Dear members and stakeholders,

On March 8, 2022, the College received the following written confirmation from the Ministry of Health that the Ontario government intends to remove the Traditional Chinese Medicine Repeal Act (Schedule 5) from Bill 88:

We would like to inform you of recent developments regarding the oversight of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists in Ontario.

On March 7th, the government informed the Ministry of Health that it intends to remove Schedule 5 from Bill 88 and directed the ministry to work with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario to offer a Chinese language entry to practice exam for registration with the college.

The ministry has been in contact with the College to discuss this matter and to ensure it has the necessary resources to undertake that work.

As soon as the Legislature agrees to remove Schedule 5 from Bill 88 at standing committee, the profession of traditional Chinese medicine will remain a regulated health profession in Ontario. Also, as a result of this development, no changes will be made to the controlled acts regulation that exempts the performance of acupuncture to the eight named professions (in addition to medicine and traditional Chinese medicine). 

Thank you,

Ontario Ministry of Health

To be clear, the profession is still regulated and members are still under the jurisdiction of the College. There has been no disruption to the College’s jurisdiction and the removal of Schedule 5 will merely remove that possibility from occurring.

Further as per the Ministry of Health’s message above, it has been confirmed that acupuncture will remain a controlled act. This means that the act will not be put into the public domain.

The College understands this has been a difficult time for those who rely on TCM regulation in Ontario, including our members and their patients. The College will continue to provide updates as they become available.

Sincerely,

Ann Zeng
Registrar and CEO

有關Bill 88中Schedule 5 的最新消息

各位註冊成員及相關人士

在2022年3月8日，管理局收到由安省衛生廳發出有關安省政府擬從法案Bill 88中刪除Traditional Chinese Medicine Repeal Act (Schedule 5)的書面確認，如下：

我們想告知您有關規管安省中醫師及針灸師的最新進展。

在3月7日，安省政府通知衛生廳，計劃從法案Bill 88中刪除Schedule 5，並指示衛生廳與安省中醫師及針灸師管理局合作，制定一套以中文為考核語言的註冊考試。

衛生廳已就上述事宜與管理局展開討論，並確保其有足夠資源開展這項工作。

當安省立法議會的常設委員會同意從法案Bill 88中刪除Schedule 5，即確認中醫及針灸行業仍然是安省受規管的醫療衛生行業。此外，有關受管制行為的法規不會受到任何改變，八個指定行業（醫生及中醫除外）仍繼續獲得執業者進行針灸工作的豁免權。

謝謝。

安省衛生廳

準確地說，中醫及針灸行業仍然是受規管的行業，而各位成員仍然是在管理局的管轄之下。管理局的管轄權沒有受到任何影響，Schedule 5的刪除亦確認管理局的管轄權一切如常。

此外，根據衛生廳的上述信息，針灸仍是一項受規管行為。這意味著針灸並不會被置於公共領域。

管理局明白對於一直以來信賴安省中醫及針灸行業規管的人（包括我們的註冊成員和他們的病人）來說，這是一段艱難的時期。管理局將繼續向各位成員及相關人士提供最新消息。

謹呈,

Ann Zeng,
Registrar and CEO

免責聲明：以上中文內容由安省中醫師及針灸師管理局或第三方翻譯人員，根據英文正式版本進行翻譯， 僅供參考。中文翻譯內容如與英文版本有任何差異，概以英文版本為準。