About the College of Naturopaths of Ontario

Protecting the public. Supporting safe practice.

The College regulates naturopaths in Ontario in the interest of the public. Our mandate is to support patients’ rights to receive safe, competent and ethical naturopathic care.

The 4 Key Functions of Regulation

We achieve our mandate through four key functions:

  1. Registering Safe, Competent and Ethical Individuals

We establish requirements to enter the profession, set and maintain examinations to test individuals against these requirements and register competent, ethical and qualified individuals to practise naturopathy in Ontario.

  1. Setting Standards

We set and maintain standards of practice that guide our Registrants and the public to ensure naturopaths provide safe, ethical and competent patient care.

  1. Ensuring Continuing Competence

We create and manage a variety of continuing education and professional development programs to ensure that naturopaths maintain their skills which helps assure the provision of safe, competent and ethical naturopathic care.

  1. Providing Accountability through Complaints and Discipline

We hold naturopaths accountable for their conduct and practice by investigating complaints and concerns and determining appropriate solutions, including disciplining naturopaths who have not upheld the standards.

When we do our job well, we have set rules that ensure safe care that benefits patients; we have registered the right people who are qualified and committed to providing safe, ethical and competent care; we have ensured that our Registrants maintain their knowledge, skill and judgement (i.e. competency); and we have held those who may have faltered to be accountable for their decisions.