Bill 10 explained in plain English
Publication of Mandate Letters Act, 2022
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 43rd 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
Ontario Bill 10 requires the Premier to publish mandate letters given to cabinet members and parliamentary assistants, and removes the ability to withhold them under freedom of information exemptions for cabinet deliberations.
This Ontario law (Bill 10) makes two main changes: 1. It requires the Premier to publish "mandate letters" — written instructions sent to cabinet members and parliamentary assistants about their responsibilities and government priorities. These letters must be published on a government website within one week of being issued. The law also requires the Premier to publish any older mandate letters issued since June 7, 2018 within 60 days of the law coming into force. 2. It changes Ontario's freedom of information law (the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) so that mandate letters cannot be kept secret even if disclosure would normally reveal what cabinet discussed. In other words, cabinet cannot use its usual exemption to keep mandate letters confidential. The law came into force immediately upon receiving Royal Assent.
- Requires the Premier to publish mandate letters issued to members of the Executive Council (cabinet ministers) and Parliamentary Assistants
- Defines 'mandate letter' as a written communication issued by the Premier after elections, throne speeches, cabinet changes, or appointments, that sets out expectations for work and key policy objectives
- Requires publication on a government website within one week of issuance
- Requires publication of all mandate letters issued on or after June 7, 2018 within 60 days of the law coming into force
- Amends the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to prevent cabinet from withholding mandate letters based on the exemption for cabinet deliberations
- The Premier of Ontario (responsible for publishing mandate letters)
- Members of the Executive Council (cabinet ministers) who receive mandate letters
- Parliamentary Assistants who receive mandate letters
- Members of the public seeking access to mandate letters through freedom of information requests
- Government information officers administering freedom of information requests
- The Premier must publish the content of each mandate letter on a government website within one week of issuance
- The Premier must publish all mandate letters issued on or after June 7, 2018 within 60 days of the law coming into force
- Heads of public bodies cannot refuse to disclose mandate letters under the cabinet deliberations exemption in the freedom of information law
- The public has the right to access mandate letters through the freedom of information process without an exemption for cabinet discussions
- The law came into force on the day it received Royal Assent (August 2022)
- Mandate letters must be published within one week of issuance going forward
- Previously-issued mandate letters (from June 7, 2018 onwards) must be published within 60 days of the law coming into force
- The bill text does not specify which government website mandate letters must be published on
- The bill text does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms if the Premier fails to publish mandate letters or fails to meet the publication deadlines
- The bill text does not clarify whether the Premier can redact parts of mandate letters for privacy, security, or other reasons
- The bill text does not specify how mandate letters from before June 7, 2018 should be treated
- It is unclear how the law applies to mandate letters that may have already been published or destroyed
New section 2.1 defines what a mandate letter is and requires the Premier to publish mandate letters and previously-issued mandate letters on a government website
Mandate letters cannot be withheld under the cabinet deliberations exemption, even if disclosure would reveal cabinet discussions
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