About the Proposed By-law Changes: Increases to Registration-Related Fees

Background

The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario is seeking comments on proposed changes to By-law sections 8.4 – 8.6 to update its registration-related fees for the 2024 annual renewal cycle.

Why is a fee increase being proposed?

The College delivers programs and services to fulfill its mandate to serve the public interest. The College must therefore ensure that it has enough funds to meet its regulatory obligations in a sustainable way, while also ensuring that sufficient supports are provided for registrants.

The College’s revenue mainly comes from fees related to annual registration renewal. Following decreases in registration fees in 2016 and 2021, fees increased for the 2023 year to support the financial sustainability of the College. This recent increase returned the current registration-related fees to 2016 levels.

Since that time, the College’s registrant base has grown, leading to an increased level of regulatory activities. This includes processes such as registration and complaints, as well as the quality assurance program where efforts are made to connect with every registrant over time. Other costs have also increased in line with inflation. 

The College is committed to maintaining quality services for registrants, including addressing the increasing number of questions being submitted to the Practice Advice, along with the consistent provision of practice resources such as webinars and e-learning modules.

It is important to note that the Ontario Clinical Exam is not considered to be an increase in regulatory activities as the exam is intended to be self-funding, and the aim is for the exam to be cost neutral over time.

Given these considerations and based on new projections, maintaining the current fee structure is unlikely to be sustainable in the long term and the College is likely to incur significant deficits. 

Fee Increase Proposal

After carefully considering the College’s financial situation and forecasting, Council provisionally approved a fee increase of 4% for the April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025 registration year at their meeting on September 28, 2023.

Council believes that the proposed fee increase is required to ensure that the College has sufficient resources to fulfill its statutory mandate while also recognizing the financial impact on registrants. 

The College will continue to monitor its financial situation and explore cost reductions to ensure registrants’ fees are used prudently and responsibly.  

Below is a table outlining the proposed fee structure for the 2024 annual renewal cycle based on the fee increase put forward by Council.