Health profession regulators like the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario exist to protect the public.
The provincial government has called for improved openness and transparency in licensing and professional regulation and has directed Ontario health regulators to implement strategies to improve the way they protect the public. This announcement follows reviews of regulatory bodies in other Canadian provinces.
As a result, the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario (CKO) has commenced the process of reviewing its regulatory practices.
In CKO’s strategic plan for 2019-2022, the College committed to improving the way it operates. The first step we undertook was to develop a Council and Committee Competency Profile for the election and selection of Council and committee members. Council approved this document on March 1, 2021.
Council approved proposed amendments to By-Law 13 for external consultation on September 27, 2021. Staff circulated the document for a 60-day consultation period. College staff reviewed all feedback received during the consultation, and Council is being provided with final changes and information obtained during the consultation process for Council’s consideration at its December 6, 2021 meeting. Once the amendments are approved, staff will communicate these changes to registrants and other stakeholders.
Proposed Changes
The proposed changes are contained in By-Law 13. Consequently, this is the by-law presented for approval.
An important change concerns the creation of a new Governance and Nominations Committee, a non-statutory committee of Council appointed by Council to assist with competency-based assessment, education and evaluation of Council and committee members. Drawing from the Procedural Code; the Ontario Ministry of Health’s College Performance Measurement Framework; and the mission, vision and values of the College, the aim of the Governance and Nominations Committee is as follows:
To improve Council decision-making capacity by assisting with competency-based assessment, education, and evaluation of Council and committee members.
The Governance and Nominations Committee, supported by College staff, is responsible for:
- screening applicants seeking election to serve on Council for eligibility;
- evaluating applications for committee membership and recommending committee slate appointments to Council;
- overseeing the administration of the Council and committee performance evaluation process (periodically by a third-party vendor) (i.e., the Committee will not evaluate Council and other committee members’ performance (individually or as a whole) per se – rather, the Committee will be responsible for ensuring the Council has implemented a performance evaluation framework, engages a third-party vendor periodically, and ensures that Council effectiveness is evaluated regularly);
- receiving and reporting results of Council and committee evaluation; and
- based on evaluation results, and recommendations from Council and committees:
- reviewing and making recommendations about updating the Council and Committee Competency Profile;
- identifying continuing development needs for Council and committee members; and
- identifying specific recruitment needs (e.g., ensuring representation from diverse groups).
Another key change concerns a new requirement introduced by the Ontario Ministry of Health that registrants may only attend their first committee meeting after they have completed an orientation program about the College’s mandate and expectations pertaining to the committee role and responsibilities. At the March 1, 2021 Council meeting, Council passed a resolution codifying the need for an online orientation program for all registrants seeking to be appointed to a College committee. Completion of an educational orientation program will help reinforce the mandate of the committees and ensure individuals considering applying for appointment to committee understand the duties and obligations involved with serving on committees, as well as time commitments from the outset. The new by-law provision stipulates that a member is eligible for appointment to committee if “before the appointment, the member has successfully completed any qualification process established by the Council.”
Another notable by-law amendment stipulates that the registrant “has not resigned from Council or a College committee within the past three years other than for health or personal reasons acceptable to Council”. The amendment allows for some discretion, to enable registrants to return if their reasons for resigning were deemed legitimate and reasonable by Council.
Two new provisions stipulating: “the member is not holding a responsible position with any organization/group whose mandate or interests conflict with the College;” and “the member is not a consultant to third party providers engaged by the College” serve to expand and clarify examples of conflict of interest with respect to serving on committees.
Another amendment adds a cooling off period for a person in a leadership position including but not limited to serving as an employee, officer or director of any professional association or certifying body related to the profession from one to three years prior to the date of applying for appointment to committee. This duration has been identified as a best practice.
Otherwise, there are minor proposed changes to the by-laws to improve clarity and consistency between sections.
Click here to view a table detailing the current by-law provisions, the proposed changes and the rationale for the change.