Innovative Regulatory Solutions to Better Serve the People of Ontario
Dear Registrants,
In this edition of my Registrar’s message, I am proud to share an initiative that will benefit residents of Northwestern Ontario who have limited access to healthcare. This agreement is a model of interprovincial professional collaboration to facilitate coordinated clinical care for Northwestern Ontario clients and their families. The work done between Manitoba and the College is addressing historical barriers for continuity of care in this part of our province. Residents of Northwestern Ontario commonly access medical specialist services through Winnipeg, as the nearest tertiary health hub geographically.
Following initial healthcare services, many clients and their families could have their needs met virtually instead of commuting several hours back to the hospital. However, Manitoba psychology professionals are unable to provide care across jurisdictional boundaries when their clients return home to Ontario. Working with the psychology leadership of Shared Health/Manitoba Regional Health Authority and the Psychological Association of Manitoba, the College developed a plan to use the existing Interjurisdictional Telepsychology Memorandum of Understanding to expand access to this publicly funded care at no cost to the clinician. The initiative was unanimously approved at the March 2025 Council Meeting and met with enthusiasm for the positive impact on Ontario residents.
This initiative is a tangible example of using technology and regulatory innovation to solve access problems for Ontario communities. What this means to a family is that a child who is receiving publicly funded follow-up hospital care does not have to commute (sometimes hours in inclement weather) to see their psychologist if it can be provided virtually. This reduces costs to the client (and their loved ones), such as gas, parking, transit, or missed worktime. The College is dedicated to finding innovative solutions to increasing access to care for Ontarians, and this is a good news story that illustrates this commitment in action.
If you are interested in providing interjurisdictional telepsychology services outside of Ontario but within Canada, please review the Association of Canadian Psychology Regulatory Organizations site for more details.
Tony DeBono, MBA, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Registrar & Executive Director