Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario is being wound down and will be dissolved

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

The legislation governing the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) has been amended to put the organization on a path to dissolution. The board size minimum has been cut from five to one member, appointment authority has shifted from the Lieutenant Governor in Council to the Minister alone, and the restriction barring post-secondary institution insiders from board membership has been removed. A new winding-up process requires the board to prepare a dissolution plan under Ministerial direction, transferring all of HEQCO's assets, liabilities, rights, and obligations to the Crown or a Crown agency. New liability protections for current and former Council members, employees, and Crown officials have been added, and proceedings against those individuals in respect of their duties under the Act are broadly barred. The Act itself will be repealed and HEQCO fully dissolved on a date set by the Lieutenant Governor in Council; a final annual report covering the period up to dissolution must be tabled in the Assembly.

Who this affects: post-secondary educational institutions subject to HEQCO oversight · HEQCO board members and employees · Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development · parties with contracts or agreements with HEQCO · researchers and bodies that rely on HEQCO reports