October 24th Weekly Update

Ontario Continuing to Reduce Red Tape to Help People and Businesses Thrive

Last Thursday, the Ontario government introduced the Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act, 2023 which, if passed, would help improve services for people and reduce costs for businesses. This bill is a key part of the province’s Fall 2023 Red Tape Reduction package which also includes several regulatory and policy changes to make it easier to interact with government, resulting in as many as 100,000 hours in time savings for people and businesses each year.

With the proposed legislation, Ontario is making meaningful changes to help open doors to new economic opportunities and reduce unnecessary burdens for individuals and businesses, not-for-profit organizations, municipalities, universities and colleges, school boards and hospitals.

The Less Red Tape, More Common Sense Act contains 32 new burden-reduction initiatives, including:

• Improving government forms to reduce the paperwork demands on physicians, which will free up time for physicians to put back into their practices.
• Streamlining the submission requirements for generic drugs to improve access to more treatment options for patients.
• Creating more pathways into the skilled trades and attracting more apprentices to in-demand trades, preparing Ontario’s workforce for rewarding life-long careers.
• Enhancing consumer protection by ensuring consumers have the information they need to make informed decisions when buying and selling vehicles.
• Amending the Ontario Heritage Act to make it easier and faster for faith groups to alter their places of worship to meet their unique needs.
• Amending the St. Lawrence Parks Commission Act to save time and costs related to routine easements over St. Lawrence Parks Commission land.

As the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction continues its work, people and businesses are encouraged to visit the Red Tape Portal at Ontario.ca/redtape and submit their ideas on ways the province can continue to make it easier to access services and do business in Ontario.

Every October, the government adjusts the OER to protect electricity customers from the normal year-to-year variability in electricity costs. Increasing the OER from 11.7 per cent to 19.3 per cent will ensure electricity bills remain affordable and predictable.

The government’s increased investment in the low-income targeted OESP, will support a significant expansion to the program, increasing the income eligibility thresholds for the program by up to 35 per cent. For example, a four-person household, which is eligible for an additional $40 each month in financial support, will see the maximum income eligibility threshold increase from $48,000 to $65,000 per year after-tax – an increase of $17,000.

“This significant investment is yet another example of our government’s commitment to making life more affordable for the people of Ontario, including individuals receiving social assistance,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services. “In addition to raising income support by nearly 12% over 12 months for people with disabilities through the Ontario Disability Support Program, we continue to help alleviate the cost of essentials for low-income families with programs like the OESP.”

The updated OER percentage will take effect November 1, 2023. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) which administers the OESP will introduce the increased income thresholds for that program on March 1, 2024.

Consumer protection laws have not been comprehensively reviewed and updated since the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, came into force in 2005. Since then, Ontario’s marketplace has transformed significantly with an increase in online shopping and the use of apps.

The Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023, builds on existing protections to strengthen consumer rights by:

• Prohibiting unfair business practices such as taking advantage of a consumer’s inability to understand language in a contract.
• Limiting when businesses can make one-sided contract amendments, renewals, and extensions without express consumer consent.
• Prohibiting businesses from creating unnecessary barriers when consumers are trying to cancel a subscription or membership-based contract.
• Providing fairer exit options to consumers and their families who find themselves locked indefinitely into a timeshare contract as well as homeowners tied to long-term leases for home comfort appliances like HVAC systems.
• Providing stronger enforcement powers to better enable the ministry to hold bad actors accountable including doubling maximum fines to further deter offences and egregious business behaviour.

The new Consumer Protection Act, 2023, would make it easier for businesses to comply with consumer protection rules in our increasingly digital-first marketplace. This includes a single set of core rules written in clear, simple language that would apply to most consumer contracts, whether for online or in-person purchases.

To prevent the harms that could be caused by identity theft, the proposed legislation would also make changes to the Consumer Reporting Act that would give Ontarians greater access to their credit information and greater ability to limit how their credit information is shared with third parties.

The government is also seeking public input on ways to address and reduce the harmful and inappropriate use of Notices of Security Interest (NOSIs) against unsuspecting consumers. A NOSI is a notice that can be registered on the land registry system by a business when it finances or leases certain equipment on a property such as an HVAC unit. In some cases, homeowners are not aware a NOSI has been registered on their title and businesses have charged them exorbitant fees to discharge the NOSI.

Last Tuesday, Ontario launched the new Equipment and Training Fund to help long-term care homes purchase more diagnostic equipment and train staff so that they can better manage and treat residents’ conditions that most often lead to preventable hospital visits, such as urinary tract infections, falls, pneumonia and congestive heart failure.

Ontario is also increasing residents’ access to routine and urgent laboratory services such as blood work in the comfort of their homes by increasing reimbursements to long-term care homes that connect residents to faster, more convenient access to care through mobile community lab services.

Later this fall, Ontario will significantly expand the Nurse-Led Outreach Teams program into additional long-term care homes in underserved areas of the province. This innovative model of care will conveniently connect more residents to in-person and virtual consultations with a specialized team of nurse practitioners and registered nurses. These teams will also work together with emergency departments and long-term care homes to coordinate timely and rapid diagnostic services for residents.

These new initiatives build on Ontario’s two pilot projects with Humber River Hospital in Toronto and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie that are increasing residents’ access to more diagnostic imaging services, such as x-rays and ultrasounds. These projects are helping residents avoid emergency department visits by directly coordinating their appointments for diagnostic imaging services in the hospital.