Bill 114 (Safe Night Out Act, 2023) amends Ontario's Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 and the Occupational Health and Safety Act to create mandatory sexual violence and harassment training and require written policies for liquor-licensed premises and workplaces. The Registrar must create an evidence-based, trauma-informed prevention training program; licensees and certain categories of staff (servers, security, supervisors) must complete it before beginning duties, and premises must post signage confirming completion.
The bill also expands the OHS Act to explicitly include workplace sexual violence (including online acts and conduct tied to sexuality, gender identity or expression) and requires employers and workers to complete Chief Prevention Officer–approved training on workplace sexual harassment. The statute sets transition timelines and permits the government to make transitional regulations, but does not set criminal penalties or detailed enforcement mechanics within the text.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires the Registrar to develop a trauma-informed sexual violence and harassment prevention training for liquor premises; mandates that licensees, staff who sell/serve alcohol, security personnel and supervisors complete the training before duties. Adds workplace sexual violence to the OHS Act and requires employer- and worker-level training approved by the Chief Prevention Officer.
Who It Affects
Hospitality licensees and permit holders, servers, security staff and on-site supervisors at licensed premises; employers and all workers covered by the OHS Act; training providers and regulators (Registrar and Chief Prevention Officer).
Why It Matters
This creates uniform, sector-specific training obligations linking liquor licensing and workplace safety law, expanding compliance duties across hospitality and other workplaces and potentially shifting how venues prevent and respond to sexual violence.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill embeds prevention duties into two separate regulatory regimes. For premises where liquor is sold or served, the Registrar must design a single training program that is evidence-based and trauma-informed and that covers what constitutes sexual violence or harassment on licensed premises, the elements of consent, how to spot people at risk, and safe intervention techniques.
Licensees and permit holders must ensure the training is completed before staff begin relevant duties; the obligation extends to anyone involved in sale/service, security, or supervision. Premises must also display a prominent sign stating that those categories of staff have completed the training.
Separately, the bill amends Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act to define workplace sexual violence, making clear that it includes sexual acts or conduct targeting sexuality or gender identity/expression, whether the conduct is physical or psychological, in-person or online, and whether or not it arises within an intimate-partner context. The OHS changes require employers themselves to complete training approved by the Chief Prevention Officer and to ensure every person in the workplace, including supervisors and committee members, completes that approved workplace sexual harassment training.The bill requires every licensee and permit holder to adopt a written sexual violence and harassment policy that explains how incidents will be addressed by servers, security staff, and supervisors and provides information on community supports and services for survivors.
It also clarifies that completing the mandatory prevention training alone does not, by itself, create civil liability for an alleged act of sexual violence or harassment.Practical compliance touches: the law gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council power to make transitional regulations for rolling out the Liquor Licence Act amendments, current licensees and covered workers must complete the new liquor-premises training within four months of the law coming into force, and the whole Act begins six months after Royal Assent. The bill does not set out inspection, reporting, or penalty regimes for noncompliance, nor does it prescribe training delivery formats or minimum hourly requirements — those design and enforcement details fall to the Registrar, the Chief Prevention Officer and any subsequent regulations.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Registrar must develop a trauma‑informed, evidence‑based sexual violence and harassment prevention training program covering definitions, consent, risk recognition and safe intervention for liquor premises.
Licensees and permit holders must ensure servers, security personnel and supervisors complete that training before they begin relevant duties; existing covered persons must finish within four months of the Act coming into force.
Every licensed premises must display a prominent sign stating that the staff categories required by the Act have completed the prevention training.
The OHS Act is amended to explicitly include workplace sexual violence (including online conduct and acts linked to sexuality, gender identity or expression) and requires employers and all workers to complete training approved by the Chief Prevention Officer.
The Act states that completing the prescribed prevention training is not, by itself, a basis for civil liability in proceedings alleging sexual violence or harassment.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Registrar must design defined prevention training
This provision compels the Registrar to produce a single training program described as evidence-based and trauma-informed and lists required subject areas: what counts as sexual violence/harassment on licensed premises, consent elements, signs of risk, and safe intervention strategies. Practically, the Registrar will set curricular boundaries and decide delivery modalities, assessment, and recordkeeping, although the bill does not prescribe those operational details.
Mandatory completion, display requirement and transition timing
Licensees and permit holders must complete the training and ensure covered staff (sale/service, security, supervisors) do so before starting duties; existing covered persons get a four‑month transition window after the law’s start. The holder must also post a prominent sign confirming staff completion. The provision creates compliance obligations at the business level but leaves enforcement mechanisms unspecified, so regulators or licensing inspectors will need rules or policies to verify completion.
Mandatory sexual violence and harassment policy for premises
Every licensee must adopt a written policy focused on reducing sexual violence and harassment that explains how incidents will be handled by servers, security and supervisors and provides information on community supports. This requires licensees to translate training into on-site protocols and referral pathways; it also creates documentation that inspectors or civil litigants could later examine to assess whether a venue met its obligations.
Explicit inclusion of workplace sexual violence (including online and non‑intimate conduct)
The OHS Act’s definition of workplace violence is expanded to include workplace sexual violence, which the bill defines to cover sexual acts or conduct targeting sexuality/gender identity or expression, whether physical or psychological, in-person or online, and regardless of domestic or intimate‑partner context. That broad wording increases employer duties to consider off-site and digital conduct when assessing workplace risks and planning prevention measures.
Policy content and mandatory approved training under OHS
The bill clarifies that employers’ violence and harassment policies must specifically address workplace sexual violence and harassment and adds an express requirement that employers complete training approved by the Chief Prevention Officer and ensure every person in the workplace does the approved workplace sexual harassment training. This creates parallel obligations: one regime tied to liquor licensing and one under OHS, with two different administrative approvers (Registrar vs. Chief Prevention Officer) responsible for training standards.
Timing and regulatory authority for implementation
The Act comes into force six months after Royal Assent, and the Lieutenant Governor in Council can make transitional regulations for implementing the Liquor Licence Act amendments. Because many obligations rely on regulators to write operational rules, this clause gives the government formal power to phase in requirements, modify timelines or address implementation mechanics without amending the statute itself.
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Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Workers in licensed premises (servers, security, supervisors): The training and mandatory policies aim to give them tools to identify, intervene and support patrons and colleagues at risk and create clearer workplace procedures.
- People who experience sexual violence at or after licensed events: Policies that require on-site response protocols and community support information increase the chances of timely assistance and referrals.
- Hospitality patrons more broadly: Standardized training across licensed venues could reduce risky situations and improve safety culture in nightlife settings.
- Workplace health and safety actors (joint health and safety committees, prevention officers): Clear statutory expectations and approved training create a firmer basis for workplace prevention programming and committee activity.
- Community sexual‑assault and support organizations: The policy requirement to provide information about supports may increase referrals and coordination with local service providers.
Who Bears the Cost
- Licensees and permit holders in the hospitality sector: They must pay for training for themselves and covered staff, develop and maintain written policies, post signage and allocate staff time (with existing businesses having a four‑month compliance window).
- Employers across OHS coverage: Employers must complete approved training and ensure all workers do too, which means procurement, scheduling, and tracking costs and time away from work.
- Small venues and independent operators: Smaller operators with thin margins will face proportionally higher administrative and financial burden to meet training and policy requirements.
- Provincial regulators and enforcement bodies (Registrar, Chief Prevention Officer): They must develop curricula, approve training, and create compliance verification processes without specified additional funding in the bill.
- Training providers: They will need to adapt courses to meet Registrar and Chief Prevention Officer standards and may face certification or approval processes before delivering mandated content.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between mandating broad, proactive prevention measures to protect patrons and workers and the risk that ambiguous standards, unfunded implementation, and overlapping regulatory regimes will produce inconsistent training, compliance costs that fall heaviest on small operators, and limited practical enforcement — in short, stronger duties on paper may not translate into safer outcomes without clear standards, coordination and resourcing.
The bill directs the Registrar and the Chief Prevention Officer to produce or approve training but leaves crucial operational details — length, delivery format, assessment, recordkeeping, accessibility, language and accreditation standards — to those officials or to future regulations. That gap creates both flexibility and uncertainty: it allows training to be tailored, but it also risks inconsistent quality or minimal compliance if standards are not prescriptive or well-resourced.
The statute requires policies and signage but does not attach inspection protocols, monetary penalties, or administrative consequences for noncompliance, so the practical force of the obligations will depend heavily on how licensing and OHS enforcement integrate these requirements into existing inspection and compliance frameworks.
Another unresolved area is the overlap between two regimes. Liquor licensing obligations and OHS duties will both apply in many hospitality settings, but training programs and approval authorities differ.
Businesses may face duplicate training requirements unless regulators coordinate curricula and recordkeeping. The bill also expands the definitional scope to include online conduct and acts arising outside the workplace or home.
That is intentional from a prevention perspective but complicates employers’ risk assessments: employers will need to decide how far off-premises incidents trigger workplace responses and what investigative or privacy protections apply when conduct occurs in digital spaces or in employees’ personal relationships.
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