Bill 31 explained in plain English
Efficient Local Government Act, 2018
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 amends the City of Toronto Act, 2006, the Municipal Act, 2001, the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, and the Education Act, and revokes two regulations, to re-establish and modify rules related to municipal governance and elections, particularly for the City of Toronto and certain regional municipalities.
Bill 31, the Efficient Local Government Act, 2018, amends several Ontario laws related to municipal and local government operations, particularly concerning elections and governance structures in the City of Toronto and certain regional municipalities. It also revokes two regulations. The bill aims to re-establish provisions from a previous act (the Better Local Government Act, 2018) that were deemed not to have come into force, with some modifications. Key changes involve how the City of Toronto is divided into wards, how its city council is composed, and how the heads of certain regional municipalities are selected. It also modifies rules for the 2018 regular elections, including nomination deadlines and advance voting procedures for the City of Toronto. Additionally, it sets out procedures for determining school board representation in Toronto for the 2018 elections and includes provisions that these amendments operate notwithstanding certain sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Human Rights Code.
- Amends the City of Toronto Act, 2006, to re-establish and modify provisions regarding ward divisions and city council composition for elections after 2018.
- Amends the Municipal Act, 2001, to alter how the heads of certain regional municipalities are selected in the 2018 regular election.
- Amends the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, to adjust nomination deadlines and rules for the 2018 regular election in the City of Toronto and to modify rules for regional municipalities regarding the selection of their heads.
- Amends the Education Act to set out special provisions for the 2018 school board elections in the City of Toronto, including population data collection and distribution of member positions.
- Revokes Ontario Regulation 408/18 (Wards).
- Revokes Ontario Regulation 407/18 (2018 and 2022 Regular Elections — Special Rules).
- Declares that certain amendments made by this Act operate notwithstanding sections 2 and 7 to 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and apply despite the Human Rights Code.
- The City of Toronto, its council, and its municipal election clerk.
- Certain regional municipalities in Ontario (Muskoka, Niagara, Peel, York, Durham, Halton, Waterloo), their councils, and their election officials.
- District school boards with jurisdiction in the City of Toronto.
- Voters in the City of Toronto and in the specified regional municipalities.
- The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
- The City of Toronto is not required to hold an advance vote in the 2018 election, but its clerk may decide to do so.
- The City of Toronto will be divided into wards based on Ontario electoral districts for the 2018 election.
- The composition of the City of Toronto's council for elections after 2018 is set to consist of the head of council and a number of other members equal to the number of wards.
- The heads of certain regional municipalities will be appointed by council members or elected by general vote in the 2018 regular election.
- The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation must determine population data for school board elections by specific deadlines after Royal Assent.
- School boards with jurisdiction in Toronto must distribute member positions by specific deadlines after Royal Assent.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Schedules to the Act come into force as provided in each Schedule, which is generally on the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The amendments related to the 2018 regular election apply to that election.
- Section 58.01 of the Education Act (related to the 2018 election) is repealed on December 31, 2018.
- Schedule 4 of the Education Act (related to special provisions for 2018 school board elections) is repealed on December 31, 2018.
- The bill's text does not explicitly detail financial or tax impacts.
- The bill specifies that orders shall not be made under subsection 83 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, solely due to actions taken by the clerk in relation to the implementation of amendments made by this Act or a previous related Act.
- The Minister may make regulations that prevail over conflicting provisions in other Acts or regulations concerning transitional matters and the implementation of certain sections.
- The exact date of Royal Assent is not specified, which impacts the commencement of the Act and the specific deadlines for actions required by the Schedules.
- The details of how the Minister will make regulations under various sections are broad, allowing for significant discretion in governing transitional matters and implementing the Act's purposes.
- The bill refers to 'the Better Local Government Act, 2018' and 'Schedule 1' to that Act without providing the full text or context, assuming the reader is familiar with it.
- The exact boundaries of the Ontario electoral districts referenced for ward division are not detailed within this bill text.
Changes rules for ward division and city council composition for elections following the 2018 regular election, and revokes Ontario Regulation 408/18.
Source: SCHEDULE 1
Changes how the heads of specific regional municipalities (Muskoka, Niagara, Peel, York, Durham, Halton, Waterloo) are selected in the 2018 regular election, either by appointment by council members or by general vote.
Source: SCHEDULE 2
Adjusts nomination day and procedures for the 2018 regular election in the City of Toronto, and modifies rules for selecting the head of council in certain regional municipalities for the 2018 election. It also revokes Ontario Regulation 407/18.
Source: SCHEDULE 3
Introduces special rules for the 2018 school board elections in the City of Toronto, including how population data is used to determine the number of members and how positions are distributed.
Source: SCHEDULE 4
Removes this regulation from effect.
Source: SCHEDULE 1, Section 11
Removes this regulation from effect.
Source: SCHEDULE 3, Section 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.
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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