1982: Health Professions Legislative Review began with the purpose of updating the Health Disciplines Act and developing new legislation to govern the health professions. The report resulting from this review was entitled Striking a New Balance: A Blueprint for the Regulation of Ontario's Health Professions.

1993: The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) came into effect. The principle underlying this legislation was to protect the public from harm. The Act is reviewed every 5 years in order to make changes as deemed necessary in the public interest.

The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) accepts public input on the legislation and summarizes recommendations to the Minister of Health on changes to the Act.

1999: HPRAC produced a discussion paper entitled Weighing the Balance: A review of the Regulated Health Professions Act. This document initiated the first public review of the RHPA.

2001: HPRAC produced a report entitled Adjusting the Balance: A Review of the Regulated Health Professions Act. The report summarizes public input, provides analysis and lists recommendations for changes to the RHPA.

The recommendations that directly concern those in the mental health field are:

• 2.b) "(That the Minister) ... invite a request for a referral from appropriate psychotherapy groups on amending the RHPA to list the additional controlled act of psychotherapy."
• 5. "That Section 30 (1) of the RHPA be amended to add the element of psychological harm."
• 6. "That Section 30 (1) of the RHPA be amended to remove the word 'serious'."
  This section would then read: "No person other than a member treating or advising within the scope of practice of his or her profession, shall treat or advise a person with respect to his or her health in circumstances in which it is reasonably foreseeable that physical or psychological harm may result from the treatment or advice or from an omission from them."
  (The "member" to whom the legislation refers is a member of a regulated college, such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the College of Psychologists.)
• 7. "That Section 30 (4) be amended to remove the word 'emotional' from the exemption for counselling"
  This section would then read: "Subsection (1) does not apply with respect to counselling about social, educational or spiritual matters."
  (Implication: if the above recommendations were implemented, most counsellors and psychotherapists in Ontario, who are not members of regulatory colleges, would no longer be allowed to practice)

2002: The Ontario Coalition of Mental Health Professionals was formed to address the issues raised by the above recommendations.
Two Committees were formed:

1. The Professional Structure Committee worked on developing a self-regulating body for counsellors and psychotherapists and was mandated to deal with boundaries of the umbrella organization, to ensure the rights of each member organization of the Coalition, and
2. The Advocacy Committee was assigned the responsibility to develop strategies and procedures to lobby the government and other professional organizations.
   

2003: Sunrise/Sunset and Changes in Scope of Practice Criteria Review: An HPRAC Discussion Paper was released. This invited public input on the criteria to be used in making changes to the legislation. The Coalition made a submission to HPRAC based on this paper.

2004: The Coalition formalized its structure with a set of by laws that may be found in the By Laws section of this web site.

2005: The Coalition made a submission to the Ministry of Community and Social Services requesting regulation under the Social Work Act. This ensured that all options were kept open to Coalition members.

2005: The Minister of Health asked HPRAC to advise him by March 2006 on:

1. "Whether psychotherapy should be an additional controlled act under the RHPA and if so, which regulated professions should have psychotherapy in their scope of practice and how should standards be set and measured.
2. Whether psychotherapists should be regulated under the RHPA as a profession, what their scope of practice should be and what controlled acts they should be authorized to perform as well as any protected titles, and whether it is appropriate that psychotherapists be regulated under an existing profession specific act."
   

2005: HPRAC held a series of consultations throughout Ontario in September and October 2005. The Ontario Coalition presented at the Consultation in Toronto. The Coalition followed this with a written brief which was submitted to HPRAC on November 14, 2005 (insert link to report submitted the Coalition) The Coalition supported the notion that Psychotherapy and Counselling should be regulated but should not be regulated as a Controlled Act.

2005-2006: From November 2005 to April 2006 HPRAC reviewed all submissions and formulated their report.

2006: HPRAC submitted its report to the Minister April 27, 2006.

2006: The HPRAC report was publicly released on May 19,2006. The and can be found at the following links

• http://www.hprac.org/downloads/newdirections/english.pdf
• http://www.hprac.org/downloads/newdirections/french.pdf

The report recommends the regulation of Psychotherapy using an Enforceable Scope of Practice. The report also narrowly defines Counselling and does not recommend its regulation.

2006: The Coalition’s brief to the Minister strongly critiqued HPRAC’s recommendation for an Enforceable Scope of Practice as unnecessarily restrictive and contrary to the public interest principles that underlie the Regulated Health Professions Act. This was based on a lengthy legal opinion from Coalition counsel Beth Symes (attached to brief).

2006: In September the Coalition launched a major lobbying campaign directed at the Minister of Health and the Deputy Minister of Health objecting to the Enforceable Scope of Practice and recommending a more inclusive form of regulation that would capture many practitioners in the currently unregulated sector.

2006: The fall lobby campaign was very successful and our consultant and legal counsel were involved in numerous discussions with senior Ministry officials and senior policy advisors to the Minister about the draft legislation on psychotherapy. The Coalition Chair and the Advocacy Committee Chair also met with senior Ministry officials and the Opposition Health Critic in Toronto.

2006: The Minster introduced the draft Psychotherapy Act, 2006 in the Legislature as part of the omnibus Bill 171, on December 12. The Coalition was present on the Minister’s invitation.

2007: The Coalition consultant and legal counsel advised analyzed the draft legislation and recommended to the Coalition Steering Committee that the Coalition endorse it and lobby for swift passage during the current session before the summer recess and provincial election on October 10.

2007: Another major lobbying campaign directed at all MPPs was launched by the Coalition to support the swift passage of the Psychotherapy Act. The Coalition Chair and the Coalition Secretary held a series of meetings with Ottawa area MPPs and Cabinet Ministers to convey the Coalition’s support for the Act.

2007: On April 24 the Coalition appeared before the Standing Committee on Social Policy during public hearings on Bill 171 and presented a mini-brief supporting: 

• an amendment to grant social workers the Controlled Act of psychotherapy
• the appointment of a critical mass from the unregulated sector to the transitional Council of the new regulatory body
• the inclusion of specialty subtitles under the restricted titles of "Psychotherapist" and "Registered Mental Health Therapist" in the Act
• a broad and expansive interpretation of who should be authorized to perform the Controlled Act of psychotherapy

2007: The Act was sent back to the full Legislature for Third Reading with two amendments:

• social workers were granted the Controlled Act through their own College
• the name of the new regulatory body was changed from "College of Psychotherapists of Ontario" to "College of Psychotherapists and Regulated Mental Health Therapists of Ontario"

2007: In his lead speech for Third Reading, the Minister referred to the Coalition as a key stakeholder and noted the presence of Coalition representatives in the Legislature.

During the ensuing debate the opposition health critics supported the Coalition’s call for specialty subtitles.

2007: On May 31, Bill 171, including the Psychotherapy Act, was passed unanimously in the Legislature with a voice vote and on June 4 it received Royal Assent. The Psychotherapy Act is now the law in Ontario.