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OntarioPassed43rd Parliament, 1st Session

Bill 121 explained in plain English

Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024

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

At a glance

Jurisdiction
Ontario Legislature
Legislature / Parliament
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Session
43rd Parliament, 1st Session
Bill number
Bill 121
Full title
Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024
Current status
Passed
Latest event
Royal Assent received
Last updated
Dec 19, 2024

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.

Chamber
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Current Stage
Royal Assent received
Latest Activity
Dec 19, 2024
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 Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024, mandates the development of a provincial dementia care framework by the Minister of Health and a review of the Personal Support Worker Standard by the Minister of Colleges and Universities, with reporting requirements for both.

What It Means

Bill 121, the Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024, aims to enhance dementia care across Ontario. It requires the Minister of Health to create a provincial framework for dementia care, focusing on person-centred approaches, training, and equitable access. It also mandates the Minister of Colleges and Universities to review the Personal Support Worker Standard to potentially include more specialized dementia care training. Both ministers are required to report their findings to the Legislative Assembly and publish them online.

What This Bill Does
  • Requires the Minister of Health to develop a provincial framework to ensure quality dementia care is accessible to all Ontarians.
  • Specifies that the provincial framework should cover aspects like person-centred dementia care, training needs, support for caregivers, research, equitable access, and the needs of specific patient populations.
  • Requires the Minister of Health to consult with various stakeholders, including other ministries, the federal government, and dementia care providers, when developing the framework.
  • Mandates the Minister of Health to report on the provincial framework and the state of dementia care in Ontario to the Legislative Assembly.
  • Requires the Minister of Colleges and Universities to review the Personal Support Worker Standard to consider incorporating in-depth learning about person-centred dementia care, experiential training with dementia patients, and communication techniques.
  • Requires the Minister of Colleges and Universities to report on the results of the Personal Support Worker Standard review to the Legislative Assembly.
  • Ensures that reports from both the Minister of Health and the Minister of Colleges and Universities are published on a Government of Ontario website.
Who Is Affected
  • Ontarians living with dementia and their caregivers
  • The Minister of Health
  • The Minister of Colleges and Universities
  • Health care providers
  • Personal Support Workers
  • Hospitals
  • Home care providers
  • Long-term care homes
  • Hospices
  • Community care service providers
  • Other affected ministries of the Ontario government
  • The federal government
  • Dementia care providers and organizations
  • The Alzheimer's Society of Ontario
  • The Ontario Brain Institute
  • Ontario Health
  • Ontario Health Teams
Rights, Duties, Or Obligations
  • The Minister of Health is obligated to develop a provincial framework for dementia care.
  • The Minister of Health is obligated to report on the provincial framework and the state of dementia care.
  • The Minister of Colleges and Universities is obligated to review the Personal Support Worker Standard.
  • The Minister of Colleges and Universities is obligated to report on the review of the Personal Support Worker Standard.
  • Reports are required to be published on a Government of Ontario website.
Important Dates
  • This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent (December 19, 2024).
  • The Minister of Colleges and Universities must lay its report before the Assembly within one year after the day on which this Act comes into force.
Uncertainties Or Limits
  • The bill does not specify what 'timely manner' means for the tabling and publication of reports by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Colleges and Universities.
  • The bill does not specify the exact changes to be made to the Personal Support Worker Standard, only that a review will be conducted to determine if changes are needed.
Laws Or Regulations Affected
Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024
enacts

This bill enacts a new law titled the Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2024, which establishes requirements for developing a provincial dementia care framework and reviewing personal support worker training standards.

Source: Bill 121 (Chapter 32 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2024)

Provincial framework on dementia care
establishes a requirement for development

The bill requires the Minister of Health to develop a provincial framework for dementia care.

Source: Section 1(2)

Personal Support Worker Standard
requires review

The bill requires the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to review the existing 'Personal Support Worker Standard' to determine if changes are needed regarding dementia care training.

Source: Section 2(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
Jun 5, 2023
Step 2
Second reading
Dec 11, 2024
Step 3
Committee review
Dec 3, 2024
Step 4
Third reading
Dec 11, 2024
Step 5
Royal assent
Dec 19, 2024

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
Laura Smith
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario | Thornhill
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