Regulations under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) - Registration Barriers for Regulated Health Professionals
Regulation Number(s):
N/A
Instrument Type:
Act
Bill or Act:
Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act; Regulated Health Professions Act
Summary of Proposal:
The proposed regulations would support the Ministry of Health's broader goal of increasing health human resource capacity to help Ontario respond and recover from the pandemic by enabling the implementation of amendments to the RHPA contained in Schedule 6 of Bill 106, Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, 2022, should that Act be passed.

Canadian experience
Canadian experience would be defined as: "Any period of work experience or experiential training in Canada".

Unless an exemption is obtained, any requirement for Canadian experience as a qualification for registration with a health regulatory College would become void after implementation. Exemptions would be granted through a regulation made under the RHPA.

A health regulatory College may continue to accept Canadian experience in satisfaction of an experience-related qualification for registration if it also accepts international experience as a viable alternative to Canadian experience.

Language proficiency
Health regulatory Colleges would have to accept proof of completion of a language test accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for immigration purposes (with results satisfactory to the regulated profession) as proof of English or French language proficiency. Regulated professions may also accept (but not require) other tests or demonstrations of proficiency of their choosing.

Language test results that are valid at the time an application is received will be deemed to remain valid for the duration of the time it takes an applicant to complete the registration process.

Timely registration decisions
The proposed regulation would prescribe the following time-limits to make and communicate registration decisions with respect to domestic labour mobility applicants.
Initial registration decisions of the Registrar be made within 30 business days of receiving a complete application.
Decisions by panels of the Registration Committee be made within 10 business days of the deadline for receiving an applicant's submission.

The Ministry is also seeking input and advice on appropriate time-limits for decisions of the Registrar and panels of the Registration Committee for applicants who are not domestic labour mobility applicants.

Emergency class of certificates of registration
This regulation would prescribe the requirements that a regulation made by a College setting out an emergency class of registration must meet. The proposed regulation would require that regulations made by the Colleges set out the:
circumstances in which an emergency class of registration would be used;
length of time an individual's registration in the emergency class would be valid; and
process for individuals registered in the emergency class to seek registration in the general class(es).
Analysis of Regulatory Impact:
There are no anticipated compliance costs as a result of the proposed regulations. Updates to any College regulations, by-laws and processes to come into compliance with the legislation and proposed regulations are expected to be undertaken as part of regular College operations. The proposals may improve the competitiveness of Ontario's health care sector by streamlining registration processes.
Further Information:
Proposal Number:
22-HLTC021
Posting Date:
April 21, 2022
Comments Due Date:
June 10, 2022
Contact Address:
Health Workforce Regulatory Oversight Branch
438 University Ave, 10th Floor
Toronto, ON M7A 1N3