Human Resources Legislative Update
Ontario Amends Sign Requirements under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017
Date: December 17, 2019
On December 13, 2019, the Ontario government filed Ontario Regulation 430/19 (Regulation) which amends Ontario Regulation 268/18 (General) made under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 with respect to the sign requirements for employers and proprietors. The Regulation comes into force on January 1, 2020.
As we previously reported, pursuant to Ontario Regulation 268/18, employers and proprietors are required to post mandatory signs relating to the prohibitions on smoking and vaping in a conspicuous manner and unobstructed from view. The specific signs were required to be copies of certain signs accessible through a website of the government of Ontario.
The Regulation specifies that it is now sufficient “to copy the information and informational symbols on such a sign without copying a Trillium or ‘Smoke-Free’ logo in exact fashion, or copying it at all.” Corresponding changes are made throughout Ontario Regulation 268/18.
The Regulation also requires new dates to be included on posted signs, effectively striking out any reference to “January 1, 2018” and substituting “November 1, 2019 (effective January 1, 2020).”
The provision addressing “tobacconist” under the exemptions section of Ontario Regulation 268/18 is also amended.
The article in this client update provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©
