Bill 208 explained in plain English
Sacred Spaces, Safe Places Act, 2024
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 Sacred Spaces, Safe Places Act, 2024, creates prohibited activities within 150 metres of religious institutions to protect access to them, with penalties for violations.
Bill 208, the Sacred Spaces, Safe Places Act, 2024, aims to protect access to religious institutions in Ontario. It defines a religious institution broadly and establishes 'access zones' around them, extending 150 metres from their property boundaries. Within these zones, the Act prohibits actions intended to dissuade people from accessing the institution, such as persistent requests to refrain from entering, physically interfering, intimidating, or engaging in threatening conduct. It also prohibits repeated electronic communication for dissuasion after a request to stop. The Act outlines penalties for contravening these prohibitions, including fines and imprisonment, and requires that individuals must have known about or been notified of the access zone's location to be convicted of an offence. It also provides a right to seek damages for losses and allows for court injunctions to prevent contraventions. Police officers are given the power to arrest without a warrant individuals believed to be committing an offence under the Act. The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Establishes the purpose of protecting access to religious institutions, including their safety, security, health, and privacy.
- Defines 'religious institution' to include buildings or structures primarily used for religious worship (like churches, mosques, synagogues, temples) and cemeteries.
- Creates 'access zones' around religious institutions, consisting of the property they occupy and an area extending 150 metres from their boundaries.
- Prohibits specific activities within these access zones, such as persuading someone to refrain from accessing the institution, persistently requesting them to refrain, observing or physically interfering with persons entering or leaving for the purpose of dissuading them, intimidating them, or engaging in threatening conduct.
- Prohibits repeated electronic communication for the purpose of dissuading someone after they have requested it to stop.
- Establishes offences for contravening these prohibitions, with penalties including fines and imprisonment, which vary based on whether it is a first or subsequent offence.
- Specifies that a person cannot be convicted of an offence unless they knew or were notified of the access zone's location before the contravention.
- Grants individuals who suffer losses due to a contravention a right to sue for damages.
- Empowers the Superior Court of Justice to issue injunctions to stop contraventions.
- Gives police officers the authority to arrest individuals without a warrant if they believe an offence under the Act has been or is being committed.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Religious institutions (churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, cemeteries)
- Individuals seeking to access religious institutions
- Individuals within 150 metres of religious institutions
- Police officers
- The Superior Court of Justice
- Individuals are prohibited from certain activities within access zones of religious institutions.
- Individuals have the right to claim damages if they suffer losses due to a contravention of section 3.
- Individuals have the right to request that repeated electronic communications for dissuasion cease.
- The Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Fines for contravening section 3: first offence up to $5,000, or up to six months imprisonment, or both; second or subsequent offence $1,000 to $10,000, or up to one year imprisonment, or both.
- A person who contravenes section 3 is guilty of an offence.
- Penalties for a first offence include a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
- Penalties for a second or subsequent offence include a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
- A person may be arrested without a warrant by a police officer if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that an offence has been committed or is being committed.
- The Superior Court of Justice may grant an injunction to restrain a person from contravening section 3.
- The Act does not specify what constitutes 'reasonable and probable grounds' for a police officer to arrest without a warrant.
- The determination of whether an activity is for the 'purpose of dissuading a person' is not explicitly defined.
- The specific mechanisms for 'giving notice' of an access zone's location to a person are not detailed.
- The Act does not specify the exact process or criteria for applying for an injunction, other than that it can be on the application of 'a person'.
This is the new Act that establishes prohibitions and penalties related to accessing religious institutions.
Source: Explanatory Note, Section 1
This Act defines 'religious institution' and 'access zones'.
Source: Section 2, Section 4
This Act sets out prohibitions on activities within access zones.
Source: Section 3
This Act creates offences and penalties for contravening the prohibitions.
Source: Section 5
This Act sets conditions for conviction related to knowledge of access zones.
Source: Section 6
This Act provides a right to damages for losses resulting from contraventions.
Source: Section 7
This Act grants the Superior Court of Justice the power to grant injunctions.
Source: Section 8
This Act provides powers of arrest without a warrant for offences.
Source: Section 9
This Act is referenced in the definition of 'property' for a religious institution.
Source: Section 2
This Act is referenced in the definition of 'property' for a religious institution.
Source: Section 2
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