Bylaw Amendments
To improve clarity for the public, the Council approved changes to the College’s bylaws to amend the terminology used for the College’s Council and its registrants. Beginning April 1, the College Council will be referred to as the Board, with individual members referred to as Directors; the Council President will be referred to as the Board Chair; and the Vice-President will now be referred to as Vice-Chair. Also approved were changes to the Council and Committee eligibility criteria, including a new 3-year “cooling off” period between being a director of an association for occupational therapy and participating on a College Committee and/or Council.
Prevention of Sexual Abuse
Dr. Ruth Gallop delivered an education session on the Prevention of Sexual Abuse in the Professional Relationship. The College’s mandate is public protection. Protecting the public from harm and unqualified health professionals is a critical function of the College. Educating Council, staff and registrants about the prevention of sexual abuse is one of the ways the College supports this mandate. The College has a zero tolerance policy toward sexual abuse of a client. This means that any form of sexual abuse, under any circumstance, is unacceptable.
View additional resources about the prevention of sexual abuse on coto.org.
Retirement of Guide to the Code of Ethics
The Guide to the Code of Ethics has now been retired. An appendix of resources to support the delivery of ethical practice will be added to the Code and posted on the website. While the Guide to the Code of Ethics was originally intended to accompany the Code of Ethics, the College now has other resources and tools to guide occupational therapists towards ethical practice. The current
Code of Ethics remains in effect.
Cross-Jurisdictional Telepractice
Council approved the future implementation of the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO) recommendation regarding cross-jurisdiction telepractice, so that, for the purposes of registration, practice occurs where the occupational therapist is located. The College Guidelines for Telepractice will be revised to align with the ACOTRO recommendation and registrants will be notified of the change once implemented. Until that time, the
College Guidelines for Telepractice remain in effect.
Discontinuation of Services
The revised resource for Discontinuation of Services was approved and will be released later this year. Until then, the
Guide to Discontinuation of Services, 2014 remains in effect and is available online under Standards & Resources.
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