Bill 160 explained in plain English
Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2023
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
The Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2023, requires the Minister of Health to develop a strategic action plan, establish a secretariat, and form a science advisory board to address the health impacts of the climate crisis in Ontario.
This bill, titled the Climate Crisis Health Action Plan Act, 2023, aims to prepare Ontario's public health and health care systems for the health risks associated with the climate crisis. It proposes the creation of a strategic action plan, a Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat, and a science advisory board. The action plan will be reviewed and updated at least every four years.
- Requires the Minister of Health to develop and publish a strategic action plan to prepare Ontario's public health and health care systems for health risks from the climate crisis.
- Mandates the establishment of a Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat to help the Minister develop, revise, and implement the strategic action plan.
- Requires the establishment of a science advisory board, made up of public health professionals and climate scientists, to advise the Minister on climate change and health.
- States that the strategic action plan must be reviewed and potentially updated at least every four years.
- Requires the strategic action plan and any amendments to be published on the Government of Ontario website.
- The Minister of Health
- The public health system in Ontario
- The health care system in Ontario
- Public health professionals
- Health care professionals
- The public in Ontario
- Communities vulnerable to climate crisis health impacts
- Municipalities
- First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities
- Members of the scientific community
- Organizations representing healthcare professionals and providers
- The Executive Council
- The Environment Minister (Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks)
- The Minister of Health is obligated to develop and publish a strategic action plan within two years of the Act receiving Royal Assent.
- The Minister of Health is obligated to establish the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat and a science advisory board.
- The Minister of Health is obligated to review and potentially update the strategic action plan every four years.
- The strategic action plan must include specific components such as identifying health risks, vulnerable populations, communication strategies, government programs for research, assessment of existing strategies, infrastructure priorities, funding and guidance for public health units and health care facilities, modelling and forecasting tools, and support for centres of excellence.
- The strategic action plan must include systems for monitoring the impacts of the climate crisis on health and the capacity to respond.
- The Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat has a mandate to assist with the action plan, gather and disseminate information, track data, expand modelling capacity, perform research, identify at-risk groups and locations, communicate impacts, develop partnerships, provide technical assistance to municipalities and First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and develop preparedness and response plans and training programs.
- The science advisory board is to provide scientific and technical advice to the Minister on climate crisis impacts on public health and relevant scientific developments.
- The Minister must consult with various individuals and organizations when developing or revising the strategic action plan.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- The Minister must develop and publish the strategic action plan on or before the second anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent.
- The Minister must review the strategic action plan on or before the fourth anniversary of the day the Act receives Royal Assent and every four years after that.
- The strategic action plan must include provisions for preparing a plan to provide funding and guidance to public health units and health care facilities. (Section 3(1)(g))
- The strategic action plan must identify health care infrastructure projects of critical priority. (Section 3(1)(f))
- The Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat is to communicate the risks and costs associated with the climate crisis. (Section 4(1)(g))
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out the intent and purpose of this Act. (Section 7)
- The specific content of regulations that may be made by the Lieutenant Governor in Council is not fully detailed, beyond general areas like implementation of the action plan, prescribing matters for monitoring, and governing the procedures of the science advisory board.
- The Act does not specify the exact number of members for the Climate Crisis and Health Secretariat or the specific criteria for their appointment, beyond being public health professionals and climate scientists for the advisory board.
- The Act refers to 'any other prescribed matter' for monitoring in the strategic action plan (Section 3(3)(12)), indicating that further details may be established through regulations.
- The Act defines 'Minister' as the Minister of Health or another member of the Executive Council assigned responsibility, and 'Environment Minister' similarly. The specific assignment of these roles may vary.
- The Act mentions 'other levels of government' and 'international organizations' for partnership development, without specifying which ones.
This Act establishes new requirements and structures for addressing the health impacts of the climate crisis in Ontario.
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