p44 s1 bill 101 b101rep e.pdf

Ontario — Bills

1ST SESSION, 44TH LEGISLATURE, ONTARIO 4 CHARLES III, 2026 Bill 101

An Act to amend various Acts in respect of education and child care The Hon. P. Calandra Minister of Education Government Bill 1st Reading April 13, 2026 2nd Reading April 16, 2026 3rd Reading Royal Assent (Reprinted as amended by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and as reported to the Legislative Assembly May 4, 2026) (The provisions in this bill will be renumbered after 3rd Reading)

This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a strikethrough for deleted text. ______________ EXPLANATORY NOTE

SCHEDULE 1 CHILD CARE AND EARLY YEARS ACT, 2014 The

Schedule makes the following amendments to the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014: 1. The Minister is given additional power to support operat ors of child care and early ye ars programs and services and service system managers. 2. The Minister is given power to assign an Ontario education number to a child who has not already been assigned one, if requested to do so by the child’s parent.

SCHEDULE 2 EDUCATION ACT The

Schedule amends the Education Act. Among the amendments are the following: 1. The Minister is given power to establish policies and guidelines, i. for the assessment of student achievement, ii. respecting board expense policies, iii. related to the use of educational materials in instruction, and iv. related to boards’ public communications. 2.

Paragraph 31 of subsection 8 (1) and subsections 169.1 (2.1) and (2.2) of the Act are repealed, removing the Minister’s power to establish policies and guidelines respecting school climate surveys and the related requirement that boards use those surveys to collect information from pupils, staff, parents and guardians to monitor and evaluate the policies. 3. The existing regulation-making powers respecting school bo ard controlled entities is amended to require the Minister’s approval regarding such entities in certain circumstances. 4.

Currently, the number of members on district school boards is determined under the Act, subject to the regulations. The amendments provide that the number provided for in the regulations shall be between 5 and 12. 5. Amendments are also made respecting the regulation-ma king powers relating to honoraria for members of boards. 6. The

Schedule amends

section 195 of the Act to require a board to obtain the Minister’s approval before acquiring a school site or other land. A new process is established under which a board must submit a request for the Minister’s approval to acquire land or to apply for approval to expropriate land, and the Minister must respond within a prescribed time period, if any. 7. Amendments are made to subsections 195 (4), (5) and (6) of the Act to expand the types of work to which the provisions apply, including additions, alterations, improvements and repairs.

New subsections 195 (7) to (9) permit the Minister to establish policies respecting the use of school sites, the requirements for obtaining Minister’s approvals and the addition to, or erection, alteration, improvement or repair of, buildings. 8. New

section 195.0.1 authorizes the Minister to give directions to a board, or to select a person or body to take control of the management of an addition to, or erection, alteration, impr ovement or repair of, a building, if the Minister is of the opinion that the board has not complied or is unlikely to comply with policies or regulations. The powers and obligations of a selected person or body, the board’s duty to co ‑operate and the Minister’s authority to issue directions are set out. The Minister may also require the board to pay fees and expenses incurred in relation to an order made under the section. 9.

Currently, the Act provides that where a board is subject to a vesting order, the ability of the board to enter into certain agreements or approve of the issuing of certain instrument s is subject to the approval of the Minister. The

Schedule amends the Act to provide that only the Minister, exercising the powers of the board, may enter into such agreements or require the issuing of such instruments. Related amendments are made, including to regulation-making powers. The Act is also amended to require certain procedural steps to be taken when the Minister provisionally exercises the power to make a vesting order. 10. Provisions are added respecting the situ ations where a board is required to obtain the Minister’s approval of its estimates. 11. Divisions C and F of

Part IX of the Act are repealed.

ii 12. The Minister is given power to assign an Ontario education number to a child who has not already been assigned one, if requested to do so by the child’s parent or guardian. 13. Various amendments are made respecting the role of the director of education in English-language district school boards. The director of education in such a board is the chief executive officer of the board and shall be referred to by the board as the chief executive officer of the boar d for all purposes. The director of education is required to appoint a chief education officer.

The director of education is a member of the board but is not entitled to exercise a binding vote. 14. Currently, the Act sets out certain processes that apply when French-language rights holders groups seek to develop proposals under

section 294 of the Act. The

Schedule amends the processes to provide for the Minister to perform the roles currently assigned to the Languages of Instruction Commission of Ontario and to make other related and consequential amendments. The

Schedule also repeals the provisions in the Act that provide for the continuation of the Commission. 15. Provisions are added respecting the personal liability of various persons, establishing vicarious liability and extinguishing certain causes of action. 16. Various related and consequential amendments are made.

SCHEDULE 3 HIGHER EDUCATION QUALITY COUNCIL OF ONTARIO ACT, 2005 The

Schedule amends the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005 . The board of the Council’s composition and appointment requirements in

section 2 of the Act are amended and new subsection 2 (3.1) provides for certain members to have been deemed appointed by the Minister. New

section 7.1 of the Act provides for the winding up of the Council and new

section 8.6 of the Act provides for the dissolution of the Council. New

section 8.1.1 of the Act provides that the Minister is required to prepare the final annual report of the Council. New sections 8.3 to 8.5 of the Act set out the rules respecting liability and proceedings. The

Schedule also provides for the repeal of the Act on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

SCHEDULE 4 ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS ACT, 1996 The

Schedule amends

section 40 of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 to separate the regulation-making authority respecting accreditation of professional teacher education pr ograms from the authority respecting accreditation of ongoing education programs for teachers. The amendm ents provide that regulations made in respect of accreditation of professional teacher education programs may specify requirements such as timing, areas of study, delivery and practical experience and set out that such accreditation requirements apply despite any authority of post ‑secondary educational institutions over their academic programs and prevail over decisions of their academic governing bodies.

SCHEDULE 5 SCHOOL BOARDS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT, 2014 The

Schedule amends the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, 2014. Among the amendments are the following: 1. Currently,

Section 21 of the Act designates the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association (or “OCSTA”) as the employer bargaining agency for every English-language separate district school board with respect to all bargaining units. It also designates the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (or “OPSBA”) as the employer bargaining agency for every English-language public district school board and every board established under

section 68 of the Education Act with respect to all bargaining units.

Section 21 of the Act is amended to instead designate the Council of Ontario Directors of Education (or “CODE”) as th e employer bargaining agency for all of these boards and with respect to all bargaining units. 2. A new

section 52 provides for a committee within the CODE whose object is to oversee and direct CODE’s activities as an employer bargaining agency. The process by which CODE exercises any of its rights or privileges under the Act or performs any of its duties under the Act may be specified by a regulation made by the Minister or, in the absence of such regulation, by a by-law of the committee. This process need not require voting and, even where voting is required, need not comply with subsection 21 (4) of the Act. A new

section 53 provides for transitional matters related to the transfer of the role of employer bargaining agency from the OCSTA to the CODE and from the OPSBA to the CODE. In particular, the Minister is authorized to make orders to facilitate the effective assumption by the CODE of the role of employer bargaining agency. A new

section 54 provides the Minister with various regulation-making authority, including the authority to make regulations governing the committee within the CODE. New sections 55 to 57 limit personal liability in relation to the exercise of powers, duties or functions under sections 52 and 53 or a regulation made under

section 54. 3. A new

section 22.1 authorizes the Minister to, by regulation, take certain measures to enable a different person or body of persons to exercise the CODE’s rights and privileges and perform its duties under the Act as an employer bargaining agency or as the member of a council designated by or under

section 21 of the Act if the Minister is of the opinion that the CODE is unable or unwilling to exercise those rights and privileges or perform those duties.

iii 4. A new

section 25.1 of the Act provides that the OCSTA is entitled to observe central bargaining at a central table if the relevant employer bargaining agency represents one or more bargaining units at an English-language separate district school board. This new

section provides for a process by which particular matters or proposals that are the subject of central bargaining may be made the subject of local bargaining if the OCSTA gives notice that the matter or proposal may prejudicially affect denominational rights and privileges. Authority is vested in the Minister to, by regulation, require English-language separate district school boards to pay fees to the OCSTA relating to the OCSTA’s activities under the Act. 5. A terminological change is made in English to replace the term “trustees’ association” with the term “employers’ association”.

Bill 101 2026

An Act to amend various Acts in respect of education and child care CONTENTS 1. Contents of this Act 2. Commencement 3.

Short title

Schedule 1 Child Care and Earl y Years Act, 2014

Schedule 2 Education Act

Schedule 3 Hi gher Education Quality Council of Ontario Act, 2005

Schedule 4 Ontario Colle ge of Teachers Act, 1996

Schedule 5 School Boards Collective Bar gaining Act, 2014 His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows: Contents of this Act 1 This Act consists of this section, sections 2 and 3 and the Schedules to this Act. Commencement 2

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2) The Schedules to this Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.

(3) If a

Schedule to this Act provides that any of its provisions are to come into force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, an order may apply to one or more of those provisions, and orde

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	p44 s1 bill 101 b101rep e.pdf
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p44 s1 bill 101 b101rep e.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	aa5cd526c08ddf742cadbd4e4d7927823b40b0b4

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).