Dear Midwives,
I’m writing to you today as we launch our public consultation on proposed changes to the Fees and Remuneration By-law. We propose to raise membership fees from $2193 to $2550 for all classes of registration other than Inactive. This represents a $357 increase effective October 2019 registration renewal. The Inactive class of registration will not be affected by these changes, and will increase at 2%, as per the existing by-law. Click here to read our consultation materials.
We were pleased to learn in March 2019 that we would receive operational funding to cover our shortfall for this year. This funding allowed us to lower our initial projections of proposed membership fee increases, but as we do not anticipate any future operational funding from the Ministry, we must increase fees this year.
As a midwife, I understand that the proposed fee increase is difficult for all practising midwives. I want to assure you that Council has made every effort to reduce costs in all spending areas, so that we would be able to minimize the amount we would have to raise fees. We made cuts to council expenses and operationally. The President of the College will no longer receive a stipend but will be paid on a per diem basis only. Our committees and panels are meeting electronically wherever possible to eliminate the costs of in person meetings. Council has eliminated a training day, which will also result in reduced travel and accommodation costs. We made operational cuts to the College budget and implemented a hiring freeze. Staff will forego any merit increases for the next two years and will have their benefits reduced.
Please click here for more information on these proposed changes and share your feedback online.
Yours,
Tiffany Haidon
President
College of Midwives of Ontario