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Transparency Initiatives

For a more detailed overview, please see the CTCMPAO response letter, November 28, 2014 CTCMPAO Correspondence with MOHLTC on Transparency.

Core Values

The College came into existence on April 1, 2013. Despite the fact that it is a young college, it recognizes its role and duty and is committed to acting in the public interest.

The College appreciates that it is communicating to the public (about what the College does) and to its members (as to what is involved in regulation as traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture were not regulated in Ontario before April 1, 2013).

The College recognizes that its most potent and efficacious communicator is its website. It is for this reason that the College has devoted resources to its website maintenance to ensure that pertinent and relevant information is communicated not only to the public but to its members. As you will note below, the website is the College’s forum to communicate upcoming events, expectations of members, and provide clarity on regulatory and legal matters. The College anticipates buttressing the abilities of its website so that it can provide additional information. We describe this in greater detail below.

Communications and Outreach

The College keeps its website updated with relevant "News and Events" including, but not limited to:

  • Updates on legal challenges
  • Postings from the Ministry which advise members of potential health alerts
  • GST/HST Exemption news from the Department of Finance
  • Reminders to the profession of what is and is not permitted as a member of the College
  • Reminders for important deadlines
  • Results of Council elections
  • Dates of Technical Briefing sections

This not only assists members of the College but assures members of the public that the College is making efforts to disseminate relevant and helpful information.

The College also has a specific section entitled “Regulation Questions” which attempts to assist members. The College recognizes that it is a new college and that its member may be new to professional regulation. As such, it has made efforts to relay information to its members not only through “Regulation Questions” but also through the “FAQs” tab.

The College has been made aware that some members have been provided with information that runs contrary to that being provided by the College. Therefore, the College created a Myths and Facts page which will hopefully allow members to clarify their position and ensure compliance with the College requirements.

Finally, the College provides “Fact Sheets” to assist its members on topics such as Professional Titles and Certification and the Registration Examination.

Discretionary Disclosure Provisions

The College has the discretion to make information available to appropriate authorities under section 36 of the Regulated Health Professions Act (the “Act). The circumstances where disclosure can be made under these provisions include the following:

  1. to the extent that the information is available to the public under this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act;
  2. in connection with the administration of this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act, including, without limiting the generality of this, in connection with anything relating to the registration of members, complaints about members, allegations of members’ incapacity, incompetence or acts of professional misconduct or the governing of the profession;
  3. to a body that governs a profession inside or outside of Ontario;
  4. as may be required for the administration of the Drug Interchangeability and Dispensing Fee Act, the Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act, the Health Insurance Act, the Independent Health Facilities Act, the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, the Ontario Drug Benefit Act, the Coroners Act, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) and the Food and Drugs Act (Canada);
  5. to a police officer to aid an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding or from which a law enforcement proceeding is likely to result;
  6. to the counsel of the person who is required to keep the information confidential under this section;
  7. to confirm whether the College is investigating a member, if there is a compelling public interest in the disclosure of that information;
  8. where disclosure of the information is required by an Act of the Legislature or an Act of Parliament; and
  9. if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary for the purpose of eliminating or reducing a significant risk of serious bodily harm to a person or group of persons.

In exercising the discretion to disclose information, the College considers the risk of harm that could result if the information is or is not disclosed, any harm to the College’s own processes by making disclosure and the fairness to the practitioner. For example, if a practitioner is applying for registration with another regulator (either in Ontario or elsewhere) the College will usually advise the other regulator of any concerns about the practitioner’s conduct, competence or capacity. In addition, the College often shares the results of its investigations with other Colleges whose practitioners were also involved in the incident, such as at a multi-disciplinary practice. The College is actively considering developing and publishing guidelines on how this discretion will be exercised so that the public and practitioners better know how these decisions are made.

Inspections

The College does not operate an inspection program.

Languages

The College accommodates all requests for accessible communication for people with disabilities to the point of undue hardship.

Accessibility

The College has not finalized its Patient Relations Program. In order to ensure that the Ontario public is aware of the College’s Program, it intends to publish the program, initially, in English and French on the College website. The College then intends to publish the program on the College website in a variety of languages.

Transparency Initiatives and their Respective Web Pages