The College has seven statutory committees. These are committees that the law requires the College to have. The College also has Board and sub-committees as needed.
Each Committee includes a mix of occupational therapists elected to the Board, public appointees, and appointed occupational therapists.
The Committee Competency Framework builds upon the idea of the Board competency framework. In addition to ensuring representation of the optimal skills, expertise, and experiences, committees need to reflect the diverse populations that use occupational therapy services in Ontario. This diversity includes culture, gender, race, age, geographical setting, and practice setting.
Regulatory Committees
These are committees that the law requires the College have to support the core regulatory functions of the Board. Each Committee includes a mix of elected and public Directors, and professional committee appointees. In addition, the Board has also created sub-committees as needed.
Executive Committee
For matters that need to be dealt with right away, the Executive Committee has all the powers of the Board between Board meetings. However, the Executive Committee cannot make, amend, or revoke a regulation or bylaw.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 6
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Inquiries, Complaints & Reports Committee
This Committee reviews concerns about an occupational therapist’s practice that have been brought to the attention of the College.
Number of meetings per year: 6 - 8
Preparation time per meeting: 5 - 7 hours
Patient Relations Committee
This Committee develops and oversees the Patient Relations Program. Core elements of the program include:
- development of standards of practice for registrants.
- educating the profession, Board and staff about sexual abuse, conflict of interest, and professional boundaries.
- informing the public about these issues.
- administering the Sexual Abuse Therapy and Counselling Fund.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 5
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Quality Assurance Committee
This Committee develops Quality Assurance policies and educational programs. This is to ensure occupational therapists who are registered with the College continue to be competent and keep abreast of developments in their field.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 6
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Registration Committee
The Registration Committee establishes and maintains the rules for registering with the College. It creates new policies for registration and reviews and revises existing policies. The Registration Committee also reviews applications referred by the Registrar. The Committee gives written decisions with reasons on how the application will be treated.
Number of meetings per year: 6 - 8
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Discipline Committee
The Discipline Committee holds hearings when cases are referred to it that allege an occupational therapist is guilty of professional misconduct or incompetence.
Number of meetings per year: As required.
Fitness to Practise Committee
The Fitness to Practise Committee holds hearings to decide if an occupational therapist has physical or mental problems that make them unfit to practise.
Number of meetings per year: As required.
Subcommittees
The College has two non-statutory subcommittees: Practice and Quality Assurance.
Practice Subcommittee
The Practice Subcommittee explores and provides recommendations on current occupational therapy practice issues.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 5
Preparation time per meeting: 2 - 4 hours
Quality Assurance Subcommittee
The Quality Assurance Subcommittee's primary function is to provide recommendations to the Quality Assurance Committee on the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of the components of the Quality Assurance Program.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 5
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Board Committees
Board Committees allow the College’s Board to effectively address the diverse areas of its mandate. Each Committee is composed of a mix of Board Directors and Community Appointees who focus on a particular area and bring forward recommendations to the Board.
Finance and Audit Committee
The Finance and Audit Committee assists the Board of the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario in fulfilling its obligations and oversight responsibilities relating to financial planning and reporting, external audit, internal control systems, investments, and risk management.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 6
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Governance Committee
The Governance Committee is responsible for overseeing governance reform to enhance the quality of the Board of the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario’s work through best governance practices.
Number of meetings per year: 4 - 6
Preparation time per meeting: 1 - 3 hours
Nominations Committee
The Nominations Committee assists the Board of Directors in ensuring the Board and Committees have members with the necessary competencies and attributes to enable them to fulfil their roles and public protection mandate. They recommend to the Board candidates for appointment and re-appointment to Committees and Committee Chairs.