Laptop couple

Public consultations

Your feedback is valuable.

Ontario health regulators often seek feedback from the public, health professionals and others when developing policies, guidelines and other documents.

Your feedback helps us identify and assess the issues that concern the public. It helps us develop the policies and standards that guide the work of regulated health professionals and help colleges protect you.

List of Current Consultations

  • Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario – Two Consultations (deadline October 20, 2024)
  • College of Naturopaths of Ontario (deadline November 1, 2024)
  • College of Nurses of Ontario (deadline November 24, 2024)

_____________________________________________________________________________

Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario

Summaries of feedback received through both surveys will be provided to RCDSO Council after these preliminary consultations close.

Please note your feedback is anonymous. Responses submitted by individuals on behalf of organizations will be attributed to the organization and not the individual.

For more information on RCDSO’s standards review and development process, visit our website or reach out to our Policy team.

Maintaining a Professional Patient-Dentist Relationship

The College is looking to update its requirements and guidance for dentists related to patient-dentist relationships.

We are seeking your feedback on the current Maintaining a Professional Patient-Dentist Relationship practice advisory to help inform these updates.

The current practice advisory sets out requirements and guidance on:

  • building and maintaining a professional patient-dentist relationship
  • resolving conflicts between patient and dentist
  • properly ending the professional patient-dentist relationship.

Survey details

The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

If you are responding on behalf of an organization, you may prefer to download a PDF of the survey and submit your responses to patient.dentist.relationships@rcdso.org.

You have until 11:59 p.m. on October 20, 2024 to complete the survey. If you have any questions, please contact patient.dentist.relationships@rcdso.org.

Implant Dentistry

With significant advancements in implant dentistry, the College is developing updated requirements and guidance to support dentists and promote safe and effective care for patients.

We want to hear your thoughts on the current Educational Requirements and Professional Responsibilities for Implant Dentistry guideline to help us inform the development of new requirement and guidance materials.

Survey details

The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

If you are responding on behalf of an organization, you may prefer to download a PDF of the survey and submit your responses to implants@rcdso.org. You have until 11:59 p.m. on October 20, 2024 to complete the survey. If you have any questions, please contact implants@rcdso.org.

_____________________________________________________________________________

College of Naturopaths of Ontario

Standards of Practice Consultation 2024

Introduction   

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer, on behalf of the Standards Committee of the College is initiating a consultation regarding proposed amendments to the College’s standards of practice. The rationale for these proposed amendments is detailed in the attached compendium document.

This matter is currently under active consideration, and no decisions have been made at this time. The College is seeking feedback from its registrants, system partners, and the general public.

This discussion paper is a part of the College’s augmented Consultation Program through which the College will actively engage stakeholders, system partners and registrants on topics where future changes are being contemplated or presently being proposed.

Proposal

The College is mandated under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) to develop, establish and maintain standards of practice for naturopathic doctors (NDs), to assure the quality of the practice of the profession. These standards describe the expected level of performance for specific elements of practice, to which all NDs are required to adhere, to ensure quality and safety in the provision of these professional services to the public. The public should feel confident their ND is held to a high standard when they seek naturopathic care.

The standards of practice guide the professional knowledge, skills and judgement needed to practice naturopathy safely, and set the minimum expectations that must be met by any ND in any setting. These documents are consistently updated to incorporate current legislative and health care system requirements.

Several of the College’s standards of practice, developed between 2012 and 2015, require review and potential amendments to align with current legislation and evolving healthcare needs and practices.

The Standards Committee of the College has initiated a review of the standards of practice, considering the following factors and information:

  • Does this represent the actual way the profession practises this procedure?
  • Is anything confusing or outdated?
  • Is anything missing?
  • Is anything necessary or unnecessary?
  • What information would help registrants meet the minimum expectations?

The review of the standards is being conducted in batches. This consultation focuses on 19 standards of practice that have been reviewed by the Standards Committee and are now ready for feedback.

Current Information

The current standards of practice are listed and linked below and accessible on the College website for reference. Additionally, clean copies of the newly proposed standards are linked in the table below for ease of comparison. The accompanying compendium document provides an overview of the amendments and highlights the specific sections of the standards where changes are being proposed.

No.Current StandardsProposed Standards
1.AcupunctureAcupuncture
2.Collecting Clinical SamplesCollecting Clinical Samples
3.Communicating a DiagnosisCommunicating a Diagnosis
4.CompoundingCompounding
5.ConsentConsent
6.DelegationDelegation
7.DispensingDispensing and Selling
8.Dual RegistrationDual Registration
9.InhalationInhalation
10.InjectionInjection
11.Internal ExaminationsInternal Examinations
12.Intravenous Infusion TherapyIntravenous Therapy
13.ManipulationManipulation
14.Point of Care TestingPoint of Care Testing
15.PrescribingPrescribing
16.Recommending Non-scheduled SubstancesRecommending Non-scheduled Substances
17.Requisitioning Laboratory TestsRequisitioning Laboratory Tests
18.Restricted TitlesRestricted Titles
19.Therapeutic Relationships and Professional BoundariesTherapeutic Relationships and Professional Boundaries

Intent of this Change

The proposed amendments to the standards of practice are designed to support the profession by providing the most current information, reflecting up-to-date legislation and evolving healthcare needs and practices.

Impact on Registrants

Most of the changes will impact all registrants as they would be required to familiarize themselves with the amendments as approved to ensure that they can effectively incorporate the necessary updates into their practices. In doing so, registrants will be able to maintain compliance with the latest standards and continue to provide quality care that aligns with current legislative and healthcare requirements.

Financial Impact on the College

The proposed amendments to the standards of practice will not have a financial impact on registrants. The primary objective of these amendments is to ensure that registrants’ practices align with current legislation and healthcare needs. Additionally, these changes are not anticipated to have any financial implications for the College.

Feedback

The College is seeking feedback from all stakeholders, including registrants, the public, naturopathic organizations and other regulatory bodies. Feedback must be provided by way of written correspondence (letter or email) or through the College’s online submission form (see below for more details).

All feedback will be published by the College on the College’s website. Feedback from organizations will be published such that a reader can identify the organization; however, feedback from individuals within the profession or members of the public will be published anonymously.

Regardless, all feedback must include the name of the individual submitting for validity purposes. Anonymous submissions will not be considered and will not be retained by the College.

Feedback can be provided in the following ways:

Written correspondence by mail:College of Naturopaths of Ontario
10 King Street East, Suite 1001
Toronto, ON M5C 1C3
Written correspondence by facsimile:(416) 583-6011
Written correspondence by e-mail:general@collegeofnaturopaths.on.ca
On-line form:Standards Consultation 2024 Submission Form

Instructions for Using the Online Submission Form

The on-line submission form for the College’s proposed changes to the standards of practice is an interactive and intuitive form. Before using this form, it is highly recommended that you review the proposed changes and make note of the areas where you wish to provide feedback. This will make the online submission process easier to use. The key questions are as follows:

IdentificationYou will be required to provide your full name and email address, as well as the name of any organization you may be representing.
SectionsYou will be asked to identify all the sections on which you wish to provide feedback. This will alter the online form to allow feedback on those sections only. If you do not identify a specific section for feedback, the opportunity to speak to that section will not be included in the form. 
Submission CopyAt the completion of the feedback form, you can request that the online system provides you with a copy of your submission by checking a box at the end. It is recommended that you check this box so you can recall the feedback that you have provided.
Published SummaryA summary of all feedback received will be published on the College’s website. All information provided will be published as submitted. The College does not edit submissions prior to publication. Names, emails, and other identifying information will be redacted from the materials prior to publication unless you have identified that your submission is provided on behalf of an organization.

Timeframe

The College will be providing the opportunity for feedback that exceeds the mandatory 60-day timeframe set out in the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Consultation will begin on or before August 9, 2024, and will conclude on or about November 1, 2024.

Information Sessions

The College will be conducting one or more information sessions on the proposed changes to the standards of practice. The session will enable attendees to hear about the key elements and the rationale for the proposed changes; however, it will not be a session to provide feedback. Feedback may only be provided in writing as noted above. To facilitate these sessions, an opportunity to submit questions ahead of time is being provided using this online form.

Watch the Events Listing on the College’s home page for the dates and times of upcoming information sessions.

_____________________________________________________________________________

College of Nurses of Ontario

CNO partners with members of the public to support safe nursing care for everyone in Ontario. One way we do this is by asking you what you think about information we develop.

When we create new resources about nursing practice, or propose changes to practice standards, guidelines and by-laws, we will post them here. We invite you to read them and send us your comments. See below for details and deadlines for submitting feedback.

We consider all comments we receive when we create new materials that support safe nursing care.

Current consultations

Comment on proposed regulation changes to the Nurse Practitioner registration requirements

CNO welcomes your feedback on proposed regulation changes that, if approved by CNO Council and the Government of Ontario, would change Nurse Practitioner (NP) registration requirements in Ontario under the Nursing Act, 1991.  

Overview  

At the September 2024 Council meeting, Council members were in favour of circulating, for public consultation, draft regulations that propose to amend the NP registration requirements. These amendments align with CNO’s strategic priority of supporting registration processes that are evidence-informed, fair, inclusive and effective.  

If passed, the proposed amendments mean CNO will no longer register NPs with specialty certificates (for example, NP-Primary Health Care, NP-Adult and NP-Paediatric). Instead, all NPs will be registered under a single NP classification.  

This proposed approach is part of a national effort to ensure NPs across Canada are educated based on common NP entry-level competencies (ELCs), take a common NP entry-level exam and ensure competence, as entry level NPs, to provide care across patient populations and practice settings. 

How to give your feedback  

  1. Review the summary note. It describes the changes shown in theredline version of the proposed changes to regulations under the Nursing Act, 1991 (which is only available in English now – if approved, the Government of Ontario translates the regulations into French). 
  2. Complete this online survey to provide your feedback. The survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete. This consultation closes on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024.

In December 2024, Council will review your feedback to determine if the proposed changes are in the public interest. If supported by Council, the regulations will be sent to the Ministry of Health for consideration. Government approval is required for the regulation to take effect.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Citizen Advisory Group

The Citizen Advisory Group helps bring the patient voice and perspective to all health regulatory Colleges in Ontario. To find out more, visit their website at citizenadvisorygroup.org.

Reliable Information

How to Get Reliable Information on Your Healthcare Provider

Are you looking to switch healthcare providers or visit someone new for the first time? With so much ubiquitous information available online, you might be unsure where to start your search for reliable and trustworthy sources. That’s where Ontario Health Regulators can help. Every Ontario health regulator offers an online tool called the “public register” […]

Read More
Doctor's Appointment

Beware of Imposters: When it Comes to Healthcare, Titles Matter

When was the last time you thought about whether your doctor, massage therapist, optometrist or dentist was actually allowed to use their professional title? For many, it’s not a thought that crosses their mind often. One only needs to do a quick Google search to see examples of people posing as health professionals when they […]

Read More