O. Reg. 555/20: GENERAL

Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act, 2020

ONTARIO REGULATION 555/20

GENERAL

Historical version for the period June 25, 2021 to June 30, 2021.

Last amendment: 498/21.

Legislative History: 498/21.

This is the English version of a bilingual regulation.

Definitions

1. (1) For the purposes of the Act,

“regulated entity” includes any broader public sector organization as defined in the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, 2010.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 1 (1) of the Regulation is revoked. (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 1)

(2) In this Regulation,

“specified instrument” means an instrument that meets the definition of “instrument governed by this Act” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act.

Administrative cost

2. (1) A cost is prescribed for the purposes of the definition of “administrative cost” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act if the cost meets one of the following criteria:

1.  The cost is incurred by a regulated entity as a result of complying with a requirement in a regulation, policy or form to complete an administrative task, including requirements relating to the collecting, processing, reporting and retaining of information.

2.  The cost is incurred by a regulated entity in relation to an administrative task associated with complying with a regulation, policy or form, including tasks associated with the collecting, processing, reporting and retaining of information.

(2) The administrative cost resulting from a specified instrument shall be measured as the average annual amount of the new annual administrative cost created or the average annual increase to an existing administrative cost, as the case may be, that is anticipated to be incurred by a regulated entity.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, section 2 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 2)

Direct compliance cost

2. (1) A cost is prescribed for the purposes of the definition of “direct compliance cost” in subsection 1 (1) of the Act if the cost is imposed on a regulated entity. O. Reg. 498/21, s. 2.

(2) The direct compliance cost resulting from a specified instrument shall be measured as the average annual amount of the new direct compliance cost created or the average annual increase to an existing direct compliance cost, as the case may be, that the minister responsible for the administration of the specified instrument anticipates will be incurred by a regulated entity. O. Reg. 498/21, s. 2.

Prescribed offsets

3. (1) An offset is prescribed for the purposes of subsection 2 (1) of the Act if the offset achieves an average annual reduction in costs of an amount equal to 125 per cent of the administrative cost.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 3 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “administrative cost” at the end and substituting “direct compliance cost”. (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 3 (1))

(2) The reduction referred to in subsection (1) must be in respect of any of the following:

1.  Administrative costs.

2.  Direct costs of complying with a regulation, policy or form, other than administrative costs, which may include fees, upfront capital costs, upfront operating costs and ongoing operating costs.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 3 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 3 (2))

(2) The reduction referred to in subsection (1) must be in respect of direct costs of complying with a regulation, policy or form, including administrative costs, fees, upfront capital costs, upfront operating costs and ongoing operating costs. O. Reg. 498/21, s. 3 (2).

(3) An offset shall not be counted for the purposes of subsection (1) if,

(a)  in the case of an offset achieved through the making of a regulation, the regulation came into force before January 1, 2021; or

(b)  in the case of an offset achieved through a mechanism other than the making of a regulation, the mechanism was implemented before January 1, 2021.

(4) A prescribed offset in respect of an administrative cost resulting from a regulation, policy or form shall be made no later than 24 months following the day on which the regulation, policy or form is made.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 3 (4) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 3 (3))

(4) A prescribed offset shall be made no later than 24 months following the day on which the regulation, policy or form is made or approved for use. O. Reg. 498/21, s. 3 (3).

Exemptions, offsets

4. (1) In this section, a reference to a specified instrument means a specified instrument that has the effect of creating or increasing one or more administrative costs.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 4 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “administrative costs” at the end and substituting “direct compliance costs”. (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 4 (1))

(2) The requirement under section 2 of the Act to make a prescribed offset in respect of a specified instrument that is a regulation, policy or form does not apply in any of the following circumstances:

1.  The specified instrument is made in response to an emergency that requires extraordinary measures to address an urgent matter affecting the public interest, including health, safety or the environment.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, paragraph 1 of subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 4 (2))

1.  The specified instrument is made in response to an emergency or exceptional circumstances, where the emergency or exceptional circumstances require extraordinary measures to address an urgent matter affecting public health, safety or environmental protection.

1.1  The specified instrument is made to address an urgent matter affecting public health, safety or environmental protection, other than a matter that requires extraordinary measures as described in paragraph 1.

2.  The specified instrument is made to implement legal obligations or inter-jurisdictional commitments, including a specified instrument in relation to the imposition of international sanctions or court decisions.

3.  The public disclosure of the administrative costs resulting from the specified instrument would cause financially sensitive information to be disclosed, which could cause hurt or prejudice to individuals, regulated entities or the government.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, paragraph 3 of subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “administrative costs” and substituting “direct compliance costs”. (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 4 (3))

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 4 (2) of the Regulation is amended by adding the following paragraph: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 4 (4))

4.  The specified instrument is made in response to exceptional circumstances where identifying and implementing the required offset would cause a ministry undue hardship.

Analysis of regulatory impact

5. (1) For the purposes of clause 3 (a) of the Act, the prescribed circumstances are that the specified instrument would affect a regulated entity.

(2) For the purposes of clause 3 (b) of the Act, the analysis, consisting of the administrative costs of the specified instrument, shall be published on a website of the Government of Ontario.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, subsection 5 (2) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 5)

(2) For the purposes of clause 3 (b) of Act, the portion of the analysis consisting of the direct compliance costs and benefits of the specified instrument shall be published on a website of the Government of Ontario. O. Reg. 498/21, s. 5.

Exemptions, analysis

6. (1) A minister responsible for the administration of a specified instrument is exempt from the requirements set out in section 3 of the Act in respect of the specified instrument if one of the following circumstances applies:

1.  The specified instrument would amend another specified instrument for the sole purpose of addressing non-substantive matters, including matters relating to translation, correction of errors and increasing accessibility.

2.  The specified instrument would be made in response to an emergency that requires extraordinary measures to address an urgent matter affecting the public interest, including health, safety or the environment.

Note: On July 1, 2021, the day subsection 6 (1) of Schedule 15 to the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 comes into force, paragraph 2 of subsection 6 (1) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted: (See: O. Reg. 498/21, s. 6)

2.  The specified instrument would be made in response to an emergency or exceptional circumstances, where the emergency or exceptional circumstances require extraordinary measures to address an urgent matter affecting public health, safety or environmental protection.

(2) A minister responsible for the administration of a specified instrument is exempt from the requirement to publish the analysis under clause 3 (b) of the Act if the public disclosure of the analysis of regulatory impacts resulting from the specified instrument would cause financially sensitive information to be disclosed, which could cause hurt or prejudice to individuals, regulated entities or the government.

7. Omitted (provides for coming into force of provisions of this Regulation).