Bill 56 explained in plain English

Bill 56 proclaims the fourth week of March as Flooding Awareness Week and requires the government and municipalities to provide flood information to the public through a website and on tax bills.

Bill 56, called the Fewer Floods, Safer Ontario Act, 2022, is about raising public awareness of flooding issues in Ontario. The bill does four main things: 1. It designates the fourth week in March each year as "Flooding Awareness Week" in Ontario. 2. It requires the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to create and maintain a government website with four types of information: what Ontarians can do to prepare for floods in their area; information about preventative measures to help prevent or reduce floods; a guide to publicly available resources about flooding risks in Ontario; and answers to frequently asked questions about flooding risks. 3. It requires the Minister to mail information about flooding (as described on the website) to every household in territories without municipal organization before the end of each year. 4. It requires municipalities to include flood information materials with tax bills they send to taxpayers. This applies to the City of Toronto (through changes to the City of Toronto Act) and all other Ontario municipalities (through changes to the Municipal Act). The bill's stated goal is to increase public knowledge and understanding of flooding risks, particularly for people with basements in areas prone to flooding. The bill notes that flooding is now Canada's costliest climate issue and that basement floods cost an average of $43,000.