A decade of safeguarding the Public Interest
year anniversary
10
Council President’s Message
It is an honour and privilege to announce that April 1, 2023 marks the 10th Anniversary of the proclamation of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Act, 2006 and the establishment of The College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario. The regulation of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Profession was a historical event in Ontario after years of lobbying starting from 1983 by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Associations and the community. This was a monumental accomplishment of the Transitional Council of the College with strong support from government, the TCM community, the Associations, schools, and all stakeholders.
I wish to pay tribute to all, especially the Regulatory Policy Branch of the Ministry of Health, members of the Transitional Council, the first President, Professor Cedric Cheung and the first Registrar, Ms. Emily Cheung. I also wish to acknowledge Richard Steinecke, Legal Counsel for his patience in enduring 36 revisions to the Draft Registration Regulation It is through their unswerving vision, leadership, concerted efforts that today, this College celebrates its 10th Anniversary. From the bottom of my heart, you remain an inspiration for this College as we continue to build on earlier achievements as a recognized Regulated Profession, amongst 26 other Regulated Health Professions.
It is a fact the College faced many challenges in this last decade. However, the transition from a fledgling College in achieving the progress since; reflects the commitment, dedication leadership and vision of previous and current Councils, Registrars, staff, and members of this College. Plans are underway to celebrate a decade of regulation and our achievements. . It will not be “just a day” to remember as our; Registrar, Ann Zeng, Communications Coordinator, and staff have already started posting announcements through various social media. Stay tuned to hear more. It will be a Celebration to remember!
I believe as we commemorate the 10 Anniversary of the College, we have risen to the occasion as a “College striving for excellence in governance and in regulating the practice of the TCM profession”. I am proud of this Council, staff, and members!
In closing, it is with profound appreciation and acknowledgment I thank all of you for your trust, perseverance, and hard work to bring this College back in alignment with the expectations to function as a self-governing, regulated health care College!
Congratulations in achieving this success!
Sincerely,
Registrar & CEO’s Message
I am delighted to celebrate the College’s tenth anniversary and share this occasion with all stakeholders. Over the past ten years, our College has been met with many challenges, that have required unique and creative solutions to overcome. The foundation of strong regulatory and operational practices that we have built, and the efforts of many, have allowed the College to withstand those challenges and continue serving the public of Ontario. This has taken the contribution of countless individuals who have worked to build the College, which includes past and present members of staff, public appointees to our Council, and members of the profession who have gotten involved by serving as Council members, Committee members, peer and practice assessors, practice advisor, subject matter experts, collaborating on providing feedback, and all other health system partners. Your contribution has been invaluable, and on behalf of the College, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Because of what the College has accomplished so far, I am optimistic for the years ahead, and the many projects we will complete to improve as a regulator. To coincide with our ten-year anniversary, we have recently announced the approval of a new five-year strategic plan. The strategic directions of the plan, which include effective right-touch regulation, continuous quality improvement, informed and interactive stakeholders, and modernized governance, will guide the college activities over the next five years. The College has already begun work on a number of exciting projects to improve the regulation of TCM in Ontario. This includes the Doctor title project, the Quality Assurance Program Redevelopment Project, Education Program Approval Project, as well as projects to improve College governance, stakeholder engagement, the registration process, equity diversity and inclusion initiatives, our adoption of the principles of right-touch regulation, and many more. While there is much to do, I look forward to working with Council, Committees, and staff on our projects, and am optimistic of the future they will lead to for our College.
I am also looking forward to celebrating the tenth anniversary of the College. Please keep an eye on this page for more information on College events, as we would like to include everyone in the celebration.
Kind regards,
Ann Zeng
Registrar & CEO
CTCMPAO History
April 1, 2013
TCM Act Proclaimed
The Traditional Chinese Medicine Act, 2006 was proclaimed on April 1, 2013, which put into force professional regulation of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Ontario. The College immediately started work on carry out its statutory functions, creating a registration process, quality assurance program, and complaints process to protect the public.
April 1, 2018
Transfer to General Class Complete
The College initially offered a temporary Grandparented Class to transition existing TCM Practitioners and Acupuncturists into regulation. Over the five years, Grandparented Class members had the opportunity to complete a PLAR process and transfer to the permanent General Class.
April 1, 2023
Current Day
The College continues to regulate over 2800 TCM Practitioners and Acupuncturists, in the public interest. We do so by ensuring only qualified individuals are registered to practice, maintaining a Quality Assurance Program to enable members to continue in their professional development, and providing protection and recourse to patients through our complaints process.
Highlights and Statistics
1614
District 1 - North East
Counties of Kenora, Rainy River, Thunder Bay, Algoma, Cochrane,
Manitoulin, Parry Sound, Nipissing, Timiskaming, and Sudbury;
the district municipality of Muskoka; and the city of Greater
Sudbury; the counties of Frontenac, Hastings, Lanark, Renfrew,
Lennox and Addington; the united counties of Leeds and
Grenville, Prescott and Russell, Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry; and
the cities of Prince Edward and Ottawa.
District 2 - Central East
Counties of Haliburton, Northumberland, Peterborough, and Simcoe, the city of Kawartha Lakes, and the regional municipality of Durham.
District 3 - Central
City of Toronto and Regional Municipality of York.
District 4 - Central West
Counties of Dufferin, Wellington, Haldimand, Brant and Norfolk,
the regional municipalities of Halton, Niagara, Peel, and Waterloo,
and the City of Hamilton.
District 5 - West
Counties of Essex, Bruce, Grey, Lambton, Elgin, Middlesex, Huron, Perth, Oxford, and the regional municipality of Chatham-Kent.
Registered TCM Practitioners and Acupuncturists in Ontario
Members by Gender
966
Male
Female
1645
Age Breakdown by Percentage
Source:
Annual Report 2021—2022
CTMPAO Registration
CTCMPAO Today
Strategic Plan
The College Council has approved a new five-year strategic plan that will guide us through until 2028. At a time of regulatory modernization, The College looked to develop a strategic plan that would put us in a position to anticipate change, and adapt to them in a way that would allow us to continue effectively regulating the profession of traditional Chinese medicine. To that end, the College has come up with the strategic directions of:
These directions will lead the College towards implementing its mandate of “Protecting the public through a transparent and effective regulatory environment while guiding the Traditional Chinese Medicine profession” and achieving its vision of “Full public confidence in the safe and effective practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.”
CTCMPAO Strategic Framework
Our Mandate
Protecting the public through a transparent and effective regulatory environment while guiding the Traditional Chinese Medicine profession.
Vision
Full public confidence in the safe and effective practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Our Values
Ethical
To always behave with integrity in a manner that is fair, honest and professional.
Collaborative
To work openly with our health system partners including the public, government, and with the profession to achieve a common purpose. .
Accountable
To be responsible for everything we do (e.g., actions and decisions) by providing evidence and reasoning.
Transparent
To have fair, simple, clear and easy to understand processes and communications.
Doctor Title
The TCM Act, 2006, provides the College Council with the ability to make regulations the use of the title “doctor”, and prescribing a class of certificates of registration for members who use the title “doctor”. At the moment, no such regulations exist, and members of this College are not authorized to use the Doctor title.
However, the College has begun work on the CTCMPAO Doctor Title Project, which will result in a proposal to the Ontario government to allow the College to issue the Doctor title. Phase One of this project was completed in 2019. After some unavoidable delays, the College has resumed work. At he March 22, 2023 Council meeting, Council approved the hiring of a consultant to work with the Doctor Title Working Group on Phase Two of the project. Phase Two will involve the development of competency and education requirements that would qualify an individual for the Doctor title of the College.
The College will ultimately require approval from the Ontario government before we can begin offering the Doctor title. The third, and final phase of the project will be to draft proposed regulations for submission to the Ministry of Health.
Quality Assurance Program
The College is required to maintain a Quality Assurance (QA) Program that enables members to meet the standards of practice of the profession, and continue their professional development. Phase II of a project is currently underway to redevelop the QA Program to enhance how the College meets its legislative requirements and further supports engaged professional development, improvements in practice and continued competence of the profession in order to promote patient safety and protect the public.
We wish to thank everyone who already participated in the surveys and focus groups held by our consultant to date. Additional focus group sessions were held with both professional and public QA Committee members, members/registrants who previously participated in Self, Peer and Practice assessments, current Peer and Practice Assessors, our Practice Advisor, additional subject matter experts (SMEs) and other stakeholders. These activities and everyone’s engagement helped inform the initial content review process and subsequent drafts of the Self, Peer and Practice Assessment Tools. We look forward to continue engaging participants as we carry out the testing and pilot phase for this QA redevelopment project. Stay tuned for continued updates on this project.
Protecting the Public
The College’s complaints process provides every patient of TCM with the right to file a formal complaint about a member of the College, and have the complaint investigated by the College.
The College continually strives to improve its complaint process to ensure that all patients are aware of, and have access to this right. The College will look to do this by using the principles of right-touch regulation, which calls for a risk-based approach. This will allow the College to ensure that the highest risk member issues receive the appropriate amount of focus and resources of the College in investigations.
Education Program Approval Project
The College has begun work with its national TCM regulatory partners to develop national standards for TCM education. The College intends to use these standards to review and approve TCM education programs.
This project will help provide the College with more confidence that applicants have met the education requirements of the College. It will also streamline the process for the College and applicants. Our goal is that applicants will experience a faster and easier application process in the near future.
Strategic Projects
Achieving our strategic plan will require a significant number of projects under each strategic direction, with many underway. Stakeholders are encouraged to stay engaged with the College to learn more as we complete projects that further our strategic plan.
Events
We're excited to announce that The College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO) will be celebrating its 10th year anniversary with a series of events in the coming months!
We'll be hosting a range of activities to commemorate this important milestone. Hence, we encourage all members and stakeholders to bookmark this page and stay tuned for future updates on the anniversary celebrations. We'll be providing more information on dates, times, and locations as they become available.
Stay Engaged
Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and updates from The College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO) by following us on social media!
We post regularly on our social media accounts, sharing information about upcoming events, updates, webinars, educational tips, and more. Give us a follow and be sure to like and share our posts to help spread the word about the important work we're doing.
We look forward to connecting with you on social media and keeping you informed about all things CTCMPAO!
year anniversary
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