Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Statute Law Amendment Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 36 - Bill 132

• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Date: 21 December 2000
• Bill Number: 132

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill changes the title of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities Act to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act and references in the Act to the Minister and the Ministry are amended to reflect this change. It also repeals the Degree Granting Act and enacts the Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000.

Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act:

The Bill permits the Minister to delegate his or her authority under Acts he or she administers to the Deputy Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities and to any other Ministry employee. Neither the Deputy Minister nor Ministry employees will be personally liable for anything done in good faith in carrying out their duties.

The Minister is authorized to establish and charge fees under the Acts the Minister administers.

The Minister is authorized to appoint inspectors to make inspections to determine compliance with the Act, the regulations and agreements entered into by the Minister in respect of awards, grants and student loans. The Bill amends the Act to create offences for obtaining awards, grants or student loans to which a person is not entitled, for assisting a person in obtaining an award, grant or loan to which the person is not entitled, for failing to provide information when required and for providing false information in connection with awards, grants and student loans.

The provisions in the Act permitting the making of regulations are combined and amended with respect to the administration of student loans.

Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, 2000:

The new Act permits the granting of degrees or the operation of a university on the authority of an Act of the Legislature or with the Minister’s consent. The Act establishes a procedure for the referral of all applications for the Minister’s consent to grant degrees or operate universities to the Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment Board which makes a recommendation to the Minister. The Minister may impose terms and conditions on the consent, may suspend, reinstate or revoke a consent and may add, remove or change the terms and conditions on a consent.

The Post-secondary Education Quality Assessment Board is composed of a chair appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and a vice-chair and up to nine other members appointed by the Minister. The Board’s duties include the review of applications for the Minister’s consent and other matters referred to it by the Minister. The Board may establish review panels and advisory committees and undertake research. The Board may establish criteria to apply in reviewing applications for consent that comply with recognized educational standards and any policy directions given by the Minister.

The Minister may appoint inspectors to carry out inspections for the purposes of determining compliance with the Act. It is an offence under the Act to provide false information in an application for consent or in any return or to otherwise contravene the Act.

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...