Regulation in Ontario

There is no universal definition of a self-regulated profession. For the purposes of the Access Solutions project, Ontario Regulators for Access identified 38 regulatory bodies in Ontario that share the following characteristics:

• The authority of the regulatory body comes from an Ontario statute
• Professionals need the authority of the regulatory body to practise their profession in Ontario, to use a professional designation, or both.
  

Of the 38 self-regulated professions, twenty-two (22) (55%) are health professions; the others represent a wide range of disciplines. Each profession has a regulatory body with statutory authority to establish requirements for entry to the profession or professional designation as well as standards of practice and competence. To practise as a member of a regulated profession or use a professional designation, all applicants-whether Canadian trained or international - must meet the requirements of the relevant regulatory body which often requires obtaining a license to practise.

Health Professions

• Audiologist and Speech Language Pathologist
• Chiropodist
• Chiropractor
• Dental Hygienist
• Dental Surgeon
• Dental Technologist
• Denturist
• Dietician
• Massage Therapist
• Medical Laboratory Technologist
• Medical Radiation Technologist
• Midwife
• Naturopath/Drugless Practitioner
• Nurse
• Occupational Therapist
• Optician
• Optometrist
• Pharmacist
• Physician and Surgeon
• Physiotherapist
• Psychologist
• Respiratory Therapist

Other Professions

• Architect
• Certified Engineering Technician & Technologist
• Certified General Accountant
• Chartered Accountant
• Forester
• Funeral Director
• Geoscientist
• Insurance Broker
• Land Surveyor
• Lawyer
• Management Accountant
• Professional Engineer
• Real Estate Agent
• Social Worker and Social Service Worker
• Teacher
• Veterinarian

Size of Register

As shown by the following table, the number of licensed professionals on the register for each profession varies significantly, from 237 midwives at the low end to 190,000 teachers at the high end.

Based on the size of registers provided through the surveys, Ontario regulatory bodies can be categorized as small, medium, or large.

While each regulatory body in Ontario is responsible for determining whether candidates are qualified to enter the profession, they vary widely in size, capacity, and methodology for discharging that function. Some regulatory bodies conduct academic and other assessments internally. Some rely on national bodies or external providers to conduct academic credential assessment. Others rely almost entirely on national bodies to assess the academic and other qualifications of international candidates. In those cases, the provincial body essentially licenses individuals who have been pre-qualified by the national body. Approximately half of the Ontario regulatory bodies that participated in this research confirmed that a national body played a role in assessing candidates.

Ontario regulatory bodies also operate in different environmental contexts and under different pressures. For example, some bodies reported a skill shortage in their profession and others did not.

Because of these variations, solutions of interest to one regulatory body may not be of interest to another. For example, regulatory bodies that rely on a national organization to conduct the assessment of candidates may not be interested in the latest practices on competency-based assessment. They may, however, want to help promote and develop bridging programs to which they can refer unsuccessful candidates.

In addition, while standards and accountabilities are built into a profession's governing legislation, there are often no specific provisions on how to address internationally trained professionals. The legislation may use words like "ensuring a candidate's education is equivalent "or "substantially equivalent", or "comparable to Canadian trained." Regulators themselves have therefore had to take the lead in reviews of regulatory requirements to ensure accountability for their legislative mandates and help for people seeking licensing (see Fulfilling the Promise:Integrating Immigrant Skills into the Canadian Economy, by Naomi Alboim and The Maytree Foundation, April 2002.)

Costs and Application Process

The application process is different for each profession. It takes time and costs money. For more information please go to the regulatory body web site of the relevant profession.

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