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Starting August 1, 2025, the Northern Services Boards Act requires meetings of local services boards to be open to the public, like municipal council meetings, with certain narrow exceptions.
Local services boards are volunteer organizations that have the authority to deliver approved services to residents in rural areas of Northern Ontario where there is no municipal government. This authority is granted under R.R.O. 1990, Reg 737. The open meeting rules for local services boards are similar, but not identical to, open meeting rules for municipal bodies.
A part of a meeting may be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered involves:
- personal matters about an identifiable individual;
- litigation or potential litigation;
- advice subject to solicitor-client privilege;
- information explicitly supplied in confidence to the board by the federal government, a province or territory, or a Crown agency; or
- a position, plan, procedure, criteria, or instruction for negotiations by or on behalf of the board.
A part of a meeting must be closed to the public if the subject matter being considered is:
- a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; and/or
- an ongoing investigation by the Ombudsman.
A new tip card for municipalities has been uploaded to the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman’s municipal resources page.
While this change may not directly affect municipalities, we are aware that a segment of our members may receive questions about this from local services board members and/or the public. As an Association, we try to keep our members informed of local administrative and governance matters.