Bill 40 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, 2nd 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
The Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021, would mandate regulated health professionals to report suspected abuse or neglect of adults to boards of health, which would then be required to assess, verify, and address these reports through review teams, with public reporting on case statistics.
This bill, if passed, would create the Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act, 2021. It requires regulated health professionals to report suspicions of abuse or neglect of adults (defined as individuals 16 years or older) to a board of health. Failing to report is an offence with a penalty of up to $5,000. The bill also requires boards of health to assess and verify these reports within specific timeframes (48, 72, or 120 hours depending on urgency). Boards of health must also establish review teams, including at least one medical practitioner, to recommend support and assistance plans for adults in need. Information about the number of reports, verification outcomes, and general reasons for reports will be published online every six months, ensuring no personal information is disclosed. The Act comes into force one year after receiving Royal Assent.
- Requires regulated health professionals to report suspicions of abuse or neglect of adults (aged 16 and over) to a board of health.
- Makes failure to report by a regulated health professional an offence, with a penalty 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, as outlined in the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
- Requires every board of health to establish a review team, including at least one legally qualified medical practitioner.
- Mandates that review teams review cases and recommend support and assistance plans for adults in need.
- Requires the medical officer of health to publish statistics on reports received, verification outcomes, and general reasons for reports on the board of health's website every six months.
- States that the Act comes into force on the first anniversary of the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Regulated health professionals (members of Colleges of a health profession or group of health professions established or continued under an Act named in Schedule 1 to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991).
- Boards of health and their employees.
- Adults aged 16 years or older who may be experiencing abuse or neglect.
- Public Guardian and Trustee (in cases where an adult may be incapable).
- Regulated health professionals have a duty to report reasonable suspicions of abuse or neglect of adults to a board of health.
- Regulated health professionals must report directly to the board of health and cannot rely on others.
- Boards of health have a duty to assess and verify reports within specified timeframes.
- Boards of health must establish review teams to recommend support and assistance plans.
- Board of health employees have rights of entry to premises for assessment and verification purposes.
- Information can be disclosed to review teams if reasonably required for their review.
- Medical officers of health must publish specified statistical information on their websites.
- The Act comes into force on the first anniversary of the day it receives Royal Assent.
- A person convicted of failing to report as required is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- A person who contravenes certain provisions of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, as applied by this bill, is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.
- Failure by a regulated health professional to report a suspicion of abuse or neglect is an offence, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.
- Obstruction of board of health employees in carrying out their duties under this Act (through application of the Health Protection and Promotion Act) is an offence, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.
- The bill does not specify the composition of the 'review team' beyond requiring at least one legally qualified medical practitioner. It also does not detail the specific qualifications for employees of a board of health who conduct assessments and verifications.
- The bill states that the Act comes into force on the first anniversary of receiving Royal Assent, but the exact date will depend on when Royal Assent is granted.
- While the bill overrides the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, it explicitly preserves solicitor-client privilege.
- The protection from liability for regulated health professionals and board of health employees applies unless they act maliciously or without reasonable grounds for suspicion.
Sections 41 to 43 of this Act will apply with necessary modifications to enable board of health employees to enter premises for the purpose of assessing and verifying information reported under the Support for Adults in Need of Assistance Act. Contravention of subsection 42(1) of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, as applied by this bill, will be an offence with a penalty of up to $5,000.
Source: Section 3(4) and 3(5)
The duty to report suspicions under this Act remains unaffected by the new reporting requirements in Bill 40.
Source: Section 2(4)
The reporting requirements in Bill 40 will prevail over provisions in this Act regarding confidentiality of personal health information, though solicitor-client privilege is specifically exempted.
Source: Section 2(9)
When publishing statistics under Bill 40, boards of health must ensure that no personal information, as defined in this Act, is disclosed.
Source: Section 5(5)
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