Ontario teachers found guilty of sexually touching a student will now automatically lose their licence.

The provincial government has amended the legislation that regulates teachers, broadening the scope of when their licenses must be revoked.

• Former Ottawa teacher faces 11 new sexual assault-related charges

• Toronto teacher jailed 2 years for sex offences with students, but he still can't be named

Previously, the Ontario College of Teachers would only automatically revoke licences when members were found by the
disciplinary committee to be guilty of certain types of sexual abuse: sexual intercourse, masturbation, and genital-to-genital, genital-to-anal, oral-to-genital, or oral-to-anal contact.

It also automatically revokes their licenses when teachers engage in acts involving child pornography.

• Teacher charged with sexually assaulting students at Milton elementary school

Tuesday's amendment adds "touching of a sexual nature of the student's genitals, anus, breasts or buttocks" to that list.

A statement from the Ministry of Education says the legislation aligns standards for teachers with those for health professionals.