PART XII – MISCELLANEOUS
PART XII
MISCELLANEOUS
Protection from personal liability
74. (1) No action or other proceeding for damages shall be instituted against a firefighter, a fire co-ordinator, a community fire safety officer, a member or employee of the Fire Safety Commission, an assistant to the Fire Marshal, a Deputy Fire Marshal, the Fire Marshal, or a person acting under his or her authority, for any act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of his or her power or duty or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of his or her power or duty. 1997, c. 4, s. 74 (1); 2023, c. 12, Sched. 4, s. 8.
Crown, municipality not relieved of liability
(2) Despite subsection 8 (3) of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, 2019, subsection (1) does not relieve the Crown or a municipal corporation of liability in respect of a tort committed by a person referred to in subsection (1) to which they would otherwise be subject. 1997, c. 4, s. 74 (2); 2019, c. 7, Sched. 17, s. 77 (2).
Indemnification
75. (1) A firefighter, a fire co-ordinator, a community fire safety officer, a member or employee of the Fire Safety Commission, an assistant to the Fire Marshal, a Deputy Fire Marshal, the Fire Marshal or a person acting under his or her authority shall be indemnified for reasonable legal costs incurred,
(a) in the defence of a civil action, if the person is not found to be liable;
(b) in the defence of a criminal prosecution, if the person is found not guilty;
(c) in respect of any other proceeding in which the person’s execution of his or her duties is an issue, if the person acted in good faith. 1997, c. 4, s. 75 (1); 2023, c. 12, Sched. 4, s. 9 (1).
Same
(2) Indemnification under subsection (1) shall be made by,
(a) in the case of a firefighter, community fire safety officer or assistant to the Fire Marshal who is employed by a municipality, the municipal corporation;
(b) in the case of a firefighter, community fire safety officer or assistant to the Fire Marshal who is working under an agreement with the Crown or in the case of a fire co-ordinator, a member or employee of the Fire Safety Commission, a Deputy Fire Marshal, the Fire Marshal or a person acting under his or her authority, the Crown. 1997, c. 4, s. 75 (2); 2023, c. 12, Sched. 4, s. 9 (2).
Effect of collective agreement
(3) A collective agreement made under Part IX or a decision under section 53 may provide for indemnification of the legal costs of firefighters, except the legal costs of a firefighter who is found guilty of a criminal offence, and if such an agreement exists, the municipal corporation shall indemnify the firefighters in accordance with the agreement and subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply. 1997, c. 4, s. 75 (3).
No action for damages from accidental fire
76. No action shall be brought against any person in whose house or building or on whose land any fire accidentally begins, nor shall any recompense be made by that person for any damage suffered thereby; but no agreement between a landlord and tenant is defeated or made void by this Act. 1997, c. 4, s. 76.
Manner of service
77. (1) Where a copy of an order or notice is required to be given to, or served on, a person under this Act, the copy may be served personally, by regular letter mail, by electronic transmission, by telephone transmission of a facsimile or by some other method that allows proof of receipt.
Deemed receipt
(2) Service by regular letter mail under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be received by the person on the fifth day after mailing unless the person establishes that the person did not, acting in good faith, through absence, accident, illness or other cause beyond the person’s control receive a copy until a later date than the deemed date of receipt.
Same
(3) Service by electronic transmission or by telephone transmission of a facsimile under subsection (1) shall be deemed to be received the day after it is sent or, if that day is a Saturday or holiday, on the next day that is not a Saturday or holiday, unless the person establishes that the person did not, acting in good faith, through absence, accident, illness or other cause beyond the person’s control receive a copy until a later date than the deemed date of receipt. 1997, c. 4, s. 77.
Regulations
78. (1) The Minister may make regulations,
(a) respecting the operation and administration of fire departments and community fire safety teams established or appointed by an agreement made under section 3 and respecting the functions of community fire safety officers appointed by such an agreement;
(b) prescribing persons or organizations for the purposes of subsections 3 (1) and 4 (2);
(c) prescribing powers and duties that a fire chief may delegate in addition to those mentioned in subsection 6 (6);
(d) prescribing limitations, restrictions, or conditions that apply to a delegation of powers or duties of a fire chief under subsection 6 (6), including restricting the type of power or duty that may be delegated or the class of person to whom the power or duty may be delegated;
(e) respecting the records and returns to be used, kept and made by fire chiefs in respect of their inspections of any class of premises or premises used for any specified purpose;
(f) requiring any person to furnish such statistical and other information to the Fire Marshal as he or she considers necessary;
(g) requiring the following persons or entities to report to the Fire Marshal the particulars of any insurance loss or claim,
(i) a fire insurance company authorized to transact business in Ontario,
(ii) a person adjusting a claim against a fire insurance company, whether the insurance company is licensed to transact business in Ontario or not and whether the adjuster represents the company or the claimant, or
(iii) a person sustaining or claiming to have sustained a loss by fire on property in Ontario insured wholly or partially by an insurance company that is not licensed or registered under the Insurance Act;
(h) defining “regularly employed” for the purposes of the definition of “firefighter” in subsection 41 (1) and “activity allowance” for the purposes of the definition of “volunteer firefighter” in subsection 1 (1);
(i) respecting standards for fire protection devices, equipment and systems;
(j) providing for licensing and regulating the manufacture, sale, installation, servicing, maintenance, testing and repairing of fire protection devices, equipment and systems;
(k) respecting practices and standards for fire protection services and certification and training of firefighters, including full-time, volunteer and part-time firefighters;
(l) prescribing fees and allowances for services and training provided by or on behalf of the Province or municipalities and respecting the person or body to whom the fees or allowances shall be paid;
(m) governing the inspection of hotels;
(n) respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the intent and purpose of this Act.
L. G. in C.
(1.1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations governing administrative penalties that may be imposed under section 30.2, and, without limiting the foregoing, may make regulations,
(a) prescribing provisions of this Act and of the regulations for the purpose of subsection 30.2 (2);
(b) prescribing authorized persons for the purpose of section 30.2, which may include authorizing municipalities to appoint prescribed authorized persons;
(c) prescribing the amount of a penalty, or a method for calculating the amount of a penalty, and prescribing different penalties or ranges of penalties for different types of contraventions or failures to comply and different penalties or ranges of penalties depending on specified criteria;
(d) authorizing prescribed authorized persons to determine the amount of a penalty, if the amount of the penalty or method for calculating the amount of the penalty is not prescribed, and prescribing criteria that may or must be considered when making an order under subsection 30.2 (2), including prescribing that the criteria may include aggravating or mitigating factors;
(e) authorizing that a penalty may be imposed for each day or part of a day on which a contravention or failure to comply continues;
(f) authorizing higher penalties for a second or subsequent contravention or failure to comply;
(g) governing the payment of penalties and authorizing prescribed authorized persons to approve a plan of periodic payments that extends beyond the deadline;
(h) authorizing the imposition of late payment fees respecting penalties that are not paid before the specified deadline, including graduated late payment fees, and providing that such fees are included as part of the penalty for enforcement purposes;
(i) prescribing a lesser maximum penalty and the provisions of this Act or the regulations to which the lesser maximum penalty applies;
(j) prescribing and governing procedures for making and serving an order under section 30.2, including prescribing rules for service, prescribing the day on which an order is deemed to have been received and providing for service on persons outside Ontario;
(k) governing the review of an order, including,
(i) prescribing persons or entities as reviewers, which may include authorizing municipalities to appoint the reviewers,
(ii) establishing procedures for commencing and conducting a review,
(iii) establishing time limits for the stages of a review and authorizing the reviewer to extend any time limit,
(iv) prescribing that the review must or may be conducted orally, electronically or in writing or authorizing the reviewer to make that determination, and
(v) establishing criteria to be considered and criteria not to be considered by the reviewer when determining what decision to make;
(l) prescribing the form and content of orders under section 30.2;
(m) prescribing circumstances in which a person is not required to pay an administrative penalty;
(n) providing that an administrative penalty is payable to a prescribed person rather than to the Minister of Finance, and is a debt due to the person to whom it is payable;
(o) providing for other matters to carry out the purpose of section 30.2. 2024, c. 2, Sched. 10, s. 2.
Same
(2) A regulation made under this section may be general or specific in its application. 1997, c. 4, s. 78.
Municipal by-laws superseded
79. A regulation, including the fire code, supersedes all municipal by-laws respecting standards for land and premises, as those standards relate to fire safety or the risk created by the presence of unsafe levels of carbon monoxide. 2013, c. 14, s. 5.