Bill 29, Turn Down the Heat Act (Extreme Heat Awareness), 2025
Chamber
ontario
Stage
Introduced
This Ontario bill declares Extreme Heat Awareness Week and requires governments to share heat safety information with residents.
Key Changes
- Declares the first week of June each year as Extreme Heat Awareness Week in Ontario
- Requires the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks to publish extreme heat information on a government website
- Requires municipal treasurers across Ontario to include extreme heat information with every property tax bill
- Requires the City of Toronto's treasurer to include the same information with tax bills under the City of Toronto Act
- Requires the Minister to mail heat safety information to all households in territories without municipal organization
- Sections 2–5 come into force three months after Royal Assent, giving governments time to prepare
Gotchas
- The bill focuses solely on awareness and education — it does not create any legal protections, cooling standards, or enforceable heat safety requirements for workplaces or housing
- Municipalities must include the information with every tax bill sent, which could increase administrative and printing costs, though no fiscal estimate is provided
- The bill amends two existing laws (Municipal Act, 2001 and City of Toronto Act, 2006), making the tax bill mailout a legal obligation rather than a voluntary measure
- The requirement to mail information to unorganized territories annually could involve ongoing logistical costs for the provincial government
- The bill is currently at First Reading, meaning it has not yet been debated or passed
Who's Affected
- All Ontario residents and property taxpayers (receive information with tax bills)
- Residents of unorganized territories (receive mailed information directly from the province)
- Municipal treasurers and the City of Toronto treasurer (responsible for including materials with tax bills)
- Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (responsible for creating and distributing content)
- Vulnerable populations at higher risk from extreme heat (elderly, low-income, outdoor workers)
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill focuses solely on awareness and education — it does not create any legal protections, cooling standards, or enforceable heat safety requirements for workplaces or housing
- Municipalities must include the information with every tax bill sent, which could increase administrative and printing costs, though no fiscal estimate is provided
- The bill amends two existing laws (Municipal Act, 2001 and City of Toronto Act, 2006), making the tax bill mailout a legal obligation rather than a voluntary measure
- The requirement to mail information to unorganized territories annually could involve ongoing logistical costs for the provincial government
- The bill is currently at First Reading, meaning it has not yet been debated or passed
Summary
Bill 29, the Turn Down the Heat Act, introduces several measures to educate Ontarians about the dangers of extreme heat. It officially declares the first week of June each year as Extreme Heat Awareness Week and requires the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to publish heat safety information on a government website, covering preparation tips, health risks, and available resources. The bill also requires that this heat safety information be physically mailed to households in areas without a municipal government (such as remote or unorganized territories). For everyone else, municipalities and the City of Toronto are required to include this information with every property tax bill sent to taxpayers. The bill was introduced in response to concerns that the Ontario government does not currently provide enough public education about extreme heat. It notes that insurance claims from severe weather have more than quadrupled over the past 15 years, and that climate instability is expected to increase the frequency of such events.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses