Bill 222 explained in plain English
Heat Stress 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
Bill 222 requires Ontario employers to implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard to protect employees from heat stress through engineering controls, work practice changes, breaks, cooling equipment, training, and compensation for time spent on heat protection activities.
Bill 222, the Heat Stress Act, 2024, amends Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act to add new requirements for protecting workers from heat stress. The bill requires the Minister to develop and implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard within 12 months that employers must follow. This standard must include measures to eliminate or reduce heat exposure through engineering controls (like ventilation or air conditioning), limits on exposure through adjusted work schedules, requirements for breaks and cooling equipment, heat stress assessments, and access to drinking water. All employers must develop a Heat Stress and Protection Policy and Program, consult with health and safety representatives, and ensure employees receive training on heat-related illness and their rights. Health and safety representatives and committee members must also receive specialized training on heat stress. Employees are entitled to be paid at their regular rate for any time required under the standard, including rest breaks, medical removal, and training. Training materials must be provided in English, French, and any other language understood by employees. For the first five years after the standard is implemented, the Minister must annually report to the Legislature on heat-related illness and mortality, and on enforcement activities. The bill comes into force 12 months after Royal Assent.
- Requires the Minister to develop and implement a Worker Heat Protection Standard that employers must follow
- The standard must include requirements to eliminate hazardous heat through engineering controls such as ventilation, insulation, and climate-control technologies
- The standard must include requirements to limit heat exposure through work procedure adjustments, work schedule changes, and other work practice modifications
- Requires employers to provide breaks, drinking water or hydrating fluid, and personal protective equipment such as cooling vests and garments at employer expense
- Requires every employer to develop and implement a Heat Stress and Protection Policy and Program in consultation with health and safety representatives or committees
- Requires employers to conduct heat stress assessments at least as frequently as prescribed (no less than annually) to determine if workers are exposed to thermal conditions likely to cause heat stress
- Requires employers to share heat stress assessment results with health and safety representatives or committees
- Requires training for employees and supervisors on heat-related illness signs and symptoms, emergency response, rights, heat monitoring, and response protocols
- Requires health and safety representatives and committee members to receive training on heat stress law, best practices, and prescribed learning objectives
- Entitles employees to receive compensation at their regular rate for any time required under the Worker Heat Protection Standard, including rest periods, breaks, medical removal, and training
- Requires all training materials, posters, labels, hazard alerts, and written plans to be provided in plain language English, French, and any other language understood by employees
- Requires the Minister to annually report to the Legislature for the first five years on heat-related illness and mortality figures and ministry enforcement activities
- The standard comes into force 12 months after Royal Assent
- All employers in Ontario
- All employees in Ontario who may be exposed to heat stress
- Health and safety representatives and committee members
- Supervisors and managers
- Employees in all sectors, including educators, mechanics, agricultural workers, manufacturing workers, and other occupations
- The Ontario Ministry of Labour
- Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers
- Ontario Federation of Labour
- Employers must develop and implement a Heat Stress and Protection Policy and Program in consultation with health and safety representatives or committees
- Employers must conduct heat stress assessments at the prescribed frequency to determine worker exposure
- Employers must share heat stress assessment results with health and safety representatives or committees
- Employers must provide access to cool drinking water or adequate hydrating fluid close to every work area
- Employers must provide breaks and personal protective equipment such as cooling vests and garments at employer expense
- Employers must ensure employees receive training on heat-related illness, emergency response, and their rights
- Employers must ensure supervisors receive training on heat monitoring, forecasts, and response protocols
- Employers must ensure health and safety representatives and committee members receive specialized heat stress training
- Employees have the right to receive compensation at their regular rate for time required under the Worker Heat Protection Standard
- Employees have the right to access cool drinking water and protective equipment
- Employees have the right to receive heat protection training
- All training and written materials must be provided in plain language English, French, and any other language understood by employees
- Bill 222 comes into force 12 months after receiving Royal Assent (Section 2)
- The Worker Heat Protection Standard must be implemented no later than 12 months after Section 42.1 comes into force (Section 42.1(2))
- The Worker Heat Protection Standard must be updated no less than once every 12 months (Section 42.1(4))
- Employers must review their Heat Stress and Protection Policy and Program no less than once every 12 months (Section 42.1(4))
- Employers must conduct heat stress assessments no less often than the prescribed frequency (which has not yet been specified) (Section 42.1(5))
- For five years after the Worker Heat Protection Standard is implemented, the Minister must annually present a report to the Legislature (Section 42.6)
- Employers must provide breaks, personal protective equipment (water-cooled garments, air-cooled garments, heat-reflective clothing, cooling vests), and access to cool drinking water or hydrating fluid at employer expense (Section 42.1)
- Employees must receive compensation at their regular rate for any period required under the Worker Heat Protection Standard, including rest breaks, breaks, medical removal protection, and training (Section 42.3)
- The bill text does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms beyond stating that the Ministry will enforce the Worker Heat Protection Standard and report annually on enforcement activities (Section 42.6)
- Enforcement is to be conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Labour under the existing Occupational Health and Safety Act framework
- The bill does not specify which frequencies or prescribed standards will apply to heat stress assessments; this will be determined through regulations or guidance after the standard is developed (Section 42.1(5))
- The bill does not specify what constitutes 'hazardous levels of heat stress' or the specific thermal thresholds that trigger requirements; these will be defined in the Worker Heat Protection Standard
- The bill does not detail what 'adequate alternative hydrating fluid' means or what alternatives will be considered acceptable
- The bill does not specify how 'another language understood by the employees' will be determined or what costs employers must bear for translation
- The bill does not specify penalties, fines, or enforcement consequences for non-compliance; these would be addressed through existing Occupational Health and Safety Act enforcement provisions
- The bill does not specify the cost to government or employers for developing, implementing, and maintaining the Worker Heat Protection Standard
- The bill states the Ministry will consult with specified organizations but does not require their approval or define how their recommendations will be considered
- The bill does not specify how medical removal protection will operate or what conditions trigger it
- The bill does not define specific engineering controls or technologies that must be used; the standard will establish which technologies are acceptable
- Section 42.5 states that nothing in the Worker Heat Protection Standard may reduce existing protections, but does not identify what existing heat protection standards currently exist in Ontario
Adds new Part IV.1 creating a comprehensive Worker Heat Protection Standard with requirements for heat stress elimination, exposure reduction, protective equipment, employer policies, assessments, training, and employee compensation for heat protection activities
Source: Section 1; Sections 42.1-42.6
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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Official sources
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