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Bill 67, Temporary Nursing Agency Licensing and Regulation Act, 2023

Shamji, Adil

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Bill 67 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts the Temporary Nursing Agency Licensing and

Regulation Act, 2023 .

The

Act adds a new licensing requirement for operators of temporary nursing

agencies. Applications for these licences must be submitted to the Registrar

appointed under the Act. The applications must contain a credentialling and monitoring

plan as well as a compliance plan.

Licences

requirement, a prohibition on unconscionable prices, limitations on work

assignment and recruitment practices and certain disclosure obligations. Contravention

of the Act or the regulations is an offence and is punishable on conviction by

a fine.

Bill 67 2023

Act respecting the licensing and regulation of temporary nursing agencies

His

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

this Act,

“client”,

in relation to a temporary nursing agency, means a person or entity that enters

into an arrangement with the agency under which the agency agrees to assign, attempt

to assign or offer work assignments to one or more nurses to perform work for

the person or entity on a temporary basis; (“client”)

“licence”

means a licence issued or renewed under

section 5; (“permis”)

“licensee”

means the holder of a licence; (“titulaire de permis”)

“Minister”

means the Minister of Health or such other member of the Executive Council to

whom responsibility for the administration of this Act may be assigned or

transferred under the Executive Council Act ;

(“ministre”)

“nurse”

means a member of the College of Nurses of Ontario; (“infirmière ou infirmier”)

“prescribed”

means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)

“Registrar”

means the registrar appointed under

section 2; (“registrateur”)

“regulations”

means the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”)

“temporary

nursing agency” means,

(

a) a

temporary help agency, as defined in the Employment

Standards Act, 2000 , that employs nurses for the purpose of assigning

them to perform work on a temporary basis for clients of the agency, or

(

b) an

agency or other organization that operates a platform, digital application or

marketplace to offer work assignments to nurses to perform work on a temporary

basis. (“agence de soins infirmiers temporaires”)

Registrar

(1) The

Minister shall appoint a Registrar for the purposes of this Act.

Qualifications

(2) A

person shall not be appointed as a Registrar under subsection (1) unless they have

education or experience in the following areas:

1. Health

care profession regulation.

2. The

evaluation of clinical performance against professional standards.

3. Quality

improvement in a health care setting.

Licence

to operate as a temporary nursing agency required

(1) No

person shall operate as a temporary nursing agency unless the person holds a

licence.

Publication

of licence

(2) A

licensee shall publish a copy of their licence and make it available to the

public for inspection.

Nurses

(3) No

nurse shall knowingly be employed by, or receive work assignments from, a

temporary nursing agency unless the agency has published a copy of their

licence as required by subsection (2).

Clients

(4) No

client shall knowingly engage or use the services of a temporary nursing agency

unless the client has confirmed that the agency has published a copy of their

licence as required by subsection (2).

Application

for licence

(1) A

person may submit an application to the Registrar to apply for a licence or the

renewal of a licence.

Required

contents

(2) An

application must include,

(

a) a

description of the agency’s nurse credentialling and monitoring plan

demonstrating that the agency will ensure that any nurses who are employed by

or who receive work assignments from the agency,

(

i) are

in good standing with their health profession College,

(ii) are

adequately educated for the work they will perform and are in compliance with

any continuing competency and quality assurance requirements that apply to

them,

(iii) are

maintaining adequate professional liability protection as required under the Nursing Act, 1991 ,

(iv) have

adequate training in infection prevention and control, and

(

v) have

not been convicted of a prescribed offence or been found guilty of a prescribed

act of professional misconduct; and

(

b) a

compliance plan detailing how the licensee will comply with the terms and

conditions of the licence in

section 10, particularly as they relate to

recruiting.

Issuance

of licence

The Registrar

shall issue a licence to an applicant or renew an applicant’s licence if the Registrar,

(

a) confirms

that the application is complete;

(

b) is

satisfied that the credentialling and monitoring plan and compliance plan will satisfy

the requirements of subsection 4 (2); and

(

c) is

licence.

Revocation

or suspension of licence

The Registrar

may revoke or suspend a licence if the Registrar determines that the licensee

is not in compliance with any of the requirements set out in

section 4.

Inspectors

(1) The

Registrar may appoint inspectors in accordance with the regulations.

Inspections

(2) Inspectors

may, in accordance with the regulations, conduct inspections of licensed

temporary nursing agencies to ensure compliance with this Act and with the

Complaints

(3) Any

person may make a complaint to the Registrar about a licensee or about a person

who is contravening this Act in accordance with the regulations.

Licence

not transferable

licence is not transferable.

Expiry

of licence

licence expires two years after the date it is issued or renewed.

Terms

and conditions

(1) Every

1. The

licensee shall establish consistent and predictable fees for nursing services

and must not employ dynamic pricing that is tied to short-term health human resource

demands, other than short-term fee increases during holiday periods that are established

at least one month in advance.

2. The

licensee shall not provide or offer to provide its services for a client at an

unconscionable price.

3. The

licensee shall not permit any of its employees to be assigned to work for a client

if they are currently employed by that client or if they were employed by that client

within the previous six months.

4. The

licensee shall ensure that they are not recruiting nurses away from their

existing positions.

5. The

licensee shall not engage in restrictive employment practices, including but

not limited to requiring their nurses to sign non-compete clauses that stop the

nurses from being employed by a client of the agency.

6. The

licensee shall disclose a list of the nurses who are employees of the agency,

or who receive work assignments from the agency, upon request to any client or

prospective client.

7. The

licensee shall make any contracts they have with their clients available to the

public.

8. The

licensee shall publish their expenses, revenues and profits for each of their

fiscal years and make the information available to the public within 90 days

after the end of that fiscal year.

9. The

licensee shall comply with any other terms or conditions that may be prescribed.

Unconscionable

price

(2) For

the purposes of paragraph 2 of subsection (1), an unconscionable price includes

a price that is grossly excessive and established under circumstances in which

a client or prospective client faces significant pressure or faces severely

constrained nursing recruitment options.

Offence

and penalties

(1) A

person who contravenes this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and

on conviction is liable,

(

a) in

the case of an individual, to a fine of not more than $50,000; and

(

b) in

the case of a corporation, to a fine of not more than $100,000.

Same

(2) Despite

subsection (1), a person who contravenes subsection 3 (3) is guilty of an

offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.

Regulations

The Minister

may make regulations,

(

a) prescribing

anything that is referred to in this Act as being prescribed;

(

b) governing

the appointment of inspectors and their powers, functions and duties;

(

c) governing

inspections conducted under this Act;

(

d) governing

complaints made about licensees or other persons.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day that is six months after the day this Act

receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Temporary Nursing Agency Licensing and Regulation Act, 2023 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

November 2, 2023

Second Reading

Vote

Lost on division

November 1, 2023

Second Reading

Question put

Vote deferred

November 1, 2023

Second Reading

Debated

February 23, 2023

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

February 23, 2023

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

February 23, 2023

Carried

Second Reading

November 1, 2023

Fraser, John

Ottawa South

Gallagher Murphy, Dawn

Newmarket—Aurora

Gates, Wayne

Niagara Falls

Gélinas, France

Nickel Belt

Kusendova-Bashta, Natalia

Mississauga Centre

Mantha, Michael

Algoma—Manitoulin

Shamji, Adil

Don Valley East

Question put

November 2, 2023

Lost on division

Vote on second reading - Lost (November 2, 2023)

Ayes

(34) Jill Andrew

Doly Begum

Jessica Bell

Stephanie Bowman

Bobbi Ann Brady

Jeff Burch

Lucille Collard

John Fraser

Wayne Gates

France Gélinas

Chris Glover

Lisa Gretzky

Joel Harden

Andrea Hazell

Ted Hsu

Bhutila Karpoche

Terence Kernaghan

Sol Mamakwa

Michael Mantha

Mary-Margaret McMahon

Chandra Pasma

Tom Rakocevic

Peggy Sattler

Mike Schreiner

Adil Shamji

Sandy Shaw

Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens

Marit Stiles

Peter Tabuns

Monique Taylor

John Vanthof

Lise Vaugeois

Jamie West

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Nays

(68) Deepak Anand

Aris Babikian

Patrice Barnes

Will Bouma

Ric Bresee

Rick Byers

Hon. Paul Calandra

Hon. Raymond Sung Joon Cho

Hon. Stan Cho

Lorne Coe

Hon. Stephen Crawford

Rudy Cuzzetto

Jess Dixon

Hon. Doug Downey

Hon. Jill Dunlop

Hon. Rob Flack

Hon. Doug Ford

Michael D. Ford

Dawn Gallagher Murphy

Goldie Ghamari

Parm Gill

Hon. Ernie Hardeman

Hon. Mike Harris

Christine Hogarth

Hon. Kevin Holland

Hon. Sylvia Jones

Hon. Trevor Jones

John Jordan

Logan Kanapathi

Vincent Ke

Hon. Michael S. Kerzner

Hon. Andrea Khanjin

Hon. Natalia Kusendova-Bashta

Anthony Leardi

Hon. Stephen Lecce

Hon. Neil Lumsden

Robin Martin

Hon. Todd J. McCarthy

Hon. Caroline Mulroney

Billy Pang

Hon. Michael Parsa

Hon. David Piccini

Natalie Pierre

Hon. George Pirie

Hon. Nolan Quinn

Matthew Rae

Hon. Greg Rickford

Ross Romano

Sheref Sabawy

Amarjot Sandhu

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria

Stéphane Sarrazin

Brian Saunderson

Hon. Laurie Scott

Hon. Donna Skelly

Dave Smith

David Smith

Hon. Graydon Smith

Laura Smith

Todd Smith

Hon. Kinga Surma

Hon. Nina Tangri

Hon. Vijay Thanigasalam

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo

Effie J. Triantafilopoulos

Daisy Wai

Hon. Charmaine A. Williams

John Yakabuski

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