Bill 29 explained in plain English
Turn Down the Heat Act (Extreme Heat Awareness), 2025
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 44th 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 29 establishes Extreme Heat Awareness Week (first week of June) and requires the Ontario government and municipalities to provide extreme heat information to households.
This bill creates several new measures to increase public awareness about extreme heat in Ontario. First, it officially declares the first week in June each year as Extreme Heat Awareness Week. Second, it requires the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to publish information on a government website about: - How Ontarians can prepare for extreme heat weather events - Preventative measures to reduce heat-related health problems - A guide to public resources about extreme heat risks in Ontario - Answers to frequently asked questions about extreme heat Third, the bill ensures that before the end of each year, this information is mailed to every household in Ontario territories that do not have municipal government. Fourth, the bill changes how Toronto and other Ontario municipalities send tax bills. The City of Toronto's treasurer and treasurers in other municipalities must now include the extreme heat information materials along with property tax bills sent to taxpayers. The bill comes into force (becomes law) when it receives Royal Assent. However, most of the specific requirements (sections 2 to 5) do not take effect until three months after Royal Assent.
- Proclaims the first week in June in each year as Extreme Heat Awareness Week
- Requires the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to publish information about extreme heat preparation, preventative measures, public resources, and frequently asked questions on a Government of Ontario website
- Requires the Minister to mail extreme heat information to every household in territories without municipal organization before the end of each year
- Amends the City of Toronto Act, 2006 to require the city treasurer to send extreme heat information materials with all property tax bills to taxpayers
- Amends the Municipal Act, 2001 to require municipal treasurers to send extreme heat information materials with all property tax bills to taxpayers
- Sets commencement dates: the proclamation comes into force on Royal Assent, while information publication and tax bill requirements come into force three months after Royal Assent
- Ontario residents and property taxpayers who receive property tax bills from municipalities and the City of Toronto
- The City of Toronto and all other Ontario municipalities that issue property tax bills
- The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, who must publish information on a government website and mail information to unincorporated territories
- Households in Ontario territories without municipal organization (unincorporated areas)
- City treasurers and municipal treasurers responsible for sending tax bills to taxpayers
- The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks must publish extreme heat information (preparation tips, preventative measures, resource guides, FAQs) on a Government of Ontario website
- The Minister must mail extreme heat information to every household in territories without municipal organization before the end of each year
- The City of Toronto's treasurer must include extreme heat information materials with every property tax bill sent to taxpayers
- Municipal treasurers (in municipalities other than Toronto) must include extreme heat information materials with every property tax bill sent to taxpayers
- Section 1 (Extreme Heat Awareness Week proclamation) comes into force on the day the Act receives Royal Assent
- Sections 2 to 5 (website information, mailouts, and tax bill requirements) come into force on the day that is three months after the Act receives Royal Assent
- The bill does not specify funding to municipalities or Toronto for the cost of printing and mailing extreme heat information materials with tax bills
- Municipalities and the City of Toronto may incur costs for materials, printing, and distribution of extreme heat information with tax bills
- The bill does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms for municipalities that fail to include extreme heat information with tax bills
- The bill does not specify what form the extreme heat information materials must take (printed, digital, etc.) when included with tax bills
- The bill does not define what constitutes a 'territory without municipal organization' or provide a list of such territories
- The bill does not specify the size, length, or detailed content of the materials to be included with tax bills beyond requiring they contain 'information described in section 2'
- The bill does not indicate whether the cost of printing and mailing these materials will be covered by provincial funding or absorbed by municipalities
- The bill does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms if municipalities fail to comply with the requirement to include information with tax bills
- The bill does not clarify how often the government website information must be updated or maintained
The City of Toronto's treasurer must now include materials with extreme heat information when sending property tax bills to taxpayers. This is a new requirement added to the section that governs how the city treasurer handles tax bills.
Source: Section 4 of Bill 29
Municipal treasurers in Ontario (outside Toronto) must now include materials with extreme heat information when sending property tax bills to taxpayers. This is a new requirement added to the section that governs how municipal treasurers handle tax bills.
Source: Section 5 of Bill 29
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.
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