Note: This article was originally published in the Winter 2023 edition of our On Call newsletter and has not been updated.
Council meetings are open to midwives and the general public. They are currently streamed for observers by video conference.
The next Council meetings is March 22, 2023
Changes to the RHPA
Amendments to the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 to reduce registration barriers faced by applicants to the regulated health professions came into force on January 1, 2023. The amendment includes that:
- Colleges must comply with English or French language proficiency requirements that are accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
- Colleges are now prohibited from imposing Canadian experience as a qualification for registration for internationally educated applicants (unless otherwise exempt in regulations)
- Colleges must comply with time limits for certain decisions related to the registration of applicants.
In addition, all Colleges will be required to have an emergency class certificate of registration by August 31, 2023. The College and Registration Committee are working on these changes.
Midwifery Scope of Practice Submission
During Council training, Director of Policy and Professional Practice Johanna Geraci presented the status of the College’s requested changes to the Designated Drugs Regulation, under the Midwifery Act, 1991, and Schedule 2 of the General Regulation under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, 1990.
We continue to meet with the Ministry to further discussions regarding the proposed changes to the Designated Drugs Regulation and the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, 1990.
On November 14, 2022, the College wrote to Dr. Karima Velji, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief of Nursing and Professional Practice, to summarize our 2018 submission which requested broad prescribing and broad lab test ordering, within the midwifery scope of practice. We will provide midwives and the public with updates on our submission as we receive them.
December Council Training
In December, Council met with Sam Goodwin to discuss the annual council effectiveness survey and start the work of setting Council’s training goals for the year. Council training is part of how we are meeting the Ministry of Health’s Council Performance Measurement Framework.