About the Proposed Changes
On April 28, 2023, the Council of the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario met to consider consultation feedback received regarding the proposed Emergency Class of Registration, an amendment to the Registration Regulation in the College’s General Regulation. As a result of the consultation feedback received, Council made changes to the original regulation amendment proposal. The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario is now seeking comments on the revisions to the proposed Emergency Class of Registration.
Background
Bill 106, the Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, contains provisions related to the registration of healthcare providers in Ontario so that Ontarians continue to have uninterrupted access to safe and high-quality healthcare services. One of these requirements is that Ontario health regulatory Colleges develop an “emergency class” of registration. The intent is to create an alternative pathway to register individuals in an expedited manner during an emergency.
To align with Bill 106 requirements, the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario (CPO) prepared a draft amendment to its Registration Regulation to create an emergency registration class. The draft regulations were approved in principle by Council on February 10, 2023. In accordance with the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), the proposed regulation was circulated for 60 days to members and stakeholders for comment. Comments were received between February 13, 2023, and April 14, 2023.
Council considered all comments submitted at a Special Council Meeting on April 28, 2023.
Updates to the Emergency Registration Class
After considering the comments received, changes were made to the proposed regulation amendment initially circulated. Specifically, Council:
- Removed examples around potential limitations to the emergency class that Council may impose if the emergency class is opened, as outlined in 24.1(2).
- Removed the requirement for the supervisor to be located at the same practice location.
- Increased the validity period of the emergency class certificate after the emergency ends from 15 days to 90 days, per 24.1(7).
Additional details around the rationale for these changes can be found in the April 28, 2023 Council briefing materials.
The table below outlines the updates to the proposed regulation. The original proposed regulation amendment (excluding the new revisions) is available for reference.