Consultation Closed
This consultation is now closed. Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback, we greatly value it.
The College’s primary obligation to the public is to ensure that members of the profession are qualified, skilled, and competent in how they practise. The Professional Standards for Midwives describe what is expected of all midwives registered with the College of Midwives of Ontario. Standards set the minimum requirements for midwives’ practice and conduct, contributing to best outcomes for clients. The standards are also written for the public so that people who receive midwifery care know what to expect from their midwife.
We are seeking feedback on proposed changes to the Professional Standards to ensure our standards are clear, equitable, and enforceable; contributing to the delivery of safe and effective midwifery care.
Proposed Changes to the Professional Standards for Midwives
The College regularly reviews midwifery standards and can propose to revise or rescind existing standards, or add new standards.
Following a recent review, we concluded that while the majority of the Professional Standards meet their intended purpose, we are proposing some changes:
- We have identified standards which require revision
- We are proposing six new standards related to health equity
Read our proposed changes to the Professional Standards.
Rationale for Proposed Changes
We conducted our review while considering the following factors:
- Achievability: Professional standards are regulatory tools, and their intended outcomes must be achievable. If we set standards that are out of reach, the public interest is not served, and the risk is not appropriately mitigated. We expect that midwives can and will meet these standards.
- Clarity. Standards must be clear in their purpose to prevent confusion and increase compliance. In our 2025 registrant survey, 79% of midwives said that our standards and guiding documents are effective in providing support. However, 53% of midwives said our regulatory documents are only “somewhat clear,” giving us direction for improvement. We’re moving towards plain-language standards to increase clarity for midwives and clients.
- Equity. Following a literature review of current research and recommendations and an environmental scan of other health regulators, we determined that there is need to add a new mandatory principle of health equity. We also conducted a review to apply a health equity lens to the existing standards.
- Addressing Risk: The Professional Standards exist to mitigate risk of harm to clients. Drawing insights from our practice advisory and complaints data, we identified standards that were relevant to complaints and assessed whether they were adequate to protect clients from harm.
Give your Feedback
The College is seeking feedback from midwives and members of the public.
Please review the table of proposed changes. For each proposed change, please consider if you think that the changes are: clear, achievable, and equitable; and if they adequately mitigate risk of harm. We also welcome feedback on standards that are not currently slated for revision.
Additionally, we have a short survey for midwives on the proposed equity standards. The survey asks questions to help us understand the profession’s readiness to meet the new equity standards. The survey should take approximately seven minutes to complete. Click here for the survey.
We’re also holding a webinar for midwives on the proposed changes on August 6 at noon. RSVP today.
Comments can be provided until September 21, 2026.
All comments are reviewed to ensure they meet the Posting Guidelines. Your name and email will never be published with your feedback, however, you may be identified as a member of the public, a midwife, or a stakeholder. Email addresses are required to ensure that individuals provide feedback only once. If you prefer to provide feedback using a different format, including email, or if you have any questions about the consultation, please contact us at cmo@cmo.on.ca.