Bill 31 explained in plain English
Marriage Amendment Act, 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 31 amends the Marriage Act to allow Members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to solemnize marriages after giving written notice to the Minister, with this authority continuing for 12 months after they leave office.
Bill 31, also known as the Marriage Amendment Act, 2025, makes changes to Ontario's Marriage Act. It allows a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to solemnize marriages if they have provided written notice to the relevant Minister. This authorization will remain in effect for 12 months after the individual stops being a Member of the Assembly. The Act came into force on the day it received Royal Assent.
- Amends the Marriage Act to allow Members of the Legislative Assembly to solemnize marriages.
- Requires a Member of the Legislative Assembly to give written notice to the Minister to be authorized to solemnize marriages.
- Specifies that this authorization for a Member of the Legislative Assembly to solemnize marriages will continue for 12 months after they cease to be a member.
- States that the Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
- The Minister responsible for the Marriage Act
- Individuals seeking to solemnize marriages
- Members of the Legislative Assembly have the right to solemnize marriages if they provide written notice to the Minister.
- The authorization to solemnize marriages for a former Member of the Legislative Assembly continues for 12 months after they leave office.
- The Act came into force on December 11, 2025, the day it received Royal Assent.
- The bill text does not specify what constitutes 'written notice' or the process for providing it to the Minister.
- The bill text does not detail the specific duties or responsibilities associated with solemnizing marriages under this new provision beyond the authorization itself.
Allows a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to solemnize marriages if written notice is given to the Minister. This authority continues for 12 months after the member leaves office.
Source: Section 1
Adds a provision that allows a member of the Legislative Assembly to solemnize marriages after giving written notice to the Minister.
Source: Section 1 (1)
Adds a new subsection that states the authority for a former member of the Legislative Assembly to solemnize marriages continues for 12 months after they cease to be a member.
Source: Section 1 (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.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill does not have a published recorded division in the current official sources, so representative-by-representative vote counts are not shown.
No published representative vote breakdown
The current official sources do not publish a recorded division breakdown for this bill, so there is no representative-by-representative table to show.
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