Bill 274 explained in plain English
Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure 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 establishes a process for disclosing information about an intimate partner's history of violence to individuals at risk and amends related legislation.
The Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure Act, 2021, allows individuals to request information about whether their intimate partner has a history of violence. It also permits police to share this information with individuals deemed to be at risk, even if they haven't applied for it. The Act also outlines conditions for receiving and disclosing this information, provides for training for police and government employees, and makes amendments to existing legislation.
- Allows individuals to apply for information about an intimate partner's history of intimate partner violence.
- Permits police forces to disclose this information to individuals they determine to be at risk, even if they have not applied for it.
- Establishes conditions for the collection, use, disclosure, and subsequent use of this information.
- Requires the Minister to establish a training program for police and government employees on intimate partner violence and trauma-informed approaches.
- Amends the definition of 'police force' to 'police service' and makes consequential amendments.
- Prohibits denying services or protection to individuals who receive disclosure information and remain in their relationship.
- States that receiving disclosure information cannot be used as evidence against an applicant or person at risk in certain court proceedings.
- Individuals who believe they are at risk of intimate partner violence.
- Individuals identified by police as a 'person at risk'.
- Police forces.
- The Minister (Attorney General or other assigned member of the Executive Council).
- Government employees who come into contact with victims of domestic violence.
- Intermediaries such as employees of shelters, victim support organizations, social workers, psychologists, registered nurses, and medical practitioners.
- The Government of Canada and governments of other provinces or territories.
- The Information and Privacy Commissioner.
- Individuals have the right to apply for disclosure information if they believe they are at risk of intimate partner violence or meet prescribed criteria.
- Police have the authority to provide disclosure information to applicants or persons at risk.
- Police must ensure that individuals receiving disclosure information are provided with information about support services for gender-based violence.
- Individuals receiving disclosure information must comply with conditions regarding its subsequent use or disclosure, unless consent is given or it's authorized by law.
- Applicants and persons at risk cannot be denied services or protection because they remained in their relationship.
- The name and identifying information of an applicant is privileged information, with exceptions.
- Police forces and the Minister, or their delegates, are not compellable to give evidence or produce documents related to information obtained under this Act, with an exception for judicial review proceedings related to this Act.
- The Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- The bill preamble mentions that adequate and sustained funding on an annualized basis is required for services supporting survivors of gender-based violence, but does not specify financial impacts directly caused by this bill.
- The bill allows for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information for prescribed purposes, which may have administrative implications.
- The bill does not specify penalties for non-compliance with its provisions.
- Section 11(1) states that no person shall disclose disclosure information unless authorized by this Act or by law, but does not detail penalties for contravention.
- The specific 'prescribed information' that constitutes 'disclosure information' is not detailed in the bill and will be defined by regulations.
- The 'prescribed criteria' for an applicant and the 'prescribed requirements' for determining a 'person at risk' are not detailed and will be set by regulations.
- The 'prescribed manner' for providing consent and any 'prescribed conditions' for receiving disclosure information are not detailed and will be set by regulations.
- Certain provisions of the Act may not apply to prescribed persons, classes of persons, or circumstances, as determined by regulations.
- The bill does not specify penalties for non-compliance.
- The bill text provided ends mid-sentence regarding a consequence for a person at risk.
- The specific date of commencement is not yet determined.
Establishes a new framework for disclosing information related to intimate partner violence.
Source: Sections 1-20
Amends the definition of 'police force' within this Act to 'police service' as defined in the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, and makes corresponding changes in the Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure Act, 2021.
Source: Section 18(1), (2), (3)
Provides the definition for 'police service' which is adopted by the Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure Act, 2021.
Source: Section 18(2)
The powers and duties of the Information and Privacy Commissioner under this Act are not limited by the Intimate Partner Violence Disclosure Act, 2021.
Source: Section 10
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