[37] Bill 109 Royal Assent (PDF)
Bill 109 2001
An Act to enhance
the security of vital statistics
documents and to provide for
certain administrative changes
to the vital statistics
registration system
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
1. The definition of "division registrar" in section 1 of the Vital Statistics Act, as re-enacted by the Statutes of Ontario, 1998, chapter 18, Schedule E, section 290, is repealed and the following substituted:
"division registrar" means a division registrar as provided for in the regulations; ("registraire de division de l'état civil")
2. Subsection 2 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Uniform system of registration
(1) Subject to the regulations, the Registrar General shall direct a uniform system of registration of births, marriages, deaths, still-births, adoptions and changes of name in Ontario, and is charged with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act.
3. (1) Subsections 3 (1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:
Examination of registrations
(1) The Registrar General shall examine the registrations received from the persons required to make registrations and, if the registrations are incomplete or unsatisfactory, the Registrar General shall require such information to be supplied as may be necessary to complete the registration.
Registration not signed
(2) If a registration received from a person required to make the registration is incomplete as to a required signature, the Registrar General shall cause the registration to be returned in order that the signature may be obtained.
(2) Subsection 3 (6) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Instructions by Registrar General
(6) The Registrar General shall prepare and issue to such persons as may be prescribed such detailed instructions as may be required to procure the uniform observance of the provisions of this Act.
4. Section 34 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Correction by Registrar General
34. (1) If, after a registration has been received or made by the Registrar General, it is reported to him or her that an error has been made, the Registrar General shall inquire into the facts and upon the production of evidence satisfactory to him or her, supplemented by a statutory declaration in the prescribed form, the Registrar General may correct the error by a notation on the registration without any alteration being made in the registration.
Certificate of registration that has been corrected
(2) If, subsequent to the correction of an error, application is made for a certificate pursuant to this Act, the certificate shall be prepared as if the registration had been made containing correct particulars at the time of registration, but if a certified copy of the registration is required, the certified copy shall contain a copy of the notation made under subsection (1).
Old certificates to be returned
(3) Any person in possession or control of a certificate or certified copy of a registration issued before the registration was corrected shall return the certificate or certified copy to the Registrar General forthwith upon demand.
Notation on registration
(4) Every notation made under this section shall be dated and initialled by the person making the correction or by the officer designated by the regulations.
5. Section 38 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 102 and 1998, chapter 18, Schedule E, section 296, is repealed and the following substituted:
Division registrars
38. (1) Division registrars shall be appointed as provided for in the regulations.
Deputy division registrars
(2) A division registrar may, with the approval of the Registrar General, appoint one or more deputy division registrars to act for him or her and any such deputy while so acting has all the powers and duties of the division registrar who appointed the deputy.
Sub-registrars
(3) A division registrar may, with the approval of the Registrar General, appoint sub-registrars who shall perform such duties as may be prescribed.
6. Section 40 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Report of contraventions to Registrar General
40. Such persons as may be prescribed shall, under the direction of the Registrar General, enforce this Act and shall make an immediate report to the Registrar General of any contravention of this Act of which he or she has knowledge.
7. The Act is amended by adding the following sections:
Guarantor required
45.1 (1) If required by the Registrar General, an application for a certificate or a certified copy of a registration, in addition to being signed by the applicant, must also be signed by a person designated under the regulations as a person who may act as a guarantor for the applicant.
No fee
(2) No person shall charge a fee for acting as a guarantor.
Limit on birth documents
45.2 (1) Not more than one certificate and one certified copy of a registration may be issued in respect of a birth.
Other documents
(2) The Registrar General may limit the number of certificates and certified copies of registrations that may be issued in respect of any change of name, death, still-birth or marriage.
Application for reconsideration
(3) On the application of a person who has been refused a birth certificate or a certified copy of a birth registration under section 44 or 45 or who has been refused a birth certificate or a certified copy of a birth registration under this section, the Registrar General shall consider the matter and he or she may grant or refuse the application.
8. Section 47 of the Act is repealed.
9. The Act is amended by adding the following sections:
Duty to report lost documents
51.1 (1) A person who has lost or had stolen or destroyed a certificate or certified copy of a birth registration or such other registrations as may be prescribed shall notify the Registrar General of the loss, theft or destruction, as the case may be, immediately upon becoming aware of it.
Duty to return found documents
(2) A person who finds a certificate or certified copy of a birth registration or such other registrations as may be prescribed shall notify the Registrar General of the find within 24 hours of finding it and shall forthwith forward the certificate or certified copy to the Registrar General.
Exception
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who forthwith delivers the found certificate or certified copy to the police or to a lost and found service.
Duty of police or lost and found
(4) If the police or a lost and found service receives a certificate or certified copy of a registration that is believed to have been lost and that is not claimed within 24 hours of receiving it, the police or the operator of a lost and found service, as the case may be, shall notify the Registrar General of the receipt.
Return of documents
(5) If a certificate or certified copy of a registration that has been lost is claimed from the police or a lost and found service within 24 hours of their having received it, they may return it.
Duty to return document
(6) In returning a document as authorized by subsection (5), the police or lost and found service shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that it is returned only to the person entitled to have it and if it is not claimed by such a person, they shall forward it to the Registrar General not later than 90 days after receiving it.
Duty to cancel documents
51.2 The Registrar General shall cancel certificates and certified copies of registrations that have been reported lost, stolen, destroyed, found or received and he or she may cancel any other certificate or certified copy where he or she, in his or her discretion, is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do so.
10. Subsections 52 (3), (4) and (5) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:
Certificates or certified copies to be returned
(3) Any person in possession or control of a certificate or certified copy of a registration that is the subject of an order under subsection (1) shall return it to the Registrar General forthwith.
Requirement re hearing
(4) Before making an order under subsection (1), the Registrar General shall give to such interested parties as the Registrar General considers proper an opportunity to be heard on the matter.
11. Subsection 53 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Secrecy
(1) No division registrar, sub-registrar, funeral director, person employed in the service of Her Majesty or other prescribed person shall communicate or allow to be communicated to any person not entitled thereto any information obtained under this Act, or allow any such person to inspect or have access to any records containing information obtained under this Act.
12. The Act is amended by adding the following section:
Duty to collect information
53.1 (1) If the Registrar General considers it necessary to verify information or to determine if any document issued or that may be issued under this Act is being, or may be, improperly used, the Registrar General shall collect, directly or indirectly, such information as he or she considers necessary from such persons and institutions as he or she considers appropriate.
Duty to assist
(2) On the request of the Registrar General, an institution in Ontario shall provide information from its records to the Registrar General that may assist him or her to verify information or to determine if any document issued or that may be issued under this Act is being, or may be, improperly used.
Duty to disclose information
(3) For the purpose of verifying information or determining if any document issued or that may be issued under this Act is being, or may be, improperly used, the Registrar General shall disclose such information as he or she considers appropriate to such persons or institutions as he or she considers appropriate.
No commercial use of information
(4) An institution that receives information under this section shall not sell or otherwise use it for commercial purposes or advantage.
Definition
(5) In this section,
"institution" means,
(a) an institution under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act,
(b) an institution under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act,
(c) any agency, board, commission, corporation or other body, inside or outside Canada, designated as an institution in the regulations.
13. (1) Subsection 55 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Failure to give notice or to furnish particulars
(1) Every person who neglects or fails to give any notice or to register or to furnish any statement, certificate or particulars respecting the birth, marriage, death, still-birth, adoption or change of name of any person, as required by this Act, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation.
(2) Subsection 55 (3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Failure of division registrar to make returns
(3) If a division registrar neglects or fails to transmit to the Registrar General any registration or to make any return as required by this Act, the division registrar is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation, and each succeeding week's continuance of the neglect or failure to make the transmission or return constitutes a new and distinct offence.
14. Section 56 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 102, section 57 of the Act and section 58 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 102, are repealed and the following substituted:
False information
56. (1) Every person who wilfully makes or causes to be made a false statement in any notice, registration, statement, certificate, return or other document respecting any particulars required to be furnished under this Act is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable, in the case of an individual, to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or to both, and, in the case of a corporation, to a fine of not more than $250,000.
Same
(2) Every legally qualified medical practitioner who wilfully makes a false statement as to the cause of the death of any person, or represents himself or herself as having been in attendance during the last illness of any person when in fact he or she was not called in attendance until after the death, is, in addition to any penalty imposed by this Act, subject to discipline by the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
Same
(3) Every person who wilfully makes or causes to be made a registration of a birth, marriage, death or still-birth as having occurred in Ontario in respect of any person whose birth, marriage, death or still-birth did not occur in Ontario is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable, in the case of an individual, to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or to both, and, in the case of a corporation, to a fine of not more than $250,000.
Breach of secrecy provision
57. Any person contravening any of the provisions of section 53 is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation.
General offence
58. Every person guilty of any act or omission in contravention of this Act for which no penalty is otherwise provided is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation.
15. Section 60 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of Ontario, 1994, chapter 27, section 102, 1997, chapter 9, section 7 and 1998, chapter 18, Schedule E, section 303, is further amended by adding the following clauses:
(e.1) providing for the appointment of division registrars;
(e.2) prescribing persons to whom the Registrar General may issue instructions under subsection 3 (6);
. . . . .
(m.1) prescribing persons for the purposes of section 40 and subsection 53 (1);
(m.2) providing for different systems of registration other than the uniform system referred to in subsection 2 (1) that shall be used in such part or parts of the province for such period of time as is specified in the regulations;
(m.3) prescribing registrations to which subsections 51.1 (1) and (2) apply;
(m.4) designating any agency, board, commission, corporation or other body, inside or outside Canada, as an institution for the purposes of section 53.1;
(m.5) prescribing who may be a guarantor;
16. Subsections 21 (5) and (6) of the Vital Statistics Act, as set out in subsection 102 (17) of the Statute Law Amendment Act (Government Management and Services), 1994, are repealed and the following substituted:
Death except by disease
(5) If there is reason to believe that a person has died as a result of any cause other than disease, or has died as a result of negligence, malpractice or misconduct on the part of others or under such circumstances as require investigation, no documentation shall be issued unless,
(a) a coroner has examined the body and inquired into the circumstances of the death or held an inquest under the Coroners Act;
(b) the coroner has signed such documentation as may be prescribed; and
(c) the other provisions of this Act and the regulations regarding registration of death have been complied with.
Coroner's warrant to bury
(6) If a person has died under any of the circumstances mentioned in subsection (5) and the coroner cannot provide the prescribed information related to the cause of death, the coroner may issue a warrant to bury if he or she has examined the body as provided in the Coroners Act and the coroner shall subsequently complete and deliver such documentation in the manner, within the time and to the person prescribed by the regulations.
17. Section 55 of the Vital Statistics Act, as set out in subsection 102 (27) of the Statute Law Amendment Act (Government Management and Services), 1994, is repealed and the following substituted:
Failure to give notice or to furnish particulars
55. (1) Every person who neglects or fails to give any notice or to register or to furnish any documentation or particulars respecting the birth, marriage, death, still-birth, adoption or change of name of any person, as required by this Act and the regulations, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation.
Exception
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a child's father who neglects or fails to comply with section 9 or the regulations in relation to the registration of the child's birth, if he has reasonable grounds to believe that he is not the child's father.
Failure of division registrar to make returns
(3) If a division registrar neglects or fails to transmit to the Registrar General any documentation or to make any return as required by this Act or the regulations, the division registrar is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 for an individual or $250,000 for a corporation, and each succeeding week's continuance of the neglect or failure to make the transmission or return constitutes a new and distinct offence.
Commencement
18. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Same
(2) Section 16 comes into force immediately upon the coming into force of subsection 102 (17) of the Statute Law Amendment Act (Government Management and Services), 1994 and section 17 comes into force immediately upon the coming into force of subsection 102 (27) of that Act.
Same
(3) Sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 come into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
Short title
19. The short title of this Act is the Vital Statistics Statute Law Amendment Act (Security of Documents), 2001.
