The College has reached another milestone as it prepares to bring the profession of Applied Behaviour Analysis into regulation as a health profession in Ontario. On December 16, 2022, the Council approved the amendments to the Registration Regulation (O. Reg. 74/15), General Regulation (O. Reg. 209/94) and Professional Misconduct Regulation (O. Reg. 801/93) for submission to the Ministry of Health. The formal submission package was submitted to the Ministry on January 18, 2023.
Consultation is an important principle in professional self-regulation, as it ensures that everyone, members of the College, other professionals, and the general public have an opportunity to comment on regulation proposals. During the 60-day consultation period, which was held between October 3 and December 2, 2022, the College received over 300 responses. Over 100 members of the College provided feedback as did other stakeholders, including members of the public, individuals working in the field of ABA, clients of Behaviour Analysts, and organizations interested in the regulation of the ABA profession.
A sincere thank you to everyone who took the time to provide us with their feedback. All comments received were carefully reviewed and a summary was provided to Council in advance of its December 16, 2022 meeting. This may be found in the Council materials package beginning on page 31. Based on feedback received, the Council approved five non-substantive changes to the draft Registration Regulation, as described in the Council materials, and no changes to the General or Professional Misconduct Regulations as circulated. The feedback noted the need for more clarity and elaboration on the requirements for registration for individuals applying through the transitional registration routes. This work has begun.
While the College awaits approval of the regulations, the ABA Working Group continues to draft the Standards of Practice and the many policies that will inform implementation of the regulations, once they are in effect. The College is working with an organization to assist in the development, implementation, and administration of an examination of knowledge or competence to be used for registration purposes. The ABA profession has been invited to participate in this endeavour as subject matter experts to ensure the exam assesses the entry-level competencies necessary to provide safe, quality practice of the profession in Ontario.
You are invited to visit the College’s ABA portal for new updates and FAQs as they become available.