E-Commerce Act, 2000 Hastings, John — Bill 70 (37th Parliament, 1st Session)

Bill 70, 37-1

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 70, E-Commerce Act, 2000

Hastings, John

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[37] Bill 70 Original (PDF)

Bill 70

Bill 702000

An Act with respect to

electronic information,

documents and payments

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

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1. In this Act, "

electronic" includes created, recorded, transmitted or stored in digital

form or in other intangible form by electronic, magnetic or optical means or

by any other means that has capabilities for creation, recording,

transmission or storage similar to those means and "electronically" has a

corresponding meaning; ("lectronique") "

electronic signature" means information in electronic form that a person

has created or adopted in order to sign a document and that is in, attached

to or associated with the document; ("signature lectronique") "

government body" means any of the following:

1.The government of Ontario.

2.A ministry of the government of Ontario.

3.A municipal corporation, including a metropolitan, district or regional

municipality or the County of Oxford.

4.A school board, public utilities commission, hydro-electric commission,

transit commission, suburban roads commission, public library board, board of

health, police commission, conservation authority, district social services

administration board, local services board, planning board, local roads

board, police village or joint committee of management or joint board of

management established under the Municipal Act .

5.Any agency, board, commission, corporation or other body designated as

an institution in the regulations; ("organisme gouvernemental") "

prescribed" means prescribed by the regulations made under this Act;

("prescrit") "

regulations" means the regulations made under this Act. ("rglements")

Application

2. (1)This Act does not apply to,

(a)wills;

(b)trusts created by wills;

(c)powers of attorney for property and powers of attorney for personal

care;

(d)documents that create or transfer interests in land and that require

registration to be effective against third parties;

(e)a prescribed class of document or instrument.

Negotiable instruments excluded

(2)Except for this Part and

Part III, this Act does not apply in respect

of negotiable instruments, including negotiable documents of title.

Other Acts not limited

(3)Nothing in this Act limits the operation of any law that expressly

authorizes, prohibits or regulates the use of information or documents in an

electronic form.

Same

(4)For the purpose of subsection (3), a law does not prohibit the use of

information or documents in an electronic form just because the law contains

the words "in writing" and "signature" or similar words or expressions.

Crown bound

3. This Act binds the Crown.

Interpretation

4. The provisions of this Act relating to the

satisfaction of a requirement of law apply whether or not the law creates an

obligation or provides consequences for doing something or for not doing

something.

PART I

PROVISION AND RETENTION OF

INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS

Legal recognition

5. No information or document to which this Act applies

shall be denied legal effect and enforceability just because the information

or document is in an electronic form.

Acceptance of electronic information

6. (1)Nothing in this Act requires a person to use or

accept information or a document in an electronic form.

Consent inferred

(2)The consent of a person that is not a government body to accept or use

information or a document in an electronic form may be inferred from the

person's conduct.

Consent of government body

(3)A government body is not presumed to consent to accept information or a

document in an electronic form unless it expresses its consent by

communication accessible to the public or to those likely to communicate with

it for particular purposes.

Requirement for written information

7. A requirement in law that information or a document be

in writing is satisfied by information or a document in an electronic form if

the information or document is accessible so as to be usable for subsequent

reference.

Providing information in writing

8. A requirement in law for a person to provide

information or a document in writing to another person is satisfied by the

provision of the information or document in an electronic form if the

following conditions are met:

1.The information or document that is provided to the other person is

accessible by the other person and capable of being retained by the other

person so as to be usable for subsequent reference.

2.The other person has consented to accept information or documents in an

electronic form in satisfaction of the requirement.

3.The information or document in an electronic form meets the information

technology standards and acknowledgement rules, if any, established by the

other person.

Providing information in specific form

9. A requirement in law for a person to provide

information or a document to another person in a specified non-electronic

form is satisfied by the provision of the information or document in an

electronic form if the following conditions are met:

1.The information or document in an electronic form is provided in the

same or substantially the same form and is accessible by the other person and

capable of being retained by the other person so as to be usable for

subsequent reference.

2.The other person to which the information or document is to be provided

has consented to accept information or documents in an electronic form in

satisfaction of the requirement.

3.The information or document in an electronic form meets the information

technology standards and acknowledgement rules, if any, established by the

other person.

Signatures

10. (1)Subject to prescribed requirements, if any, made

under subsection (2), a requirement in law for the signature of a person is

satisfied by an electronic signature if,

(a)the person to whom the signature or signed documents are to be provided

has consented to accept electronic signatures; and

(b)the electronic document meets the information technology standards and

requirements as to method and as to reliability of the signature, if any,

established by the person to whom the signature or signed documents are to be

provided.

Regulation

(2)The Lieutenant Governor in Council may by regulation,

(a)require an electronic signature to be reliable for the purpose of

identifying the person, in light of all the circumstances, including any

relevant agreement and the time the electronic signature was made;

(b)require the association of the electronic signature with the relevant

electronic document to be reliable for the purpose for which the electronic

document was made, in light of all the circumstances, including any relevant

agreement and the time the electronic signature was made.

Provision of originals

11. (1)A requirement in law that a person present or

retain information or a document in original form is satisfied by the

provision or retention of the information or document in an electronic form

if the following conditions are met:

1.There exists a reliable assurance as to the integrity of the information

or document in the electronic form from the time it was first made in its

final form, whether as a paper document or otherwise.

2.Where the information or document in original form is to be provided to

a person, the information or document in the electronic form that is provided

to the person is accessible by the person and capable of being retained by

the person so as to be usable for subsequent reference.

3.Where the information or document in original form is to be provided to

a person, the person has consented to accept information or documents in an

electronic form in satisfaction of the requirement.

4.Where the information or document in original form is to be provided to

a person, the information or document in the electronic form meets the

information technology standards and acknowledgement rules, if any,

established by the person.

Criteria for integrity and reliability

(2)For the purpose of paragraph 1 of subsection (1),

(a)the criterion for assessing integrity is whether the information or

document has remained complete and unaltered, apart from the introduction of

any changes that arise in the normal course of communication, storage and

display; and

(b)the standard of reliability required shall be assessed in light of the

purpose for which the information or document was made and in light of all

the circumstances.

Document not capable of being retained

12. Information or document in an electronic form shall be

deemed not to be capable of being retained if the person providing the

information or document inhibits the printing or storage of the information

or document by the recipient.

Retention of information and documents

13. A requirement in law to retain information or a

document is satisfied by the retention of the information or document in an

electronic form if the following conditions are met:

1.The information or document is retained in the format in which it was

made, sent or received, or in a format that does not materially change the

information or document.

2.The information or document will be accessible so as to be usable for

subsequent reference by any person who is entitled to have access to the

information or document or who is authorized to require its production.

3.Where the information or document was sent or received, information, if

any, that identifies the origin and destination of the information or

document and the date and time when it was sent or received is also

retained.

Copies

14. Where information or a document may be provided in an

electronic form, a requirement in law for one or more copies of the

information or a document to be provided to a single addressee at the same

time is satisfied by the submission of a single version in an electronic

form.

Other requirements apply

15. Nothing in this

Part limits the operation of any

requirement in law for information or a document to be posted or displayed in

a specified manner or for any information or document to be delivered in a

specified manner.

Forms

16. (1)If a person is required by or under a statute to

provide information or a document, the minister of the Crown responsible for

the statute may prescribe electronic means to be used to provide the

information or document and the use of those means satisfies that

requirement.

Electronic forms

(2)If a statute sets out a form, the authority responsible for the form

may make an electronic form that is substantially the same as the form set

out in the statute and the electronic form is to be considered as the form

set out in the statute.

Prescribed forms

(3)A provision of a statute that authorizes the prescription of a form or

the manner of submitting a form includes the authority to prescribe an

electronic form or electronic means of submitting the form, as the case may

be.

Collection, storage, etc.

17. (1)In the absence of an express provision in a law

that electronic means may not be used or that they must be used in specified

ways, a government body may use electronic means to create, collect, receive,

store, transfer, distribute, publish or otherwise deal with documents or

information.

Same

(2)For the purpose of subsection (1), a law does not expressly provide

that electronic means may not be used or that they must be used in specified

ways just because the law contains the words "in writing" and "signature" or

similar words or expressions.

Electronic payments to government bodies

18. (1)A payment that is authorized or required to be made

to a government body

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 70, 37-1
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s1 bill 70 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	2877c4bd56fd62fb92c4d0ad441cb9f7910caffa

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