“Commencement provisions are pervasive in Canadian law,” says Choudhry, head of Hāki Chambers Global.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision is important because it clarified that that’s not the law. The discretion that a commencement provision grants is discretion about when to bring legislation into force, but not whether to bring it into force at all.”
Ontario’s Bill 213, the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, gave the Canada Christian College and School of Graduate Theological Studies the right to call itself a university and grant degrees. The legislation received Royal Assent on Dec. 8, 2020, and provided that the amendments come into force on a day to be named by the Lieutenant Governor.
Under the Post-secondary Education Choice and Excellence Act, educational institutions seeking the status of degree-granting universities can apply to the Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities for consent. The legislation also established the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board to make recommendations on ministerial consent.
When the Board completed its review of Canada Christian College, it found the college failed to meet several established standards from the 2019 Manual for Private Organizations Applying for Ministerial Consent. The college fell short on governance, administrative capacity, financial stability, and academic decision-making, according to the Board, which recommended against approval of the college’s application.