What follows are the specific text changes to Ontario statutes required to implement the proposals in https://michaelbcurrie.medium.com/a-modest-proposal-for-the-dead-88828530faa1.
An MPP would introduce these as a bill before the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The responsible ministry is the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery.
Design principle: These amendments achieve their goals primarily by removing restrictive text and broadening existing powers, rather than adding new machinery. The net effect is a shorter statute with broader utility.
Net changes: −50 words net across both statutes. ~280 words added, ~330 words removed. The biggest single cut is repealing s.51.1 (the lost document reporting section nobody uses), which alone removes ~200 words.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Amend subsection 3(4) ("Publication by Registrar General"):
Current text:
(4) The Registrar General may collate, publish and distribute
such statistical information regarding the births, marriages,
deaths, still-births, adoptions, divorces and changes of name
registered during any period as he or she may consider to be
necessary and in the public interest.
Amended text:
(4) The Registrar General may collate, publish and distribute,
(a) statistical information regarding the births, marriages,
deaths, still-births, adoptions, divorces and changes of
name registered during any period; and
(b) information identifying specific persons in respect of
whom a birth, marriage, death, or change of name has been
registered,
as he or she may consider to be necessary for the prevention of
fraud or identity theft or otherwise in the public interest.
Net effect: +25 words. The existing statistical publication power is preserved in full (clause (a)). Clause (b) adds a new power to publish information about specific individuals — not limited to deaths, but covering births, marriages, deaths, and changes of name. The purpose clause is broadened from the original "necessary and in the public interest" to explicitly include "prevention of fraud or identity theft," establishing the anti-fraud rationale directly in the statute. The specific fields to be published, timing (e.g. 30-day delay for death notices), format, and any opt-out mechanism are left to regulation under s. 60(m.8), keeping the statutory text general and durable.
Rationale: The Registrar General already has publication authority under this subsection — it is simply limited to aggregate statistics. Splitting the subsection into two clauses preserves that existing power while adding individual-level publication. Covering all four event types (not just deaths) makes the provision useful for other fraud-prevention and public-interest purposes — for example, publishing changes of name can help detect identity laundering. The Registrar General's discretion ("as he or she may consider to be necessary") is retained, so the scope of what is actually published in practice is controlled by regulation and policy, not hardcoded in statute.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Repeal subsection 53(1) and substitute:
Current text (63 words):
(1) No division registrar, sub-registrar, funeral director,
person employed in the service of Her Majesty or other prescribed
person shall communicate or allow to be communicated to any
person not entitled thereto any information obtained under this
Act, or allow any such person to inspect or have access to any
records containing information obtained under this Act.
Amended text (25 words):
(1) No person who obtains information under this Act shall
communicate or allow access to it except as authorized by
this Act or the regulations.
Net effect: −38 words. The phrase "except as authorized by this Act" means that s. 3(4) (publication of death information), s. 53.1(3) (disclosure to institutions), and any future authorized disclosures automatically become valid exceptions — without requiring individual carve-outs in each new section. The current version's enumerated list of persons (division registrar, sub-registrar, funeral director, person employed in the service of Her Majesty) is replaced with the broader "No person who obtains information under this Act," which is both shorter and more comprehensive.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Amend subsection 53.1(3):
Current text:
(3) For the purpose of verifying information or determining if
any document issued or that may be issued under this Act is
being, or may be, improperly used, the Registrar General shall
disclose such information as he or she considers appropriate to
such persons or institutions as he or she considers appropriate.
Amended text:
(3) For the purpose of verifying information, preventing fraud
or identity theft in respect of a deceased person, or determining
if any document issued or that may be issued under this Act is
being, or may be, improperly used, the Registrar General shall
disclose such information as he or she considers appropriate to
such persons or institutions as he or she considers appropriate.
Net effect: +11 words. This single insertion unlocks the entire "Tell Us Once" pipeline through existing machinery. The Registrar General can already disclose information "to such persons or institutions as he or she considers appropriate." Credit bureaus, CRA, Service Canada, and chartered banks are all institutions. The regulation-making authority under s. 60(m.4) already lets the Lieutenant Governor in Council designate them. No new section is required.
Note: Federal agencies (CRA, Service Canada) are outside provincial jurisdiction. Disclosure to them would require a corresponding federal-provincial agreement. The existing National Routing System already provides a partial pipeline between provincial vital statistics offices and Service Canada; this amendment formalizes and broadens it.
Add new subsection 53.1(3.1):
(3.1) A consumer reporting agency that receives notice of a
death under subsection (3) shall, upon receipt, place a deceased
indicator on the consumer file of the deceased and shall not
issue any new consumer report in respect of the deceased that
does not include the deceased indicator.
Net effect: +47 words. This is the mandatory credit freeze — the single most effective anti-ghosting measure. It must be new text because it imposes a duty on credit bureaus, not on the Registrar General. The reference to "consumer reporting agency" connects to the Consumer Reporting Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. C.33), Ontario's existing credit bureau regulatory framework.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Repeal section 51.1 (Duty to report lost documents) in its entirety.
Current text (6 subsections, ~200 words):
51.1 (1) A person who has lost or had stolen or destroyed a
certificate or certified copy of a birth registration or such
other registrations as may be prescribed shall notify the
Registrar General of the loss, theft or destruction, as the case
may be, immediately upon becoming aware of it.
(2) A person who finds a certificate or certified copy of a
birth registration or such other registrations as may be
prescribed shall notify the Registrar General of the find within
24 hours of finding it and shall forthwith forward the
certificate or certified copy to the Registrar General.
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person who forthwith
delivers the found certificate or certified copy to the police
or to a lost and found service.
(4) If the police or a lost and found service receives a
certificate or certified copy of a registration that is believed
to have been lost and that is not claimed within 24 hours of
receiving it, the police or the operator of a lost and found
service, as the case may be, shall notify the Registrar General
of the receipt.
(5) If a certificate or certified copy of a registration that
has been lost is claimed from the police or a lost and found
service within 24 hours of their having received it, they may
return it.
(6) In returning a document as authorized by subsection (5), the
police or lost and found service shall take reasonable
precautions to ensure that it is returned only to the person
entitled to have it and if it is not claimed by such a person,
they shall forward it to the Registrar General not later than 90
days after receiving it.
Net effect: −200 words. This section was added in 2001 (Bill 109) as a document security measure — the idea being that lost birth certificates could be used for identity fraud. In practice it is a dead letter: virtually no one reports a lost birth certificate to the Registrar General, police do not forward found certificates, and the 24-hour and 90-day timelines are unenforced. The automated credit freeze in Change 3 above is a more effective anti-fraud mechanism that operates at the system level rather than depending on individual compliance with a reporting obligation nobody knows exists.
Also repeal section 51.2 (Duty to cancel documents):
51.2 The Registrar General shall cancel certificates and
certified copies of registrations that have been reported lost,
stolen, destroyed, found or received and he or she may cancel any
other certificate or certified copy where he or she, in his or
her discretion, is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do
so.
Net effect: −55 words. This section's mandatory cancellation duty is triggered by reports under s. 51.1. Without s. 51.1's reporting obligations, the trigger disappears. The Registrar General retains discretionary cancellation authority under s. 52 (Registration unlawfully made) and general administrative powers, so no protective gap is created.
Also repeal clause 60(m.3):
(m.3) prescribing registrations to which subsections 51.1 (1)
and (2) apply;
Net effect: −12 words. This regulation-making clause exists solely to support s. 51.1. Repeal follows as consequential.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Add new section 21.1 (after existing s. 21, "Registration of death"):
Fraud prevention notice
21.1 (1) Upon the registration of a death under section 21, the
Registrar General shall cause to be delivered a notice, in the
form prescribed by regulation, setting out,
(a) common forms of fraud and identity theft targeting the
estates of recently deceased persons;
(b) steps that may be taken to secure the financial accounts,
government accounts, and postal services of the deceased;
and
(c) contact information for relevant government agencies and
consumer reporting agencies.
(2) The notice under subsection (1) shall be delivered to the
estate trustee, executor, or nearest relative of the deceased,
as identified in the statement of death or as otherwise provided
to the Registrar General.
Net effect: +95 words. This is the one genuinely new section. It cannot be achieved by broadening an existing provision because no existing section addresses communication to the informant at the time of registration. The informant on the Statement of Death (Form 15) is the province's only point of contact with the family at the time of registration. The form and content of the notice are left to regulation, keeping the statutory text minimal.
File: Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4
Amend section 60 by repealing clause (m.3) (see Change 4) and adding the following clauses:
(m.6) prescribing consumer reporting agencies for the purposes of
subsection 53.1 (3.1);
(m.7) prescribing the form and content of the notice required
under section 21.1;
(m.8) prescribing the manner, format, and timing of publication
under subsection 3 (4), including the information to be
published under clause 3 (4) (b), the website on which
notices shall be published, and any opt-out procedure
available to the persons identified in the publication or
their estate trustee, executor, or nearest relative.
Net effect: +60 words, −12 words (repeal of m.3) = +48 words net.
Rationale: Section 60 is the existing regulation-making authority. These additions allow the Lieutenant Governor in Council to prescribe operational details by regulation without further legislative amendment — the same pattern used for existing provisions like s. 53.1 (institutions designated under clause 60(m.4)). Notably, the 30-day publication delay and opt-out mechanism for public death notices are delegated to regulation under clause (m.8), rather than being hardcoded in statute.
File: Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31
Amend section 21 (Disclosure of personal information) by adding the following subsection:
(6) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a disclosure
authorized under the Vital Statistics Act.
Net effect: +17 words. This is a belt-and-suspenders provision. The simplified s. 53(1) ("except as authorized by this Act") already makes disclosures under s. 3(4) and s. 53.1(3) lawful under the Vital Statistics Act itself. However, FIPPA s. 21(1) independently prohibits disclosure of personal information that would constitute an "unjustified invasion of personal privacy," and this protection continues for 30 years after death. The one-line FIPPA exemption eliminates any argument that the two statutes conflict. It is deliberately broad ("authorized under the Vital Statistics Act") rather than listing specific sections, so it does not need to be amended if the Vital Statistics Act is further amended in future.
| Change | Section | Action | Words added | Words removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | s. 3(4) | Broaden publication power | ~25 | 0 |
| 2 | s. 53(1) | Replace secrecy provision | ~25 | ~63 |
| 3 | s. 53.1(3) | Add fraud prevention purpose | ~11 | 0 |
| 3 | s. 53.1(3.1) | Mandatory credit freeze (new) | ~47 | 0 |
| 4 | s. 51.1 | Repeal lost document reporting | 0 | ~200 |
| 4 | s. 51.2 | Repeal cancellation duty | 0 | ~55 |
| 4 | s. 60(m.3) | Repeal consequential reg clause | 0 | ~12 |
| 5 | s. 21.1 | Fraud alert to next of kin (new) | ~95 | 0 |
| 6 | s. 60 | New regulation-making clauses | ~60 | 0 |
| 7 | FIPPA s. 21(6) | Exemption for VSA disclosures | ~17 | 0 |
| Total | ~280 | ~330 | ||
| Net | −50 words |
The Vital Statistics Act and FIPPA are collectively shorter after these amendments than before. Three major policy outcomes — public death notices, automated notification to financial institutions, and mandatory credit freezes — are achieved primarily by removing restrictions from existing provisions rather than building new ones.
Municipal welfare check programs (proposal 5) do not require provincial legislation. They can be established by municipal bylaw under existing authority in the Municipal Act, 2001 (S.O. 2001, c. 25), s. 11, which grants broad authority to pass bylaws respecting the health, safety, and well-being of persons.
Note on domestic violence and publication suppression: The strongest objection to mandatory death notices is that they could reveal the location of a person who was hiding from an abusive partner, potentially endangering surviving children. In practice, this affects an estimated 7–20 deaths per year in Ontario (women actively concealed from an abuser who die while their children are still dependent), out of approximately 110,000 annual deaths. The opt-out regulation under s. 60(m.8) handles these cases. However, the person at risk cannot opt out if they are dead. As a procedural matter — requiring no legislative change — the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery should notify domestic violence shelters and victim services organizations that a publication suppression request can be filed with the Registrar General on behalf of clients, and shelters should add this to their standard intake checklist alongside existing steps such as name changes, address confidentiality, and protection orders.
- Person dies in their bed.
- Son visits, discovers the body.
- Son calls 911. Paramedics attend, confirm death. If the deceased had a family doctor who saw them recently, police may release the body and the family doctor is contacted. If not, the coroner is called.
- A physician or coroner examines the body and completes the Medical Certificate of Death (cause of death, date, etc.).
- Son contacts a funeral director — or chooses not to. If no funeral director:
- Son obtains the Statement of Death (Form 15) from the municipal clerk's office.
- Son fills it out as the "informant" (name, age, address, marital status, parents' names, place of birth of the deceased, etc.).
- Son submits the completed Statement of Death and the Medical Certificate of Death to the municipal clerk.
- If using a funeral director, the funeral director handles steps 5 through 6 on behalf of the family.
- Municipal clerk issues a Burial Permit. Body can now be buried or cremated.
- Municipal clerk forwards the registration documents to the Registrar General in Thunder Bay.
- Registrar General registers the death.
— Current system ends here. Nothing further happens unless the family chooses to publish an obituary. —
- 30-day clock starts from registration.
- On day 0, Registrar General transmits deceased indicator to CRA, Service Canada, and prescribed credit bureaus (Change 3). Fraud prevention notice delivered to next of kin (Change 5).
- If no public announcement is detected by the Registrar General within 30 days, the Registrar General publishes on their website: name, date of death, municipality. Simultaneously transmitted to the local newspaper of record (in this case the Chronicle-Journal) as a sponsored line item in the obituary section, paid for by the province.