Changes to Ontario's Policing Legislation

As stated, on April 1, 2024, the CSPA came into force, repealing and replacing the PSA. Public Order Maintenance requirements under subsection 11(1) of the CSPA are comparable to the old subsection 4(2) of the PSA. 

Ontario Regulation 392/23 is the Adequate and Effective Policing (General) Regulation under the CSPA, and replaces the previous regulation of this type under the PSA. Here, it is important to note, the content with respect to Public Order Maintenance has changed. Police service boards and services will need to be mindful of these changes as they review and revise their policies and procedures. These changes are highlighted within the “Our Findings” section of this report and Appendix A: Comparison of Legislative Requirements for Public Order Maintenance. 

In addition, and importantly, similar to section 7 of the PSA, section 14 of the CSPA allows for a board or the OPP Commissioner to provide a policing function in an area for which they have policing responsibility by entering into an agreement with another board or the Commissioner to provide that policing function. Under the PSA, and we expect now under the CSPA, these agreements will allow one police service to provide its public order maintenance resources to a police service that does not have this dedicated capacity in circumstances where that policing function must be delivered.