Protecting Ontario’s Streets and Communities Act, 2026

RÉSUMÉ DU REGISTRE OFFICIEL

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SCHEDULE 1 CHILD, YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES ACT, 2017 The Schedule makes various amendments to the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 in respect of adoption. Among those amendments are the following: 1. A new section 191.1 allows a Director to grant approvals authorizing a person to act as an adoption practitioner if the person meets certain criteria. The approval allows its holder to, for the purposes of the Act, prepare adoption homestudies as well as reports of the adjustment of a child in the home of a person who has applied to adopt the child. Section 191.1 also provides that a Director may issue a direction to the holder of an approval requiring them to take any steps outlined in the direction in order to address concerns identified by the Director. 2. A new section 230.1 provides that a Director may, if certain criteria are met, grant a term on a licence to place children for adoption that permits the licensee to act under subsection 183 (2) of the Act to bring children who are not residents of Canada from a specified country into Ontario to be placed for adoption. Notably, a Director may refuse to grant such a term on the grounds that it would be inappropriate in the circumstances or contrary to the public interest. A new section 234.1 provides for an appeal procedure for certain decisions respecting the granting of such a term. A new section 236.1 allows the Director to, in certain circumstances, suspend such a term. 3. Amendments are made to the grounds upon which a Director may propose to refuse to issue a licence to place children for adoption or may propose to revoke or to refuse to renew such a licence. In particular, a new section 231.1 provides that a Director may refuse to issue such a licence if doing so would be contrary to the public interest, having regard to the number of licensees licensed to place children for adoption and the number of children in Ontario who are available for adoption. In addition, the Act is amended to permit a person in charge of a place of secure custody or a place of secure temporary detention to place a young person in a locked room in the circumstances, and in accordance with the procedures, that are prescribed by the regulations. The locked room must also meet any standards prescribed by the regulations. SCHEDULE 2 CHRISTOPHER’S LAW (SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY), 2000 The Schedule amends Christopher’s Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000 as follows: The Act currently applies to persons who are convicted or found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder of a sex offence, as defined by the Act to include specified offences. The Act is amended to apply to a person who is subject to an order or obligation that requires the person to comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (Canada). Related amendments are made to the definitions of “sex offence” and “offender” and new definitions of “obligation” and “order” are added. Amendments are made to require that offenders comply with the reporting requirements under the Act for the duration of time that they are a sex offender for the purposes of the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (Canada). Transitional rules are included with respect to how the new reporting requirements apply to offenders who are subject to an order or obligation before the day the amendments come into force. The Schedule repeals the provisions that relate to what occurs when an offender is pardoned in respect of a sex offence or when their conviction or finding of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder is overturned, including requirements to delete references to an offender from the sex offender registry. The Act is amended to require the Minister to ensure that such information that relates to an offender is destroyed and permanently removed from the sex offender registry as required by and in accordance with the regulations. The Lieutenant Governor in Council’s regulation-making powers are amended to include, among other things, the authority to prescribe and govern exceptions respecting the application of the Act and governing the destruction and permanent removal of information from the sex offender registry. Existing references to “the ministry” throughout the Act are updated to refer to “the Minister”. Other technical amendments are made to the Act. SCHEDULE 3 COMMUNITY SAFETY AND POLICING ACT, 2019 The Schedule amends the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 . The major elements are described below: 1. Several provisions throughout the Act relating to misconduct, complaints and investigations are expanded to apply to prescribed persons. 2. The duties of the Minister in section 3 of the Act are expanded to include consulting with and advising on the effective operation of police service boards, O.P.P. detachment boards and First Nation O.P.P. boards and monitoring trends in policing.