The Ontario government enacted the Police Record Checks Reform Act on Dec. 1, 2015.
This will change the law about obtaining police records checks. This will apply to, for example, employers who request these on hires and organizations who require police records checks for volunteers.
The legislation is not yet in force, but will be in the future near future.
Effectively, no longer will these checks disclose mental health records or records from police “carding” checks and other non-conviction records, except in special circumstances.
A good summary of this new changes is posted by Maddie Alexrod of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP here.
If you request police record checks for employment, volunteerism or otherwise, you should review this update and make adjustments to your system for requesting these checks.
Note that A person or organization that willfully contravenes certain provisions of the Act is guilty of an offence, and is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000. A prosecution cannot be commenced unless the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services consents.
