Deadline for Feedback: August 3, 2024 

Registrants are sometimes required to pay fees to the College outside of the annual renewal fees. Not paying outstanding costs/fees on time places an administrative and financial burden on the College.

To ensure that registrants bring their account up to date at renewal time, By-law 1: General and By-law 2: Fees have been amended to require that any outstanding fee(s) be added to the annual renewal fee, and that Registrants are unable to renew without paying the full balance. At the same time, the College is modernizing its by-laws by changing the term “member” to “registrant” to reflect the College’s role as a regulator, not an association.

It is in the public interest that the College maintains financial stability by ensuring that all costs owed to the College are recovered on an annual basis. It is also in the public interest that the College enforce the payment of costs/monies it is owed to demonstrate to registrants and stakeholders that it takes the enforcement of its committees’ orders seriously, and that registrants who breach a committee will lose the privilege of practising the profession.

Council approved, in principle, the following revisions to By-law 1 (General) and By-law 2 (Fees). 

Deadline for Feedback: March 30, 2024

Section 23(2) of the Health Professions Procedural Code sets out certain information about registrants the College is required to post on its public register. Additional information is set out in By-law 1, section 42.05. In October 2019, the Council passed a motion to remove registration numbers from the public register, and it was removed from By-law 1. The College continues to receive a significant volume of public inquiries to verify registrant information. As such, the Council is considering revising By-law 1 to require that registration numbers be posted on the Public Register. 

It is in the public interest that the College be transparent and that the public have access to registrants’ registration numbers. It is also in the public interest that the College align its practices with other RHPA Colleges for consistency.  

Council approved, in principle, the following revisions to: 

• Add registrants’ registration numbers to the Public Register. 

We invite you to review the proposed changes and provide your feedback by March 30, 2024 to info@cocoo.on.ca.

Deadline for Feedback: November 24, 2023

Individuals applying to the College from a non-approved program are required to pay a fee to have their program assessed. The College then retains an expert to conduct an equivalency assessment by comparing the non-approved program to the Michener program. The expert prepares a written report and presents the report to Council. Over time, the expert fee to conduct program equivalency evaluations has increased, but the applicant fee has not. As a result, the College has been offsetting the cost of the program equivalency evaluations.

It is in the public interest that the College remains financially stable and has the proper funding and resources to fulfill its mandate of protection of the public. One of the ways the College maintains financial stability is by increasing fees to align with inflation, and by ensuring that the fees being charged to external parties are sufficient to cover the actual cost to the College.

Council has approved, in principle, the following revisions to By-law No. 2 (Fees):

• increase the fee for equivalency assessment of non-approved programs from $500 to $750; and
• correct a typographical error to align the wording with the previous subsection.

To review the changes, please click on the link below:

Proposed amendments to COCOO By-law No. 2 – Application Fee for Non-Approved Programs

Please e-mail your feedback on the proposed changes by November 24, 2023 to info@cocoo.on.ca.

Deadline for Feedback: November 24, 2023

The Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, mandates that each Chiropodist/Podiatrist registered (the “Registrant”) with the College of Chiropodists of Ontario (the “College”) participate in a Quality Assurance Program that includes continuing education and self-assessment components.

On June 24, 2022, Council approved updates to the College’s Continuing Education & Self-Assessment Policy, which outlined moving the Continuing Education requirements to an annual cycle, beginning January 1, 2024. The updated policy included a fee of $250.00 for non-compliance, to be levied when Registrants who have been selected to submit their CE Log fail to do so by the February 14th deadline. In order to fully implement the fee, By-Law No. 2 (Fees) requires an update to include this information.

Council has approved, in principle, the following inclusions to By-Law No. 2 (Fees):

• Implement a penalty fee of $250.00 for failure to submit a Continuing Education Log and supporting documentation on or before February 14th.

It is in the public interest that Registrants of the College engage in Continuing Education to maintain currency in the profession. Registrants are obligated to comply with the College’s Continuing Education requirements which are intended to promote the safety of the public. A penalty fee acts as a deterrent, thereby encouraging timely completion of Continuing Education requirements. In addition, the public interest is served when the College remains financially stable and maintains proper funding and resources to fulfill its mandate of protection of the public. One of the ways the College maintains financial stability is by ensuring that the costs incurred as a result of Registrant non-compliance with College requirements are recovered.

To review the changes, please click on the link below:

Proposed amendments to COCOO By-law No. 2 – Penalty Fee for Non-Compliance with CE Log Submission

Please e-mail your feedback on the proposed changes by November 24, 2023 to info@cocoo.on.ca.

Deadline for Feedback: April 11, 2023

The Provincial Government enacted the Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, 2022 to improve health resource planning in emergency situations. Under this Act, the Ministry is requiring all of Ontario’s health regulatory Colleges to develop a new emergency class certificate of registration, with the aim of reducing barriers for new applicants in emergency situations (e.g., in response to a new pandemic). The Colleges have been asked to move quickly and have a draft regulation amendment ready as soon as possible.

The College of Chiropodists of Ontario has drafted regulation amendments, which would create a new emergency class certificate of registration. There are specific requirements that individuals must fulfill to be eligible for an emergency class of licensure. Importantly for patients, chiropodists or podiatrists licensed under this class will be required to practice under the supervision of a COCOO member who holds a general certificate of registration and who has been approved by the Registrar to supervise a member in the emergency class.

The proposed regulation amendment is not anticipated to result in increased administrative costs to members and/or businesses as it creates additional pathways for new health professionals to begin practicing their profession in Ontario.

• COCOO Registration Regulation – Emergency Class

Summary of Proposed Registration Regulation:

The proposed changes to the Registration Regulation to create an emergency class of registration is required pursuant to the Registration Requirements Regulation made under the RHPA. The proposed changes include:

• An emergency class of registration for both chiropodists and podiatrists when certain non-exemptible criteria are met, including: the Government or Council determines that emergency certificates of registration be issued; recognized, completed education in chiropody or podiatry that is acceptable to the College to ensure competency to practice; and successful completion of the College’s jurisprudence examination.
• The ability of the College to lift the existing restriction on registering podiatrists in an emergency.
• The terms, conditions and limitations attached to an emergency certificate of registration, including: supervision by a member of the general class who is approved by the Registrar; and engaging in practice only while holding out as a member of the emergency class who is practicing under supervision.
• The automatic revocation of the certificate within 60 days after receipt of notice of Council’s determination that the emergency circumstances have ended.
• The expiry of the certificate after one year, which can be renewed for one year, with no limit on renewals, as long as Council has not determined the emergency circumstances have ended.
• The revocation of the certificate prior to its expiry or the end of emergency circumstances if the Registrar or Registration Committee determines it is in the public interest to do so.
• The opportunity for any current or former emergency class registrant to write the College’s competency examination without charge if the registrant practiced for at least 180 hours while in the emergency class.
• The waiver of the program and jurisprudence examination requirements for an applicant to the general class who held an emergency certificate of registration within one year before submitting the application.
• A maximum of 3 attempts to challenge each of the College’s competency and jurisprudence examinations.

Please email your feedback on the proposed changes by April 11, 2023 to info@cocoo.on.ca