Ensuring Fair Registration Practices:

Indianapolis, IndianaOctober 20, 2008

Nuzhat Jafri, Executive Director

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Today’s Presentation

Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006 Ontario Office of the Fairness Commissioner Mandate Our approach 2007 Study of Registration Practices Regulators’ reports Audits Next Steps Conclusion Contact

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Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006

Registration and licensing

• Transparent

• Objective

• Impartial

• Fair Covers 14 non-health professions Covers 21 health professions Does not cover real estate agents

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Ontario

Canada• Canada’s foreign-born population grew four times faster than its

Canadian-born population between 2001 and 2006 • 60% of newcomers born in Asia• Most immigrants settle in urban areas

Ontario • Bigger than Texas, with a population of 12 million• More than half of newcomers to Canada choose Ontario• Close to one third of immigrants are university educated• By 2011, immigrants will account for 100% of net labour force

growth• Competition for skilled professionals is intense

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Office of the Fairness Commissioner

Arm’s length agency of the Ontario government Independent of the regulated professions First of its kind in Canada

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Mandate

Ensure that regulated professions have registration practices that are• Transparent• Objective• Impartial• Fair

Require regulated professions to• Review registration/licensing practices• Submit reports about them• Conduct audits

Report to the public

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Mandate

Precludes

• Advocacy for individuals

• Assessment of credentials

• Intervention in the work of self-regulated professions

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Our Approach

Collegiality Consultation Research

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2007 Study of Registration Practices

First comprehensive study in Ontario Published

• 34 individual studies• summary report

Measure future progress What we learned

• Regulatory bodies making progress • Applications up, but those from internationally trained individuals down• Decisions often made by third parties • Canadian experience difficult to get• More Canadians go overseas

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Regulators’ reports

Released Guidelines for Fair Registration Practices Reports • Information• Fees• Timely decision-making• Access to records• Appeals• Assessment of qualifications• Training

First reports due in 2009

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Audits

Independent examination of registration and licensing practices Released Framework for Audits of Registration Practices

• Questions to pose

• Roster of auditors

• Timetable Three-year cycle for audits

• First round of audits underway now

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Next Steps

Analysis of regulatory bodies’ yearly reports and audits Study of qualification assessment agencies Guidance for analysis of registration requirements

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Conclusion

Transparent, objective, impartial and fair registration and licensing are valuable

Faster, fairer access to the regulated and unregulated professions is good for individuals and will give the economy a boost, as more highly skilled people work at their full potential.

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Contact

Office of the Fairness Commissioner595 Bay Street, Suite 1201Toronto, Ontario M7A 2B4Canada

ofc@ontario.ca

www.fairnesscommissioner.ca

416-325-9380