Office of the Fairness Commissioner’s Continuous Improvement Strategy

Nuzhat Jafri, Executive Director

Sixth National Conference for Educators, Provincial Regulators and Employers of IENs

Winnipeg, ManitobaApril 26, 2012

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Agenda

• Context• Activity of the Office of the Fairness Commissioner• Continuous Improvement • Nursing in Ontario• Conclusion

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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 40 per cent

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Office of the Fairness Commissioner

• Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006• Transparent, objective, impartial and fair licensing• 40 regulatory bodies• Hon. Jean Augustine, Commissioner

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Office of the Fairness Commissioner

• Video

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Continuous Improvement • Assessments of regulators’ licensing practices• Specific duties, e.g.,

– Information for applicants– Clear, reliable assessment of qualifications– Appeal processes

• General duty to be transparent, objective, impartial and fair, e.g.,– Registration policies are well documented (transparent)– Decisions are free from bias (impartial)– Canadian experience requirements are justifiable (fair)

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Continuous Improvement: Activity

• Activity to April 26, 2012– 33 assessments completed and summaries published– 258 recommendations– 304 commendable practices– Action plans received from 19 regulatory bodies

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Continuous Improvement: Top Issues

• Top recommendations to regulatory bodies:– Provide better information for applicants– Use clear criteria to decide whether applicants are qualified

• Assessment summaries on fairnesscommissioner.ca

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College of Nurses of Ontario

• Membership in 2011: 155,817– Internationally trained: 10.7 %

• Applications in 2011: 16,214 – Internationally trained: 31.1 %

• Top source countries: Philippines, India

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College of Nurses of Ontario

• College registration improvements in progress, e.g.:– Faster registration– Fairer assessments for internationally educated nurses– Clearer information for applicants

• OFC assessment: publication in July 2012

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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

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Conclusion

• Commissioner pinpoints where regulators must improve.• Regulatory bodies are implementing our recommendations.• Assessment of College of Nurses of Ontario is in progress. Stay tuned!• The Office of the Fairness Commissioner gets results.• In Ontario, qualified people will have faster, fairer access to their

professions.

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www.fairnesscommissioner.ca

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Contact

Office of the Fairness Commissioner595 Bay Street, Suite 1201Toronto, Ontario M7A 2B4 Canada

416-325-9380ofc@ontario.cawww.fairnesscommissioner.ca