The principles were drawn from research findings from all sources, including precedents from Ontario and other jurisdictions, the Australian best practices guide for professional bodies as well as access principles and guides prepared by other organizations.

The following are the proposed guiding principles:

Access to Professions by International Candidates
Proposed Guiding Principles for Regulators

Regulators of Ontario's self-regulated professions protect the public by ensuring practitioners are qualified in accordance with established standards. The following overarching principles are designed to guide regulators as they evaluate their policies, practices and approaches in relation to internationally educated or trained candidates.

• Fairness
• Objectivity
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Collaboration

The indicators listed below have been designed to assist professional regulatory bodies in assessing whether their polices and practices are consistent with the principles.

Fairness

• Access to the profession is available to all qualified candidates.
• Processes and decisions on entry to the profession are free of discrimination, whether personal or systemic.
• Candidates have access to an appeal process that is arm's length in that the persons who decide the appeal are not the same persons who made the original decision.
• Fees are reasonable and commensurate with the services provided.

Objectivity

• There are objective, consistently applied standards of competence for entry to the profession.
• Standards are well defined, clear, relevant, and communicated to candidates.

Transparency

• Information on requirements and processes for licensure and professional designation is readily available.
• Regulators identify candidates' gaps and suggest possible ways to fill them through courses, skills training, and work placements offered by educational institutions, employers or others.

Accountability

• Regulators demonstrate accountability by reporting on progress regarding access for internationally educated or trained candidates through annual reports, statistics, and other vehicles.

Collaboration

• Regulators collaborate with other bodies to improve access for internationally educated or trained candidates while respecting each other's unique roles and mandates.

Notes

1. These guiding principles are proposed by the Steering Committee of Ontario Regulators for Access and have not necessarily been endorsed by individual regulatory bodies.
2. For further ideas on how to translate the principles into practice, see the Regulators Guide for Promoting Access to Professions by International Candidates at www.regulators4access.ca.

February 2004

^top