Bill 253 explained in plain English
Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021
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 Act requires regulated health professionals to report suspected abuse or neglect of adults to boards of health, mandates boards to assess and verify these reports, and establishes review teams to recommend assistance plans, with public reporting of anonymized data and penalties for non-compliance.
Bill 253, the Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021, requires regulated health professionals to report suspicions of abuse or neglect of adults (aged 16 and older) to a board of health. Failure to report is an offence, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000. Boards of health must assess and verify these reports within specific timeframes (48, 72, or 120 hours, depending on urgency). They must also establish review teams, including at least one medical practitioner, to recommend support and assistance plans for affected adults. The medical officer of health will oversee these processes and ensure certain data about reports and their outcomes are published online every six months, without disclosing personal information. The Act overrides solicitor-client privilege but not lawyer-client privilege. It also grants boards of health employees rights of entry to premises for assessment and verification purposes, similar to provisions in the Health Protection and Promotion Act, with penalties for obstruction. The Act comes into force one year after receiving Royal Assent.
- Creates a duty for regulated health professionals to report suspected abuse or neglect of adults (aged 16 or older) to a board of health.
- Establishes that failure to report is an offence with a potential fine of up to $5,000.
- Requires boards of health to assess and verify reported information within 48, 72, or 120 hours, depending on the urgency.
- Grants board of health employees rights of entry to premises to carry out assessments and verifications.
- Mandates boards of health to establish review teams, including at least one medical practitioner, to review cases and recommend support and assistance plans.
- Requires the medical officer of health to oversee reporting and publish anonymized data on reports and outcomes online every six months.
- States that the Act overrides most confidentiality and privilege rules for reporting and disclosure, except for lawyer-client privilege.
- Sets out that the Act comes into force one year after receiving Royal Assent.
- Regulated health professionals
- Adults aged 16 years or older who may be subject to abuse or neglect
- Boards of health
- Employees of boards of health
- Medical officers of health
- Members of review teams (including legally qualified medical practitioners)
- Lawyers and their clients (regarding privilege)
- The general public (through published reports)
- Regulated health professionals have a duty to report suspicions of abuse or neglect of adults to a board of health.
- Boards of health have a duty to assess and verify reports within specified deadlines.
- Boards of health must establish review teams to recommend support and assistance plans.
- Employees and chairs of review teams have reporting obligations to the medical officer of health.
- Medical officers of health must ensure public reporting of anonymized data.
- Regulated health professionals are protected from liability for making reports unless they act maliciously or without reasonable grounds.
- Board of health employees and officers are protected from liability when acting in good faith in carrying out their duties.
- Persons may disclose information to review teams if reasonably required for a review, and are protected from liability unless they act maliciously or without reasonable grounds.
- Board of health employees have rights of entry to premises for assessment and verification.
- The Act comes into force on the first anniversary of the day it receives Royal Assent.
- A person convicted of failing to report is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- A person who contravenes provisions related to obstruction of assessment and verification is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- Failure to report by a regulated health professional: offence, liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- Obstruction of board of health employees during assessment or verification: offence, liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- The Act does not specify what constitutes 'reasonable suspicion' for reporting.
- The Act does not define 'abuse' or 'neglect'.
- The specific composition of the review team, beyond requiring at least one medical practitioner, is not detailed.
- The specific content or format of the 'general description of the reasons for which the reports were made and the outcomes of the reports' to be published is not detailed, beyond it being general.
- The Act does not explicitly state who will bear the costs associated with establishing and operating the review teams or the increased workload for boards of health.
- While the Act specifies it prevails over the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, and overrides solicitor-client privilege (except lawyer-client privilege), the exact scope of these overrides in practice may require further clarification.
Sections 41 to 43 of this Act apply to the assessment and verification of information by board of health employees, including rights of entry. Section 41(2) is specifically modified to include the purpose of assessment and verification of information under this new Act. Penalties for obstruction under Section 42(1) of this Act also apply.
Source: Section 3(4) and (5), Section 3(6)
The duty to report under this Act remains unaffected, even if a regulated health professional has made a report under the Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021.
Source: Section 2(4)
The reporting requirements and confidentiality provisions of the Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021, prevail over this Act.
Source: Section 2(9)
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.
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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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