On June 10, RNAO sent a submission to the Ontario government regarding the proposed regulations to amend the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA) as outlined in Schedule 6 of Bill 106, Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, 2022. RNAO concludes that the proposed amendments will ease the registration process in health professions and, ultimately, improve access to health care for all Ontarians.

The submission reads: “Consistent with RNAO’s policy regarding internationally educated nurse (IEN) recruitment, RNAO supports the proposed regulations. The association believes these regulations and our additional recommendations – if enacted – will facilitate fair and timely consideration of non-domestic labour mobility applicants.” 

RNAO responded to the proposed regulations related to IENs, including the Canadian experience, language proficiency, timely registration decisions and emergency class of certificates of registration. In addition, RNAO outlined specific recommendations, including the College of Nurses of Ontario and other health regulatory colleges be given up to 18 months to clear backlogs in the registration process for non-domestic mobility applicants such as IENs, as well as the Office of the Fairness Commission be charged with responsibility for actively monitoring and addressing timeframe infractions.

The submission also highlights that RNAO does not support the recruitment of nurses abroad as a strategy to solve Ontario’s domestic human resources crisis. 

Read the full submission online. For all of RNAO’s policy submissions, please visit the policy library.