The Conflict of Interest Commissioner has key responsibilities for certain conflict of interest and political activity matters under the Public Service of Ontario Act 2006 (PSOA). The PSOA received Royal Assent in December 2006, and is in force on August 20, 2007.

 

The PSOA establishes both an ethical and human resource management framework for the public service. These modern, effective frameworks are designed to help the OPS maintain its high standards of integrity while providing important safeguards and protections that public servants need to do their jobs.

 

The primary objective of this website is to outline the role and mandate of the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner.

 

As part of the conflict of interest framework in the PSOA, the Conflict of Interest Commissioner (COIC) is responsible for:

• Approving the conflict of interest rules of public bodies to ensure consistency with OPS standards and to make the agency’s rules enforceable;


• Handling referrals from Deputy Ministers and Chairs of public bodies on such matters as requests for advice or rulings on specific conflict of interest matters;


• Determining (following a referral from the Chair of a public body of an allegation of a breach of conflict of interest rules by an appointee) whether a breach occurred and reporting the finding to the responsible Minister; and


• Receiving disclosures of personal financial information from public servants working on matters that involve the private sector.


• Additional responsibilities as assigned under the PSOA or any other Act.

 

As part of the provisions in the PSOA that reinforce the non-partisan nature of the public service, the COIC will be responsible for:

• Handling referrals from Deputy Ministers and Chairs of public bodies on such matters as requests for advice or rulings on specific political activity matters;


• Determining (following a referral from the Chair of a public body of an allegation of a breach of conflict of interest rules by an appointee) whether a breach occurred and reporting the finding to the responsible Minister; and


• Granting authorization (with or without conditions) to part-time adjudicators to engage in other political activity.

 

The information contained on our web site includes Annual Reports, Reports by the Commissioner, Information on Conflict of Interest and Political Activity Rights, links to the legislation, and links to related sites.

 

We hope this site provides the information you may require to understand the role of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner.