Summary#

The Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023 was enacted as Chapter 9 of Ontario’s 2023 statutes. It enacts two new Acts and amends many others; its stated goal is to reduce red tape and strengthen the economy, which is a goal, not a guaranteed result. Some provisions start only on a date set by proclamation, and the supplied material does not confirm whether those dates have since been set.

• Businesses, non-profits, co-operatives and condo corporations: Changes across several Acts allow electronic or hybrid meetings and, in some cases, remote access to records. Organizations may set limits in their governing documents; many remote-access provisions say they may, not that they must, offer access.
• Agriculture: A new Act, the Protecting Farmers from Non-Payment Act, is to replace three existing Acts. It sets up rules for designated farm products, including licensing, payment agreements, storage, trust funds, compensation funds, inspections and penalties. The Minister decides by regulation which products are covered. The new Act starts on a proclamation date.
• Towing and storage: Operators must submit their charges to the Director, who must publish them; operators generally cannot charge more than the published amount. The Minister may set maximum charges by regulation. These changes start on a proclamation date.
• Oil and gas: The bill gives the Minister power to designate certain innovative projects using wells as “special projects,” and to exempt them from legal requirements or substitute other requirements if the Minister considers safety and the environment adequately protected. Some special-project provisions start on a proclamation date.
• Developmental-disability services: The bill sets out a system for funding entities to prepare service-and-support profiles and prioritize applications. They may use waiting lists when funds or services are not immediately available and must report on those lists. These changes start on a proclamation date.
• Other changes: The Act also creates an Ontario law for international child and family support cases; allows certain energy-sector pilot projects to receive licence exemptions; changes some agency appointments and trustee protections; and adds a snowplow-overtaking offence. Minor technical changes are also included.

What it means for you#

• People attending organization or condo meetings: Meetings may be held entirely online or in a mix of online and in-person formats. The rules require reasonable participation for members or owners; director meetings must allow everyone to communicate at the same time. Governing documents may limit the options.
• Farmers and agricultural businesses: If their product is designated under the new Act, dealers and storage operators will face rules including licensing and written agreements. Farmers may be able to claim from a fund if a licensed dealer does not pay or a licensed storage operator does not return stored products. Which products are covered, and the detailed rules, depend on regulations.
• People using towing or storage services: The new charge rules are intended to make operators’ prices visible and limit charges to published amounts, or to a prescribed maximum where one applies. The Act also provides for rules on consent and estimates, but the circumstances and details depend on regulations.
• People with developmental disabilities and their families: A funding entity must prepare a profile for an eligible applicant and prioritize applications under policy directives. If services or funding are unavailable immediately, the entity may place the applicant on a waiting list. The bill does not guarantee that a service or funding will be available immediately.
• People involved in international support cases: The new Act provides procedures for recognition, enforcement, establishment and modification of child-support and some family-maintenance decisions across participating countries. Its operation depends on the Convention taking effect for Ontario.
• Drivers: The bill makes it an offence to overtake snowplows travelling in echelon on certain divided highways unless the passing lane is entirely clear of every part of the plow formation. The fine is $150 to $1,000. This provision starts on a proclamation date.
• Taxpayers and people dealing with public agencies: The bill protects some public-agency trustees from personal proceedings for good-faith acts or omissions in their duties. The agencies’ own liability is preserved. It does not create a general immunity for the agencies.

Money#

No cost estimate is included in the supplied material.

• The agricultural law allows a discretionary grant of up to $25,000 to a new fund. It also allows certain loans and loan guarantees; further support can be authorized, but the law does not require it.
• Agricultural funds may receive prescribed fees from producers or owners. The amounts and which products are covered depend on regulations.
• The towing law requires operators to submit their charges, but the material gives no estimate of operators’ costs to comply.
• The Act allows some administrative penalties and court fines, but the material does not estimate how much will be collected.
• No publicly available information is provided about the staffing or operating costs of the new or changed arrangements.

What is unclear#

• The full parent Acts were not supplied, so the complete effect of every amendment against current law could not be verified.
• The material does not say which proclamation-triggered provisions have since started. No publicly available information.
• Regulations will decide key details for the agricultural, towing, developmental-disability and energy-pilot provisions, including coverage, requirements and processes. Those details are not in the supplied material.
• The agricultural law gives the Minister wide power to designate products and to set rules for fees, funds, claims and licensing. The effects will depend on how those powers are used.
• The international-support Act makes the Convention law in Ontario only when it enters into force under the Convention. The supplied material does not establish when that happens for Ontario.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the electronic-meeting and record-access changes is that they let organizations use technology while retaining participation rules and allowing governing documents to set limits.
• The agricultural provisions appear intended to address non-payment to producers and failures to return stored products, using licensing, trust rules, compensation funds and enforcement powers.
• The towing price rules could make charges easier to compare and give the Director a way to address amounts considered unreasonably high.
• The international-support Act creates a legal route for handling support cases involving other participating countries, using procedures linked to Ontario’s existing interjurisdictional support law.

Case against#

• Important protections and obligations in several areas depend on future regulations or policy directives. The bill itself leaves many practical details open.
• The agricultural, towing and developmental-disability changes create or alter substantial administrative systems, but the supplied material gives no operating-cost estimates.
• Some new powers are broad. For example, the Minister may exempt special projects from requirements if safety and environmental protection are, in the Minister’s opinion, adequate; the bill does not set out the full replacement rules.
• Good-faith immunity limits proceedings against certain trustees and officials. Although institutional liability is preserved in several provisions, people may have fewer routes to pursue individual trustees for covered conduct.