Your legal requirements

Having professional liability insurance is not only a smart business practice, it’s also a legal requirement for naturopaths in Ontario. 

Type and amounts required

The By-laws of the College describe the requirements for professional liability insurance:

• it must be on a claims-made form;
• it must cover the full scope of practice, including the controlled acts authorised to the profession, as set out in section 3 and 4 of the Naturopathy Act, 2007;
• it must have a deductible of $1,000 or less;
• it must be from an insurer licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario – FSRA (formerly Financial Services Commissioner of Ontario) or a body outside of Ontario considered substantially equivalent to the FSRA; and
• it must be in the amounts stipulated.

General class—Minimum

Registrants who hold a General Class certificate of registration must carry both a minimum of $2 million per claim and a minimum of $2 million aggregate.  

Intravenous Infusion Therapy (IVIT)—Additional

Registrants who have met the Standard of Practice for Intravenous Infusion Therapy must carry an additional amount of $3 million per claim and $3 million aggregate. This means that the total amount required is $5 million per claim and $5 million aggregate.

Inactive class & registration resignations—Five-year “tail”

Inactive class registrants, and registrants seeking to resign their certificate of registration, must carry “enduring” or “tail” insurance at the levels noted above for a minimum of five years after ceasing practise of the profession (i.e., effective date of Inactive class or Resignation).

Registrants are required to provide evidence of your enduring (tail) insurance coverage i.e., a copy of your insurance certificate and proof of payment for the insurance premiums covering the full five-year period effective from the date you ceased or will cease practising the profession which would be the effective date of when you intend to enter the Inactive class or resign with the College. Annual payment of premiums will not be permitted.

Information reporting requirements

Each year, you must update your information on file with the College. This includes the following details of your professional liability insurance:

• the name of the insurer, name of the broker and the policy number,
• the name of the insured (must match your name),
• the address of the insured, and
• the Policy period, both beginning and expiry dates.

You are also required under the Registration Regulation to notify the College within two business days if your insurance information has changed, or if you are no longer insured. 

College processes 

We conduct regular reviews of registrants’ insurance information. Reviews occur monthly and in conjunction with the start of the new registration year (April 1st annually), when registrants submit information to the College as part of their annual renewal.

As part of this process, reminders are sent to registrants whose insurance information is due to expire however, it is the responsibility of each registrant to ensure that the PLI information on file with the College is accurate and up to date.

If we see that a registrant’s insurance policy is expired, or that they do not carry the correct amount, we must immediately suspend them, as established in Section 14 of the Registration Regulation.

Updating your information

To avoid being suspended and having to pay a reinstatement fee, please ensure that your insurance information, is accurate and up to date. Any change in your policy should remind you that you need to update your information with the College. This can be done quickly and easily through your College account profile.

Note: we do not approve any insurance program available to registrants. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have professional liability insurance that meets the requirements described in the College By-laws (Section 19).