EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the City of Toronto Act, 2006, the Development Charges Act, 1997, the Environmental Assessment Act, the Municipal Act, 2001, the Ontario Heritage Act and the Planning Act where the Act or the regulations made under it require that notices be published in a newspaper having general circulation in a municipality. The amendments allow the publication to be done in a newspaper that is published at regular intervals of a month or less, rather than published at regular intervals of a week or less, as is currently the case.

Bill 73 2023

An Act to amend various Acts with respect to the publication of notices in newspapers

Preamble

Increasingly, community, rural and agricultural newspapers, most of which are locally owned, face increased costs of production and are forced to engage in cost-cutting efforts. One such example is limiting the frequency of their publication to bi-weekly or monthly. This arises particularly with community newspapers in northern and rural Ontario. However, newspapers that limit the frequency of their publication to bi-weekly or monthly no longer meet the requirements of the definition of “newspaper” in section 87 of the Legislation Act, 2006, so municipalities are not able to post certain required legal notices in them.

Not only are these community newspapers losing out on a potential source of revenue that would help support Ontario’s local businesses, but this also makes it difficult for municipalities to inform local populations in rural or remote areas of important local news. Many of the residents of those municipalities rely on their local community papers as their only source of relevant, local community information.

Therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

City of Toronto Act, 2006

1 Section 232 of the City of Toronto Act, 2006 is amended by adding the following subsection:

Definition

(1.1)  In clause (1) (a),

“newspaper” means a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest.

Development Charges Act, 1997

2 Section 12 of the Development Charges Act, 1997 is amended by adding the following subsection:

Publication in newspaper

(1.1)  If the regulations require the council to give notice of the meeting or meetings by publication in a newspaper, the council shall do so in a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public; and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest.

Environmental Assessment Act

3 Section 1 of the Environmental Assessment Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Definition

(1.1)  In the regulations,

“newspaper” means a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest.

Municipal Act, 2001

4 Subsection 1 (1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 is amended by adding the following definition:

“newspaper”, except if the context requires otherwise, means a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest; (“journal”)

Ontario Heritage Act

5 Section 1 of the Ontario Heritage Act is amended by adding the following definition:

“newspaper” means a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest; (“journal”)

Planning Act

6 Section 1 of the Planning Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Definition

(5.1)  In the regulations,

“newspaper” means a document that,

  (a)  is printed in sheet form, published at regular intervals of a month or less and circulated to the general public, and

  (b)  consists primarily of news of current events of general interest.

Commencement and Short Title

Commencement

7 This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

8 The short title of this Act is the Supporting Ontario’s Community, Rural and Agricultural Newspapers Act, 2023.