements which include 'any prescribed requirements', the details of which are not in the bill text.
The bill makes numerous amendments to this Act, including changing definitions, adding new sections on vapour product sales and specialty vape stores, and modifying existing sections related to promotion, prohibited sales, and exemptions.
Source: Various sections
Amends the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, by adding a definition for 'board of health' that refers to the definition in this Act.
Source: Section 1 (1)
Specifies that Part III (Regulations) of this Act does not apply to requirements established by a board of health for specialty vape stores.
Source: Section 10.1 (3)
The board of health is required to consider the proximity of a specialty vape store to a school within the meaning of this Act when deciding whether to approve its operation.
Source: Section 10.2 (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.
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