Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Statute Law Amendment Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 36 - Bill 132
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chapter 36
An Act to enact
the Post-secondary Education
Choice and Excellence Act, 2000,
repeal the Degree Granting Act
and change the title of and make
amendments to the Ministry of
Colleges and Universities Act
Assented to December 21, 2000
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. The Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000, as set out in the Schedule, is hereby enacted.
2. The Degree Granting Act, being chapter D.5 of the Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, is repealed.
3. (1) The title of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Ministry of Training, Colleges and
Universities Act
(2) The definitions of “Minister” and “Ministry” in section 1 of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:
“Minister” means the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities; (“ministre”)
“Ministry” means the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. (“ministère”)
(3) Subsection 2 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Ministry continued
(1) The ministry of the public service formerly known in English as the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and in French as ministère des Collèges et Universités is continued under the name Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in English and ministère de la Formation et des Collèges et Universités in French.
(4) The Act is amended by adding the following sections:
Delegation of powers
4.1 (1) Any power or duty conferred or imposed on the Minister under this or any other Act may be delegated by the Minister to the Deputy Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities or to any other person employed in the Ministry and, when purporting to exercise a delegated power or duty, the delegate shall be presumed conclusively to act in accordance with the delegation.
Delegation subject to conditions
(2) A delegation under subsection (1) shall be in writing and may be subject to such limitations, conditions and requirements as are set out in it.
Subdelegation
(3) In a delegation under subsection (1), the Minister may authorize a person to whom a power or duty is delegated to delegate to others the exercise of the delegated power or duty, subject to such limitations, conditions and requirements as the person may impose.
Deeds and contracts
(4) Despite section 6 of the Executive Council Act, a deed or contract signed by a person empowered to do so under a delegation or subdelegation made under this section has the same effect as if signed by the Minister.
Protection from personal liability
4.2 (1) No proceeding for damages shall be commenced against the Deputy Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities or any other person employed in the Ministry for any act done in good faith in the performance or intended performance of his or her duty or for any alleged neglect or default in the performance in good faith of that duty.
Crown liability
(2) Despite subsections 5 (2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act, subsection (1) does not relieve the Crown of any liability to which it would otherwise be subject in respect of a tort committed by the Deputy Minister or an employee.
(5) Section 7 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Fees
7. The Minister may establish and charge fees in respect of anything done in connection with this Act or any other Act to which subsection 2 (2) applies.
(6) Subsection 9 (2) of the Act is repealed.
(7) The Act is amended by adding the following sections:
Inspectors
10. (1) The Minister, in connection with the administration of awards, grants and student loans, may appoint inspectors for the purposes of determining compliance with this Act, the regulations and any agreements entered into by the Minister.
Inspection
(2) For the purposes of determining whether this Act has been complied with and is being complied with, an inspector may, without a warrant, enter and inspect business premises of any person and post-secondary institutions.
Restricted appointments
(3) The Minister may restrict the inspector’s powers of entry and inspection to specified premises or institutions.
Time of entry
(4) The power to enter and inspect without a warrant may be exercised only during the regular business hours of the premises or institution or during daylight hours if there are no regular business hours.
Identification
(5) An inspector conducting an inspection shall produce evidence on request of his or her appointment.
Powers of inspector
(6) An inspector conducting an inspection may,
(a) examine a record or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(b) demand the production for inspection of a document or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(c) remove for review and copying a record or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(d) in order to produce a record in readable form, use data storage, information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are normally used in carrying on business or activities in the place; and
(e) question a person on matters relevant to the inspection.
Written demand
(7) A demand that a record or other thing be produced for inspection must be in writing and must include a statement of the nature of the record or thing required.
Obligation to produce and assist
(8) If an inspector demands that a record or other thing be produced for inspection, the person who has custody of the record or thing shall produce it and, in the case of a record, shall on request provide any assistance that is reasonably necessary to interpret the record or to produce it in a readable form.
Removal of records and things
(9) A record or other thing that has been removed for review and copying,
(a) shall be made available to the person from whom it was removed, for review and copying, on request and at a time and place that are convenient for the person and for the inspector; and
(b) shall be returned to the person within a reasonable time.
Copy admissible in evidence
(10) A copy of a record that purports to be certified by an inspector as being a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to the same extent as the original and has the same evidentiary value.
Obstruction
(11) No person shall hinder, obstruct or interfere with an inspector conducting an inspection, refuse to answer questions on matters relevant to the inspection or provide the inspector with information on matters relevant to the inspection that the person knows to be false or misleading.
Report to the Minister
(12) An inspector shall report to the Minister on the results of each inspection.
Minister’s order
11. On receipt of a report from an inspector under section 10, the Minister may make any order that he or she considers appropriate for the purposes of the proper administration of awards, grants and student loans under this Act and the regulations.
Offence
12. (1) No person shall knowingly obtain or receive an award, grant or student loan to which he or she is not entitled under this Act and the regulations.
Same
(2) No person shall knowingly aid or abet another person to obtain or receive an award, grant or student loan to which the other person is not entitled under this Act and the regulations.
Same
(3) No person shall fail to provide information the person is required to provide under this Act or the regulations or has agreed to provide in connection with an award, grant or student loan.
Same
(4) No person shall knowingly provide false information in connection with the administration of an award, grant or student loan or for the purposes of obtaining or receiving an award, grant or student loan.
Penalty
(5) Every person is guilty of an offence who contravenes subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) or 10 (11) and is liable on conviction,
(a) to a fine of not more than $25,000 if the person is an individual or $100,000 if the person is a corporation;
(b) to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year; or
(c) to both a fine under clause (a) and imprisonment under clause (b).
Conviction of officers
(6) Any officer, director or agent of a corporation, or any other person, who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of any act by the corporation which is an offence under this Act is guilty of an offence whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted of any offence under this Act.
Regulations
13. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) prescribing the terms and conditions under which awards or grants provided out of the money appropriated by the Legislature may be made to students enrolled in post-secondary institutions, prescribing the amounts of the awards and grants and the methods of calculating them and the persons eligible for the awards and grants, defining the types, classes and subclasses of awards and grants, fixing the maximum amount that may be awarded or granted to any applicant and authorizing the Minister to determine the amount, up to the maximum that may be awarded or granted, to an applicant;
(b) governing the terms and conditions under which loans may be approved, guaranteed and made to students enrolled in post-secondary institutions, including the amounts of the loans and the methods of calculating them and the persons eligible to make and receive the loans, defining the types, classes and subclasses of loans, fixing the maximum amount that may be loaned to any applicant and authorizing the Minister to determine the amount, up to the maximum that may be loaned to an applicant;
(c) providing for the recovery of all or part of the money awarded, granted or loaned to any student enrolled or purporting to be enrolled in a post-secondary institution who was not eligible for all or part of the award, grant or loan or who fails to comply with any of the terms and conditions under which the award, grant or loan was approved, guaranteed or made;
(d) providing for the apportionment and distribution of money appropriated or raised by the Legislature for university, college and other post-secondary educational purposes;
(e) prescribing the conditions governing the payment of legislative grants;
(f) defining “enrolment” and “student” for the purpose of legislative grants to post-secondary educational institutions recognized by the Minister for the purpose of such grants, and requiring that “enrolment” be subject to the approval of the Minister;
(g) prescribing forms and providing for their use;
(h) authorizing the Deputy Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities or any officer of the Ministry to exercise the power to approve loans under section 8;
(i) prescribing the rate of interest payable by the Minister or a student borrower to a financial institution on a guaranteed student loan;
(j) prescribing the period that may lapse after which the principal amount of a guaranteed student loan and interest thereon shall commence to be payable by the student borrower;
(k) respecting the subrogation of the Government of Ontario to the rights of a financial institution with respect to a guaranteed student loan;
(l) prescribing procedures to be followed by a financial institution with respect to a guaranteed student loan;
(m) prescribing the provisions to be included in agreements between borrowers and financial institutions related to guaranteed student loans;
(n) providing for the alteration of agreements between borrowers and financial institutions and prescribing the conditions and consequences of such alterations;
(o) providing for the assignment or transfer by financial institutions of agreements between borrowers and financial institutions and prescribing the conditions and consequences of such assignments or transfers;
(p) prescribing, in the event of default in the repayment of a guaranteed student loan, the measures to be taken by a financial institution and the procedures to be followed for the collection of the amount of the loan outstanding and accrued interest;
(q) prescribing the method of determining the amount of any loss sustained by a financial institution as a result of a guaranteed student loan;
(r) prescribing the procedure to be followed by a financial institution in making a claim against the Minister;
(s) prescribing the maximum number of years that may elapse after which the principal amount of a guaranteed student loan and interest thereon shall commence to be payable by the borrower;
(t) providing for reports to be made to the Minister for the purposes of this Act, and prescribing the kind of information to be included in those reports.
Commencement and Short Title
Commencement
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Sections 1 and 2 come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
5. The short title of this Act is the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Statute Law Amendment Act, 2000.
schedule
POST-SECONDARY Education CHOICE
AND EXCELLENCE Act, 2000
Definitions
1. In this Act,
“consent” means a written consent of the Minister given under subsection 4 (1) and any renewal of that consent given by the Minister; (“consentement”)
“Minister” means the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities; (“ministre”)
“prescribed” means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)
“regulations” means the regulations made under this Act. (“règlements”)
Authority to grant a degree, etc.
2. (1) No person shall directly or indirectly do any of the following things unless the person is authorized to do it by an Act of the Assembly or by the Minister under this Act:
1. Grant a degree.
2. Provide a program or part of a program of post-secondary study leading to a degree to be conferred by a person inside or outside Ontario.
3. Advertise a program or part of a program of post-secondary study offered in Ontario leading to a degree to be conferred by a person in or outside Ontario.
4. Sell, offer for sale or provide by agreement for a fee, reward or other remuneration, a diploma, certificate, document or other material that indicates or implies the granting or conferring of a degree.
Exception
(2) Despite subsection (1), a person may directly or indirectly advertise and provide a program or part of a program of post-secondary study leading to a degree if,
(a) the person provides the program or part of the program under an agreement with another person who is authorized by an Act of the Assembly or by the Minister under this Act to provide the program or part of the program; and
(b) the degree to which the program or part of the program leads is conferred only by that other person who is authorized to provide the program or part of the program.
Authority to establish a university, etc.
3. No person shall directly or indirectly do any of the following things unless the person is authorized to do it by an Act of the Assembly or by the Minister under this Act:
1. Operate or maintain a university.
2. Use or be known by a name of a university or any derivation or abbreviation of a name of a university.
3. Hold themself out to be a university.
4. Make use of the word university or any derivation or abbreviation of the word university in any advertising relating to an educational institution in Ontario.
Consent of Minister
4. (1) The Minister may give a written consent to a person who makes an application under section 5 to authorize the person to do one or more things described in sections 2 and 3.
Terms and conditions of consent
(2) The Minister may attach such terms and conditions to a consent as the Minister considers appropriate, including a termination date after which the consent will cease to be effective unless renewed by the Minister.
Same
(3) A person to whom a consent is given shall ensure compliance with all terms and conditions attached to the consent.
Security
(4) The Minister shall not give a consent unless he or she is satisfied,
(a) that the person seeking the consent has given security that complies with any prescribed requirements and is adequate to protect the interests of students; and
(b) that the person has made arrangements to ensure students have access to their transcripts and that the arrangements comply with any prescribed requirements and are adequate to protect the interests of students.
Colleges of applied arts and technology
(5) The Minister shall not give a consent to authorize a college of applied arts and technology established under the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act,
(a) to do anything described in section 2, unless the degree in respect of which the consent is given is a baccalaureate degree in an applied area of study; or
(b) to do anything described in section 3.
Exception
(6) Despite subsection (5), the Minister may give a consent to authorize a college of applied arts and technology to do something described in section 2 or 3 if,
(a) the college is named in a regulation for the purposes of this subsection; or
(b) conditions have been prescribed for the purposes of this subsection and the college has satisfied them.
Application for consent
5. (1) A person may apply to the Minister for a consent and for a renewal of a consent.
Referral to Board
(2) The Minister shall refer every application for a consent or renewal of a consent to the Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment Board.
Recommendation
(3) The Minister shall not grant or reject an application unless he or she has received a recommendation from the Board.
Decision final
(4) The Minister’s decision on whether to give or renew a consent is final.
Suspension, etc.
6. (1) The Minister may at any time, in accordance with the regulations,
(a) suspend or revoke a consent;
(b) reinstate a consent with or without conditions;
(c) add new terms and conditions to a consent; or
(d) change or remove terms and conditions attached to a consent.
Potential non-compliance
(2) A person who has received a consent shall promptly notify the Minister if it is reasonable to believe that not all of the terms and conditions of the consent may be met.
Post-secondary Education
Quality Assessment Board
7. (1) The board known in English as the Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment Board and in French as Commission d’évaluation de la qualité de l’éducation postsecondaire is continued.
Composition
(2) The Board shall be composed of,
(a) a chair appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council; and
(b) a vice-chair and not more than nine other members appointed by the Minister.
Duties
(3) The Board shall,
(a) review applications made under section 5 and other matters referred to it by the Minister and make recommendations to the Minister in a manner and within a time period specified by the Minister; and
(b) perform such other duties as may be prescribed.
Powers
(4) The Board may,
(a) establish review panels to assess the educational quality of proposed degree programs in Ontario and to review applications made under section 5;
(b) establish advisory committees to assist the Board in providing recommendations and advice to the Minister; and
(c) undertake such research as it determines necessary to carry out its duties.
Procedures
(5) Subject to the regulations, the Board may establish procedures for reviewing applications and other matters referred to it and for making recommendations to the Minister.
Criteria
(6) The Board shall establish criteria in accordance with subsection (7) that it must apply in reviewing applications referred to it and in making recommendations to the Minister.
Same
(7) Except as provided in the regulations, the criteria established by the Board,
(a) must be in accordance with educational standards recognized in Ontario and other jurisdictions; and
(b) must comply with such policy directions as may be given by the Minister.
Effect of consent
8. The giving of a consent does not entitle the person to whom the consent is given to any funding from the Government of Ontario.
Inspectors
9. (1) The Minister may appoint inspectors for the purposes of determining whether it is appropriate to suspend or revoke a consent or change the terms and conditions attached to a consent given under this Act or for the purposes of determining whether a person has failed to comply with this Act.
Inspection
(2) An inspector may, without a warrant, enter and inspect business premises of any person.
Restricted appointments
(3) The Minister may restrict the inspector’s powers of entry and inspection to specified business premises.
Time of entry
(4) The power to enter and inspect business premises without a warrant may be exercised only during the regular business hours of the premises or during daylight hours if there are no regular business hours.
Identification
(5) An inspector conducting an inspection shall produce evidence on request of his or her appointment.
Powers of inspector
(6) An inspector conducting an inspection may,
(a) examine a record or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(b) demand the production for inspection of a document or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(c) remove for review and copying a record or other thing that is relevant to the inspection;
(d) in order to produce a record in readable form, use data storage, information processing or retrieval devices or systems that are normally used in carrying on business in the place; and
(e) question a person on matters relevant to the inspection.
Written demand
(7) A demand that a record or other thing be produced for inspection must be in writing and must include a statement of the nature of the record or thing required.
Obligation to produce and assist
(8) If an inspector demands that a record or other thing be produced for inspection, the person who has custody of the record or thing shall produce it and, in the case of a record, shall on request provide any assistance that is reasonably necessary to interpret the record or to produce it in a readable form.
Removal of records and things
(9) A record or other thing that has been removed for review and copying,
(a) shall be made available to the person from whom it was removed, for review and copying, on request and at a time and place that are convenient for the person and for the inspector; and
(b) shall be returned to the person within a reasonable time.
Copy admissible in evidence
(10) A copy of a record that purports to be certified by an inspector as being a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to the same extent as the original and has the same evidentiary value.
Obstruction
(11) No person shall hinder, obstruct or interfere with an inspector conducting an inspection, refuse to answer questions on matters relevant to the inspection or provide the inspector with information on matters relevant to the inspection that the person knows to be false or misleading.
Report to the Minister
(12) An inspector shall report to the Minister on the results of each inspection.
Minister’s order
10. On receipt of a report from an inspector under section 9, the Minister may make any order that he or she considers appropriate for the purposes of the proper administration of this Act and the regulations.
Offence
11. (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who,
(a) knowingly furnishes false information in any application under this Act or in any statement or return required to be provided under this Act or the regulations; or
(b) contravenes any provision of this Act.
Penalty
(2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this Act is liable on conviction,
(a) to a fine of not more than $25,000 if the person is an individual or $100,000 if the person is a corporation;
(b) to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year; or
(c) to both a fine under clause (a) and imprisonment under clause (b).
Conviction of officers, etc.
(3) Any officer, director or agent of a corporation, or any other person, who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of any act by the corporation which is an offence under this Act is guilty of an offence whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted of any offence under this Act.
Certificate of Minister as evidence
12. A written statement purporting to be certified by the Minister is receivable in evidence as proof of the facts set out in the statement in the absence of evidence to the contrary in any action, proceeding or prosecution, without proof of the office or signature of the Minister,
(a) as to whether a consent has been given under this Act and as to any terms and conditions of a consent; or
(b) as to any other matter related to a consent or an application for consent.
Regulations
13. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) prescribing, for the purposes of subsection 4 (4), requirements relating to the giving of security and access to student transcripts;
(b) governing claims made against the security referred to in subsection 4 (4);
(c) naming colleges of applied arts and technology or conditions for the purposes of subsection 4 (6);
(d) governing the suspension, reinstatement and revocation of a consent, the addition and removal of terms and conditions attached a consent and the making of changes to the terms and conditions attached to a consent, including providing for appeals from decisions made by the Minister under section 6;
(e) respecting the information that must be disclosed in respect of applications and consents under this Act, the person or persons who must disclose it, the manner and time of its disclosure and the persons or classes of persons to whom the information must be disclosed;
(f) in respect of the Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment Board,
(i) prescribing procedures for reviewing applications and other matters referred to it by the Minister,
(ii) prescribing policies and principles that it must take into consideration in establishing criteria to apply in reviewing applications referred to it and in making recommendations to the Minister, and
(iii) prescribing additional powers and duties of the Board;
(g) governing procedures to be followed by the Minister in making orders under section 10, including providing for appeals from the orders.
Transitional
14. (1) The Board may deal with any matter referred to it by the Minister before this Act came into force in the same manner as if it were a matter referred to it after this Act came into force.
Same
(2) All consents given by the Minister before the day this Act came into force shall be deemed to be consents given under this Act.