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.
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Current Consultations
Ontario College of Pharmacists – Deadline: March 7, 2026
- Mandatory CPR and First Aid Training for Pharmacy Technicians Administering Injections
- Board Size, Composition and Term Limits
College of Massage Therapists of Ontario – Deadline: April 24, 2026
- Proposed Amendments to By-law No. 8: The Register and Registrant Information
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Ontario College of Pharmacists
Public Consultation on Mandatory CPR and First Aid Training for Pharmacy Technicians Administering Injections
Feedback deadline is: 4:00 PM on March 7, 2026
Summary
Currently, pharmacists in Ontario (including interns and emergency assignment pharmacists) who administer injections must register their injection training with the College and maintain valid certification in CPR and First Aid equivalent to St. John Ambulance or Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR/AED Level C and is consistent with national standards of practice.
To date, CPR and First Aid training is recommended, but not required for pharmacy technicians who are injection trained. CPR and First Aid training courses typically take 1 to 2 days to complete (recertifications take less time), are valid for up to 3 years, and on average cost less than $200.
At its December 8, 2025 meeting, the Ontario College of Pharmacists’ Board of Directors approved, for the purposes of seeking feedback through an open consultation, a mandatory requirement that all pharmacy technicians (including intern technicians) administering injections (as per Schedule 3 of Ontario Regulation 256/24, under the Pharmacy Act, 1991) complete and maintain up-to-date CPR and First Aid training.
This proposed requirement supports the safe implementation of expanded scope of practice activities, which will allow pharmacy technicians (including intern technicians) to administer all vaccines listed in Schedule 3 of Ontario Regulation 256/24, under the Pharmacy Act, 1991. This requirement will better protect the public if adverse reactions occur following a vaccination and will standardize expectations among regulated pharmacy professionals who are administering injections.
Proposed Changes and Background
- The College is seeking input on a proposed new requirement that all pharmacy technicians and intern technicians who administer injections be certified in CPR and First Aid (equivalent to St. John Ambulance or Red Cross Standard First Aid & CPR/AED Level C). Intern technicians will have the authority to administer all vaccines listed in Schedule 3 of General Regulation 256/24 under the Pharmacy Act, 1991 on a date to be determined by government.
- The timing of implementation would align with implementation of expanded scope activities (to be determined by government).
- Time and cost commitments for training will be the responsibility of registrants and/or their employers.
- This requirement would be implemented as a self-declaration embedded within the injection training declaration in the registrant’s OCP profile. The updated declaration will state: “I have successfully completed an OCP-approved injection training course and training in the administration of Red Cross Standard First Aid and CPR ‘C’ + AED (or equivalent) and will maintain valid certification for the duration of my authorization.”
- Current requirements for CPR and First Aid training among pharmacists are stipulated in the Administering a Substance by Injection Guideline, under section 2, Assess their competency and certifications. A draft amended guideline is included (see below under Helpful Links) for review as part of this consultation and has been amended to indicate the requirement for CPR and First Aid certification for pharmacy technicians (changes are highlighted).
How You Can Provide Your Input
You are invited to provide feedback by March 7, 2026, at 4 p.m.
Consider the following questions when providing your feedback:
- How can this new requirement be implemented effectively?
- What are the benefits of this new requirement for pharmacy technicians?
- Are there any potential barriers to compliance the College should be aware of?
The feedback we receive via the online form or email is published publicly in accordance with our posting guidelines. Please allow 1-3 business days for your feedback to be published. Under the guidelines, the College has the right to refuse to publish or remove comments that do not meet the posting guidelines. All comments provided as part of the consultation, whether published or not, will be reviewed and considered as part of the analysis provided to the Board.
Next Steps
Information gathered from this consultation will be brought to the Board of Directors meeting in March 2026 for discussion and final approval of this requirement, and implementation.
Final government approval and confirmation of the related regulatory change is needed to inform the implementation timeline of this new requirement.
Helpful Links
- Draft amended Administering a Substance by Injection Guideline
- OCP Public Consultation on Expanded Scope of Practice
- Posting guidelines and consultation process
- Expanding scope of practice webpage, including FAQs
Submit your feedback on this consultation
Public consultation on Board size, composition and term limits
Feedback deadline is: 4:00 PM on March 6, 2026
Summary
The College is seeking input on potential changes to the number, composition (pharmacist and pharmacy technician seats), and term limits of elected directors to address identified challenges with development and succession planning for Board and Committee leadership, capacity pressures on standing and statutory committees, and maintaining legal Board constitution if directors unexpectedly resign.
This consultation considers by-law changes that may address these issues through the addition of two elected directors (one pharmacist and one pharmacy technician), and the extension of term limits from a total of six consecutive years to nine consecutive years on the board, based on three-year elected terms. This consultation feedback, in conjunction with a concurrent environmental scan and policy review being completed by the College, will inform the Board’s decision on changes to the College By-Law in March 2026.
Background
In June 2025, the Governance Committee identified governance-related concerns raised by directors and committee members that included:
- Executive Committee Succession Planning: The current six-year term limits for Board members restrict effective succession planning and do not enable sufficient time for directors to gain the experience necessary to fully contribute and transition into leadership roles such as Chair or Vice-Chair.
- Discipline Committee Leadership Succession: The six-year term limit also hampers succession planning for the training and development of Discipline Committee panel chairs for hearings.
- Board Composition and Risk of Becoming Unconstituted: Maintaining the elected Board member composition at the minimum required level poses a significant risk. If an elected director resigns mid-term, the Board may become unconstituted and unable to make decisions until a replacement is appointed. This risk materialized within the first three months of the 2024/25 Board year, when two elected directors resigned. In both cases, the College narrowly avoided being unconstituted due to the prompt appointment of replacements. Additionally, the minimum number of Board directors poses capacity issues on the Discipline Committee, particularly related to setting up discipline hearing panels due to availability challenges.
To address these concerns, the Board directed College staff to develop and execute a work plan, as part of the 2026 Operating Plan, that examines and reports on the implications of current Board composition and term limits. This includes:
- the impact of maintaining the minimum number of elected and public directors and the potential benefits or risks of increasing those numbers
- the potential benefits of reinstating nine-year terms to support leadership development, continuity and succession planning
- the associated effects on Board and committee succession planning, continuity and the risk of becoming unconstituted
At its December 8, 2025, meeting, the Board also approved a 60-day pre-consultation to be held concurrent with the environmental scan and policy analysis being completed by the College. The intent is to gather and analyze feedback on proposed changes that would support a final decision on Board size, composition and term limits at the March 2026 meeting, in advance of the next election cycle. Your feedback will help ensure that any changes strike the right balance for good governance practices and addressing the identified concerns.
How you can participate
Registrants, members of the public and system partners are invited to participate in this 60-day pre-consultation by using the form below to comment before March 6, 2026 at 4 p.m.
When providing feedback, please consider addressing the following questions:
- Will adding additional elected Board directors effectively address the risk of becoming unconstituted and capacity pressures on committees (particularly related to discipline panel hearings) and also support governance best practice? If not, what alternative approaches would you suggest?
- If additional elected directors are added, how many should be added and of which type ( e.g. pharmacist, pharmacy technician)?
- Is extending term limits an appropriate approach to address the issue of succession planning and leadership development for the Board? If so, is nine years an appropriate duration?
The feedback we receive via the online form or email is published publicly in accordance with our posting guidelines. Please allow 1-3 business days for your feedback to be published. Under the guidelines, the College has the right to refuse to publish or remove comments that do not meet the posting guidelines. All comments provided as part of the consultation, whether published or not, will be reviewed and considered as part of the analysis provided to the Board.
Helpful Links
- December 2025 Board materials package (see Briefing note starting on page 273; proposed By-Law amendments start on page 314)
- June 2025 Board materials package (see Briefing Note starting on page 307)
- College By-Law No. 7
Submit your feedback on this consultation
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College of Massage Therapists of Ontario
Provide Your Feedback – Proposed Amendments to By-law No. 8
The College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO) is considering making changes to its By-law No. 8: The Register and Registrant Information. This by-law specifies the information CMTO requires from Registered Massage Therapists (RMTs/MTs), and the information that is displayed on CMTO’s public register.
Proposed Amendments
CMTO is proposing amending By-law No. 8 to:
- Allow CMTO staff to share an RMT’s/MT’s registration number with health insurance providers for the purpose of verifying the RMT’s/MT’s registration status; and
- Remove the educational institution where an RMT/MT completed their Massage Therapy education and graduation year from the public register.
You are invited to provide feedback via the Survey for Proposed Amendments to By-law No. 8: The Register and Registrant Information. The deadline to submit your feedback is April 24, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact us at feedback@cmto.com.
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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, click here.
