Overview

Effective governance is essential for a college to meet its public interest mandate. A college’s council and its statutory committees are responsible to determine the strategic direction of the college and to ensure the overall financial stability of a college. Furthermore, council and statutory committee members must have the required knowledge and skills to provide informed contributions for effective oversight.

Commendable practices

The working group identified two commendable practices that are included in this report.

  • Ensuring council and statutory committee members have the knowledge, skill and judgement to effectively meet their fiduciary duties.
  • Competency of council and committee members is a critical part of any high performing organization. For colleges, it ensures that public interest questions brought before the council are considered by individuals who have the knowledge and skills to determine the best solutions to serve the public.
  • The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO) has established a set of competencies for its council and statutory committees against which professionals wishing to serve are assessed by an independent committee. Additionally, these individuals must complete an eligibility course and a 21-question assessment. This is followed by an orientation for those elected to council or appointed to committees.
  • The working group felt this model supports improved decision-making.
  • Transparently communicating the public interest rationale and evidence supporting council decision-making.
    • Councils and committees are expected to make decisions in the public interest, free from influence by professional or other interests.
    • The College of Midwives of Ontario’s Council meeting materials are publicly available on its website and clearly identify the public interest rationale and evidence supporting each topic brought to council. In addition, topics are accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment that identifies risks and assesses potential impacts and regulatory options to mitigate those risks.
    • The working group felt this practice supports transparency in the college’s decision-making processes and clearly connects decisions to the public interest.

Collective strengths

In 2014, the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) initiated an extensive review of all aspects of its governance. In 2016, it published its vision for governance in a report called “Final Report: A vision for the future”. Since this time, numerous colleges have dedicated significant time and resources to strengthening their governance structures. For example, the working group identified notable practices by the Ontario College of Pharmacists, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the College of Medical Radiation and Imaging Technologists of Ontario, the CNO and the RCDSO, who have taken steps to modernize and improve their governance structures.

All colleges reported initiating work on governance modernization, including developing and implementing core competencies for council and committee members, strengthening training and orientation for council and committee members, and evaluating the effectiveness of council meetings and the council itself.

Colleges collectively self-reported strong performance in transparently communicating their strategic plans or objectives, as well as policies and procedures regarding council conduct and conflict of interest. The majority of colleges also reported they provide information about council meetings and discipline hearings in a timely manner.

System improvement

Even though multiple commendable practices were identified in this domain, there is still an opportunity to drive consistency and improved governance structures across all colleges. The working group noted that the commendable practice regarding council and committee competencies is adaptable and could be expanded across most, if not all, colleges.

Additionally, ministry review of college reports identified that the process used by colleges to identify, monitor and make public declarations of conflict of interest could be strengthened. Conflict of interest processes may benefit from continued work to increase the transparency and accessibility of this information across the system of regulators as a whole.

Lastly, while significant work is underway already, the review also identified that colleges can continue to strengthen methods to:

  • clearly communicate how council decisions reflect the public interest
  • provide updates on the college’s process in implementing Council decisions
  • identify the activities and projects that support its strategic plan and how these are linked to the college’s financial plan and budget

Improvement commitments by colleges

Colleges made commitments to improve in the following areas:

  • implementation of competencies for professional council and committee members
  • evaluation of council meetings and the council itself, including a third-party assessment at a minimum of every three years
  • transparent identification of the public interest rationale in council meeting materials
  • transparent and accessible communication of council member’s conflict of interest declarations