Bill 224 explained in plain English
No Time to Waste Act (Plan for Climate Action and Jobs), 2020
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
This bill enacts three new Ontario Acts to address climate change: one for health system preparedness, one for public sector climate strategy, and one to establish a legislative committee to propose solutions.
This bill, titled the No Time to Waste Act (Plan for Climate Action and Jobs), 2020, enacts three new Acts in Ontario. The first Act establishes a Climate Crisis Health Action Plan, requiring the Minister of Health to develop a strategic plan to prepare Ontario's health systems for climate change impacts. It also creates a secretariat and a science advisory board to support this. The second Act establishes an Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector, requiring the government to set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption in the public sector, and to develop programs and purchasing guidelines to support this. The third Act establishes a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, tasked with developing a proposal to address climate-change related threats in Ontario. Each of these enacted Acts comes into force on the day this Bill receives Royal Assent.
- Enacts the Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2020.
- Enacts the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector Act, 2020.
- Enacts the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Act, 2020.
- Requires the Minister of Health to develop and publish a strategic action plan to prepare Ontario's health systems for climate crisis impacts.
- Requires the establishment of a Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat and a science advisory board to support the health action plan.
- Requires the Lieutenant Governor in Council to establish the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector.
- Requires the public sector strategy to include goals for capping and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
- Requires the establishment of a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis within the Legislative Assembly.
- Mandates the Select Committee to develop a comprehensive proposal to address climate-change related threats.
- Ontarians
- Minister of Health
- Public health organizations
- Health care facilities
- Health professionals
- Climate scientists
- The public sector in Ontario
- Members of the Legislative Assembly
- First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities
- Black communities
- Low-income communities
- Municipalities
- The Minister of Health is required to develop and publish a strategic action plan for climate crisis health risks.
- The Minister of Health must establish the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat and a science advisory board.
- The strategic action plan must be reviewed and updated at least every four years.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council must establish the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector.
- The public sector must cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
- The Minister responsible for the public sector strategy must prepare and make annual reports public.
- A Select Committee on the Climate Crisis must be established.
- The Select Committee must develop and report a comprehensive proposal on climate change threats within six months of the bill receiving Royal Assent.
- The Acts enacted by the Schedules come into force on the day the No Time to Waste Act (Plan for Climate Action and Jobs), 2020 receives Royal Assent.
- The strategic action plan under the Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act must be developed and published on or before the second anniversary of the No Time to Waste Act receiving Royal Assent.
- The strategic action plan must be reviewed every four years after its initial publication.
- The Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector must be established on or before the first anniversary of the No Time to Waste Act receiving Royal Assent.
- The public sector strategy takes effect no later than one year after the No Time to Waste Act receives Royal Assent.
- Greenhouse gas emissions from public sector activities must be capped within 12 months after the Strategy takes effect.
- New public sector facilities must achieve at least 50 per cent less energy consumption than comparable private sector facilities if construction commences on or after the second anniversary of the No Time to Waste Act receiving Royal Assent.
- New public sector facilities must achieve zero net energy consumption if construction commences on or after the fifth anniversary of the No Time to Waste Act receiving Royal Assent.
- The Select Committee on the Climate Crisis must prepare its report no later than six months after the No Time to Waste Act receives Royal Assent.
- The Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act requires the Minister to prepare a plan that includes funding and guidance for public health units and health care facilities to assess vulnerabilities and develop adaptation plans.
- The Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector Act requires the development of programs to encourage retrofitting of facilities and making vehicles more environmentally friendly, and establishes purchasing guidelines that consider greenhouse gas emissions.
- The bill does not specify the exact composition or operating procedures of the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat or the science advisory board beyond general requirements for expertise and number of members.
- The specific 'other goals' that may be prescribed by regulation for the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector are not detailed.
- The bill does not specify the penalties for non-compliance with the requirements of the enacted Acts.
- The bill does not specify what happens if the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis does not produce its report within the specified timeframe.
- The bill does not specify the criteria or process for appointing members to the science advisory board beyond requiring expertise in public health, health care, or climate science.
This Act requires the Minister of Health to develop and publish a strategic action plan to prepare Ontario's public health and health care systems for the health risks caused by climate change. It also establishes a Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat and a science advisory board. The plan must be reviewed and updated at least every four years.
Source: Schedule 1
This Act requires the Lieutenant Governor in Council to establish the Ontario Climate Crisis Strategy for the Public Sector. This strategy must include goals for capping and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption from public sector activities, and promote retrofitting and environmentally friendly vehicles. The responsible Minister must also prepare annual reports on energy consumption and related matters.
Source: Schedule 2
This Act establishes a Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly to be known as the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The committee's mandate is to develop a comprehensive proposal to address climate-change related threats facing Ontario's society, environment, and economy.
Source: Schedule 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 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