What are OICs (Orders in Council)? Every province has them and the federal government as well, although the federal ones are also called Privy Council Orders.
There is a succinct definition of an Order in Council on the Ontario government’s Orders in Council website:
“An Order in Council (OIC) is a government order recommended by the Executive Council and signed by the Lieutenant Governor.”
Hundreds of OICs are made every year. A few are published in the Ontario Gazette but the majority are never published. In the past they were extremely difficult to locate.
Not anymore! The government website is one-stop shopping for:
- what OICs are used for;
- how they are created; and
- most importantly, contact information for obtaining copies of them depending on the year they were created.
Know How 