Item - 2016.LS14.2

The Licensing and Standards Committee recommends that:

1. City Council approve amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 545, Licensing, Article I, General Licensing Provisions, to update the statutory reference contained in the definition of "Service Animal" to the recently amended Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR), O.Reg. 191/11.

2. City Council approve amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 349, Animals, as follows:

a. Replace the definition of "Service Animal" in Article I so that it reads as follows:

"Service Animal" - An animal described in subsection 80.45(4) of O. Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards.

b. Exempt service dogs from 349-5, Number of cats and dogs restricted, so that the limit of the number of dogs contained in section 349-5 does not include service animals where the number of service animals required exceeds the limits contained in the section.

c. Exempt an owner of a service animal from the requirement to register cats, obtain licence tags, and pay fees for the service animal.

3. City Council approve amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 608, Parks, as follows:

a. Delete the words "Disabled Person" throughout and replace it with the words "Person with a Disability";

b. Delete the definition of "Disabled Person".

c. Add the following as new definitions:

"Disability" - The same meaning as in section 2 of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c, 11.

"Service Animal" - An animal described in subsection 80.45(4) of O.Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards.

d. Add, as a new section, the prohibiting of discrimination against individuals using service animals, as follows:

While in a park, no person shall, in respect of any person with a disability being accompanied by a guide dog or service animal, by reason only of the presence of the guide dog or service animal:

(1) Refuse to permit such person to enter with a service animal into or upon any place or premises within a park; or

(2) Refuse to permit the person and service animal to remain in or upon such place or premises within a park.

(3) This section does not apply if the guide dog or service animal is otherwise excluded by law from the premises.

e. Delete the words "blind persons reliant upon a guide dog" in subsections 608-34A(2) and (5), and replace with "person with a disability accompanied by a service animal".

This report proposes amendments to Toronto Municipal Code, Chapter 545, Licensing, Chapter 349, Animals, and Chapter 608, Parks to include the current definition of "service animal", provide exemptions for persons with disabilities that are accompanied by service animals, and update the language relating to persons with disabilities. These amendments will reinforce the expectation of inclusive treatment of all consumers and residents in the City by ensuring that persons with disabilities accompanied by service animals are treated equitably.

The proposed updates reflect current provincial Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which were amended by Ontario Regulation 165/16, effective July 1, 2016.

Legal Services, Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and Equity, Diversity and Human Rights were consulted in the preparation of this report.