Bill 194 Receives Royal Assent

Ontario’s Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act, 2024 (“Bill 194”) passed third reading and received royal assent on November 25, 2024. This means no further changes to Bill 194 are expected. It will come into effect on a date to be announced by the provincial government.

From the perspective of Ontario’s provincial and municipal institutions, there have been no significant changes to Bill 194 since its first reading. As noted previously, Bill 194 will establish regulation-making authorities to set information protections for children, empower the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery to lead cyber security initiatives for vulnerable sectors, introduce accountability and transparency requirements for the use of AI in the public sector, and, for institutions covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”), mandate privacy breach notifications and privacy impact assessments.

For more details about Bill 194, and the supporting regulations that are expected to follow, I recommend this recent article from Fasken: Ontario’s Public Sector Cyber Security Legislation Receives Royal Assent.

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