Bill 278 explained in plain English
French Language Services Amendment 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
Bill 278, the French Language Services Amendment Act, 2021, would grant individuals the right to communicate in French with and receive services in French from health units, and require health authorities to make public information available in French.
This bill, the French Language Services Amendment Act, 2021, would amend the French Language Services Act to clarify and expand the rights of French-speaking individuals to receive services in French from health units in Ontario. Specifically, it would establish a right for individuals to communicate in French with, and receive services in French from, a board of health. It also requires the Chief Medical Officer of Health and every board of health to make public information available in French in a manner and timeframe determined by regulation.
- Establishes a right for individuals to communicate in French with and receive available services in French from a board of health.
- Requires the Chief Medical Officer of Health and every board of health to make information provided to the public available in French, in a prescribed manner and within a prescribed time.
- Amends Section 8 of the French Language Services Act to allow for regulations regarding the form, manner, and timing of making information available in French for public information provided by the Chief Medical Officer of Health and boards of health.
- Individuals in Ontario who communicate in French.
- Boards of health in Ontario.
- The Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario.
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council (regarding proclamation).
- Individuals have the right to communicate in French with and receive available services in French from a board of health.
- The Chief Medical Officer of Health and every board of health must make information they provide to the public available in French in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time.
- The Act comes into force on a day named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
- The bill text does not specify any direct financial or tax impacts.
- The bill text does not specify any penalties for non-compliance. It establishes rights and obligations related to French language services.
- The extent of 'available services' in French from a board of health is not specified in the bill.
- The 'prescribed manner and within the prescribed time' for making information available in French will be determined by future regulations under Section 8 of the Act, which are not included in this bill text.
- The bill does not specify when it will come into force, as this depends on proclamation.
The Act is amended to add a new section (5.1) that establishes rights related to French language services from boards of health and requires the Chief Medical Officer of Health and boards of health to make public information available in French. Section 8 of the Act is also amended to allow for regulations regarding the provision of this information.
Source: Section 1, Section 2
This Act is referenced to define 'board of health' and 'Chief Medical Officer of Health'. The bill does not change this Act.
Source: Section 5.1 (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