Improving Regulatory Oversight for Internationally Trained Professionals in Ontario

1. “Regulatory and Registration Oversight and the Impact on Internationally Trained Professionals: An Ontario Perspective” Nuzhat Jafri , Executive Director Office of the Fairness Commissioner Toronto March 2, 2012

2. Agenda • Fair access law • Context • Continuous Improvement and Assessments • Conclusion Office of the fairness commissioner

3. Fair access law • Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006 • 40 regulatory bodies • Transparent, objective, impartial and fair licensing • Hon. Jean Augustine, Commissioner • Everyone deserves fair treatment when applying to practise a profession, regardless of where he or she was educated. Office of the fairness commissioner

4. Ontario Context • Ontario population: 13.3 million • Membership in regulated professions • Largest: College of Teachers 230,000 • Smallest: College of Dental Technologists 500 • Proportion of internationally educated members ranges from zero to 39 %. • In 2008-10, most applicants came from South Asia, U.S., South East Asia, East Asia Office of the fairness commissioner

5. Progress • Regulatory bodies’ changes: • Reduced requirements for Canadian work experience • Speeded up procedures • Posted more information online • Ensured that qualifications assessment agencies do their work fairly • Office of the Fairness Commissioner identifies problems that demand vigilance and action Office of the fairness commissioner

6. Continuous Improvement Assessments of regulators’ licensing practices Required practices, e.g., Information for applicants Clear, reliable assessment of qualifications Appeal processes Additional good practices, e.g., Registration policies are well documented (transparent) Decisions are free from bias (impartial) Canadian experience requirements are justifiable (fair) Office of the fairness commissioner

7. Continuous Improvement: Activity • Two-year cycle • Activity to February 29, 2012 • 30 assessment meetings held • 28 assessments completed and summaries published • Action plans received from 12 regulatory bodies Office of the fairness commissioner

8. Continuous Improvement: Top Issues • Recommendations • Commendable practices • Top recommendations to regulatory bodies: • Provide better information for applicants • Use clear criteria to decide whether applicants are qualified • Assessment summaries on fairnesscommissioner.ca Office of the fairness commissioner

9. Conclusion • Commissioner pinpoints where regulators must improve. • Regulatory bodies are implementing our recommendations. • The Office of the Fairness Commissioner gets results. • In Ontario, qualified people will have faster, fairer access to their professions. Office of the fairness commissioner

10. www.fairnesscommissioner.ca • Newsletter Office of the fairness commissioner

11. Contact Office of the Fairness Commissioner 595 Bay Street, Suite 1201 Toronto, Ontario M7A 2B4 Canada 416-325-9380 ofc@ontario.ca www.fairnesscommissioner.ca Office of the fairness commissioner