Bill 67 explained in plain English
Racial Equity in the Education System Act, 2022
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
Bill 67 amends multiple Ontario education and post-secondary laws to establish anti-racism requirements, policies, and training for schools, colleges, universities, and teachers.
Bill 67 makes changes to several Ontario laws to add anti-racism and racial equity requirements across the education system. For schools: School boards must now develop and provide annual anti-racism training for teachers and staff, support students and staff who have experienced racism, establish protocols for reporting and investigating racism incidents, and create racial equity plans. Teachers' performance evaluations will include their anti-racism awareness and efforts to promote racial equity. The bill makes it an offence (with a maximum fine of $200) to disrupt school or class proceedings using racist language or activities. Students who engage in racist behaviour or use racist language can be subject to discipline under existing frameworks. For teacher certification: Anyone applying for a teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Teachers must now complete prescribed anti-racism examinations and training. For colleges and universities: All publicly funded colleges and universities must develop and implement anti-racism policies, review them every three years, collect data on racism incidents and anti-racism initiatives, report to their boards annually, and conduct surveys every three years on the effectiveness of their policies. The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario and the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology councils must each have at least one member with expertise in racial equity. General definitions: The bill adds definitions of "anti-racism" and "racism" to multiple education laws. "Anti-racism" means opposing racism including anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Asian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. "Racism" means using socially constructed ideas of race to justify or support the notion that one race is superior to another. The bill also updates the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 to include "anti-Asian racism" in its scope and changes which government body approves anti-racism strategies (from the Lieutenant Governor in Council to the Minister). The act comes into force upon receiving Royal Assent.
- Adds definitions of 'anti-racism' and 'racism' to the Education Act, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005, Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002, and Anti-Racism Act, 2017
- Requires school boards to provide annual anti-racism and racial equity professional development for teachers and staff
- Requires school boards to provide programs and supports for students, teachers, and staff affected by racism or who have engaged in racist behaviour
- Requires school boards to establish protocols for recognizing, investigating, and responding to racism incidents
- Requires every school board to develop and implement a racial equity plan addressing issues specified by provincial policies and guidelines
- Makes it an offence to disrupt school or class proceedings using racist language or engaging in racist activities, with a maximum fine of $200
- Adds racist behaviour and racist language to grounds for student discipline
- Requires the Minister to establish policies and guidelines on promoting racial equity in schools, covering training, support resources, reporting procedures, and disciplinary measures
- Adds anti-racism competency requirements to teacher performance appraisals
- Requires teacher candidates to complete prescribed anti-racism examinations and training to obtain teaching certificates
- Requires the Minister to direct school boards to develop anti-racism accountability programs if their new teacher induction programs lack anti-racism and racial equity training
- Requires all publicly funded colleges and universities to develop and implement anti-racism policies and review them every three years
- Requires colleges and universities to collect and report data on racism incidents, complaints, supports provided, and anti-racism initiatives to their boards and the Minister
- Requires colleges and universities to conduct surveys every three years on policy effectiveness and racism incidence
- Requires the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario to have at least one member with expertise in racial equity and to develop and implement a post-secondary racial equity strategy
- Requires Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology boards to have at least one member with expertise in racial equity
- Allows anti-racist education and training as an activity that colleges may undertake in carrying out their objects
- Requires certain council members to have proven commitment to racial equity or take anti-racism training if directed by the Minister
- Updates the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 to explicitly include anti-Asian racism in its scope and examples
- Changes authority for approving anti-racism strategies in the Anti-Racism Act from Lieutenant Governor in Council to the Minister
- Students in Ontario schools and publicly funded post-secondary institutions
- Teachers and school staff working in Ontario schools
- Teacher candidates applying for Ontario teaching certificates
- School boards and school principals
- Colleges of applied arts and technology that receive ongoing government operating funds
- Universities that receive ongoing government operating funds
- Members of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario
- Members of college and university boards of governors and boards of directors
- Parents and guardians of students
- Members of school councils and the general public
- School boards must provide annual anti-racism and racial equity training programs for teachers and staff
- School boards must provide support programs for students, teachers, and staff affected by racism or who have engaged in racist behaviour
- School boards must establish protocols for reporting, tracking, investigating, and responding to racism incidents
- Every school board must develop a racial equity plan and make it publicly available on their website or through other appropriate means
- School boards must review their racial equity plans every three years
- Teachers' performance appraisals must include competencies related to anti-racism awareness and promoting racial equity
- Teacher candidates must complete prescribed anti-racism examinations and training to obtain teaching certificates
- Colleges and universities must develop and implement anti-racism policies addressing racism involving students, faculty, and staff
- Colleges and universities must review anti-racism policies at least every three years
- Colleges and universities must collect and provide data to the Minister on racism incidents, complaints, supports provided, and anti-racism initiatives
- Colleges and universities must report annually to their boards of governors on racism-related matters
- Colleges and universities must participate in surveys every three years on anti-racism policy effectiveness and racism incidence
- At least one member of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario must have expertise in racial equity in post-secondary education
- At least one member of college boards and university boards must have expertise in racial equity
- Council members without proven commitment to racial equity may be required by the Minister to take anti-racism training within six months
- The Minister shall establish and must ensure policies and guidelines on promoting racial equity in schools are maintained
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent (section 38)
- School boards must allocate resources to establish and provide annual anti-racism professional development programs for teachers and staff (Education Act, section 170(1)(7.3))
- School boards must allocate resources to provide programs, interventions, and supports for students, teachers, and staff affected by racism (Education Act, section 170(1)(7.4))
- Colleges and universities must allocate resources to develop, implement, and review anti-racism policies and collect and report data on racism-related matters
- A person who disrupts or attempts to disrupt school or class proceedings through racist language or racist activities is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than $200 (Education Act, section 212(1.1))
- Students engaging in racist behaviour or using racist language may be subject to discipline under existing disciplinary frameworks (Education Act, section 306(1)(6.1))
- The Minister may direct school boards to further develop anti-racism accountability programs and resubmit reports if anti-racism training is not included in new teacher induction programs (Education Act, section 10.1(3))
- The bill text does not specify the exact content or duration of required anti-racism examinations and training for teacher candidates—these will be determined by future regulations made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council (Ontario College of Teachers Act, section 42(1)(c.0.0.2))
- The bill text does not provide details on the specific policies and guidelines the Minister must establish for promoting racial equity in schools—these will be developed after the bill receives Royal Assent (Education Act, section 301(7.1.1))
- The bill text does not specify what constitutes 'racist language' or 'racist activities' for the purposes of the offence in section 212(1.1), leaving this to be determined through enforcement and court interpretation
- The bill text does not provide specific criteria for what constitutes a 'proven commitment to racial equity' or details on what training must be provided if a council member is required to take anti-racism training
- The bill text indicates that regulations may prescribe processes, topics, training requirements, and other matters related to college and university anti-racism policies but does not detail what these regulations will contain (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, section 17.1(12))
- The bill text does not specify how 'reasonably taking steps' to protect personal information will be defined in practice (Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, section 17.1(9))
- The bill text does not state whether exemptions from anti-racism training requirements for teachers will be available or under what circumstances
Adds anti-racism and racial equity duties to school boards, creates offence for disrupting proceedings with racist language, requires racial equity plans, teacher performance appraisal changes, and establishes ministerial policies on racial equity
Adds racial equity expertise requirement for council membership, creates council responsibility for developing post-secondary racial equity strategy, and requires anti-racism training for members if needed
Adds new section establishing mandatory anti-racism policies for all publicly funded colleges and universities, including policy development requirements, data collection, reporting, and survey obligations
Requires teacher certificate candidates to complete prescribed anti-racism examinations and training, and gives Lieutenant Governor in Council power to make regulations on these requirements
Allows anti-racist education and training as a college activity, requires colleges to develop and implement anti-racism policies, adds racial equity expertise requirement to board membership, and requires member commitment to racial equity
Adds anti-Asian racism to the examples of systemic racism addressed by the Act and changes ministerial authority for certain anti-racism strategies from Lieutenant Governor in Council to the Minister
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