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OntarioPassed42nd Parliament, 1st Session

Bill 3 explained in plain English

Compassionate Care Act, 2020

Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
42nd Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill 3
Full title
Compassionate Care Act, 2020
Current status
Passed
Latest event
Royal Assent received
Last updated
Dec 2, 2020

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.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Royal Assent received
Latest Activity
Dec 2, 2020
Plain-language explanation
In plain English (our explanation)

Our plain-language take, written for civic education.

Source: By PoliticalData.ca

AI-assisted, reviewed before publishing
Short Version

The Compassionate Care Act, 2020 requires the Minister of Health to develop and report on a provincial framework for palliative care to improve access for all Ontarians.

What It Means

This Act, called the Compassionate Care Act, 2020, aims to ensure that all Ontarians have access to quality palliative care. It requires the Minister of Health to develop a provincial framework for palliative care. This framework will define palliative care, identify training needs, support providers, outline research and data needs, and propose ways to make palliative care accessible across Ontario, considering different patient groups and existing resources. The Minister must consult with various stakeholders, report the framework to the Legislative Assembly within one year of the Act coming into force, and then report on the state of palliative care in Ontario within three years of the framework being tabled. Both reports must be published online. The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.

What This Bill Does
  • Establishes the purpose of developing a framework to ensure access to quality palliative care for all Ontarians.
  • Requires the Minister of Health to develop a provincial framework for palliative care.
  • Outlines key components the provincial framework must address, including defining palliative care, identifying training and support needs for providers, research and data elements, and measures for equitable and consistent access across Ontario.
  • Requires the Minister to consider feedback from consultations during the framework's development.
  • Mandates the Minister to initiate consultations on the framework within six months of the Act coming into force.
  • Requires the Minister of Health to prepare and table a report on the provincial palliative care framework in the Legislative Assembly within one year of the Act coming into force.
  • Requires the Minister to publish this report online within 10 days of it being tabled.
  • Requires the Minister of Health to prepare and table a report on the state of palliative care in Ontario within three years of the framework report being tabled.
  • Requires the Minister to publish the report on the state of palliative care online within 10 days of it being tabled.
Who Is Affected
  • Ontarians needing palliative care
  • Palliative care providers
  • Health care providers and other caregivers
  • The Minister of Health
  • The Legislative Assembly of Ontario
  • The Ministry of Long-Term Care
  • Ontario Health
  • Ontario Health Teams
  • Other providers and organizations in Ontario's health system
  • Federal government
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • The right of every Ontarian to have access to quality palliative care (as the purpose of the Act).
  • The obligation of the Minister of Health to develop a provincial palliative care framework.
  • The obligation of the Minister of Health to prepare and table reports on the palliative care framework and the state of palliative care in Ontario.
  • The obligation of the Minister to publish these reports online.
Important Dates
  • The Act came into force on December 2, 2020, the day it received Royal Assent.
  • Consultations must be initiated within six months after the Act comes into force.
  • The report on the provincial framework must be tabled within one year after the Act comes into force.
  • The report on the state of palliative care in Ontario must be tabled within three years after the framework report is tabled.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The specific details of the provincial framework on palliative care are to be determined by the Minister of Health.
  • The exact content and recommendations within the two required reports are not specified beyond the general requirements.
  • The text does not specify what happens if the reports are not tabled within the given timelines.
  • The bill does not detail the process or criteria for the 'consultations' mentioned.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Compassionate Care Act, 2020
commencement

The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.

Source: Section 5

Compassionate Care Act, 2020
commencement

The Minister must initiate consultations related to the palliative care framework within six months after the Act comes into force.

Source: Section 2(3)

Compassionate Care Act, 2020
commencement

The Minister must table a report on the provincial palliative care framework in the Legislative Assembly within one year after the Act comes into force.

Source: Section 3(1)

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 text

Process Snapshot

Step 1
First reading
Jul 18, 2018
Step 2
Second reading
Nov 26, 2020
Step 3
Committee review
Nov 26, 2020
Step 4
Third reading
Dec 1, 2020
Step 5
Royal assent
Dec 2, 2020

Vote Summary

No published recorded division

This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.

Sponsor
Sam Oosterhoff
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario | Niagara West
Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature

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