The College Council has conducted a Governance Review to identify and consider global trends and modern best practices that could further enhance public trust and safety in how the health professions, in particular naturopathy, are governed.

The Governance Review process includes several critical components.

• Earlier this year we completed a Literature Review that has been summarised into a core document of key concepts, options and questions (Regulatory Governance – Key Concepts & Questions) for the College to consider in relation to modern governance.
• The Council has hosted presentations from three other Ontario regulatory bodies to learn about their experiences in conducting recent governance reviews of their own.
• The College initiated a consultation with naturopathic stakeholder organisations, the public, and College Members to get their input on the governance concepts and options that the College Council will explore.
• In January 2020, Council held a two-day facilitated workshop to review and consider governance options and possible changes—including feedback we received from the consultations—with a final public report being issued in 2020 (note the Spring 2020 date has been amended due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Review Outcomes

On July 28, 2020, the Council met virtually and approved three important documents as the outcomes of this review process.

The first is the Council’s Governance Review—A Mandate for Change, a report that highlights the Council’s deliberations and decisions based on the research it was presented and the course it would like to see regulation take in Ontario. A copy of the report is available below.

Governance Review—A Mandate for Change

The second document is the Governance Report Implementation Plan, which was presented by the Registrar & CEO to and accepted by the Council on July 28, 2020. This plan establishes the key recommendations to implement the Council’s report.

Governance Report Implementation Plan

Finally, on August 27, 2020, the Council President, Dr. Kim Bretz, ND, wrote to the Minister of Health and set out the Council’s recommendations for change. She also provided the Minister with a copy of both reports noted above.

Letter to the Minister of Health

Next Steps

There is considerable work to be completed over the next two years to implement the change and to work with the Minister of Health. This will be an item what will be reported regularly to the Council as part of its meetings. We invite readers to follow these reports which can be found in the Council’s meeting materials.