As part of its ongoing mandate to protect the public and through its Strategic Plan, the College is committed to continuously enhancing its regulatory effectiveness.
In 2020, the College’s regulatory functions, including its governance, were impacted by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges. The College also recognized a need to consider trends in regulatory governance modernization across Canada and internationally. In 2021, the College Council agreed that it had an opportunity to re-examine and improve its current governance practices through governance training and a review of its governance processes.
Governance training
As part of its efforts to build and sustain effective governance, College Council determined that focused training on best practices in regulatory governance, for Council members and senior staff, would be both appropriate and timely.
Council members participated in governance training sessions on March 22 and 25, 2022.
Governance report
On May 5, 2022, governance consultants Harry Cayton and Deanna Williams presented their report from the governance review to the College Council, assessing the College’s performance against the Standards of Good Governance developed by the Professional Standards Authority, and making recommendations on improving the College’s governance.
Council approved a motion to accept the governance report, release it publicly and develop an action plan.
Governance recommendations and Council decisions
Throughout the summer of 2022, the Council’s Governance Working Group prioritized the development of an action plan based on the recommendations in the governance report.
On September 9, 2022, College Council reviewed the draft action plan and made a number of decisions on the recommendations from the governance report. Among the recommendations that can be implemented immediately and do not require legislative amendments are the following:
- The College should actively engage the public and service users in developing its policies.
- Council members should be intent on making decisions and not on deferring them.
- Oversight of the annual audit should pass from the Executive Committee to the Finance Committee which should be renamed the Finance and Audit Committee.
- Independent people with financial or audit qualifications should be brought on as appointed members of the Finance and Audit Committee.
- The College should use the word “registrant” rather than “member” to make clear its role as regulator and not that of an association.
- The Council “President” should become Council “Chair” to stress that this is a role with responsibility for effective chairing of meetings.
- The Council should amend Bylaw No. 1 which adds the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee to the College’s list of non-statutory committees.
- The Council should amend Bylaw No. 36 to ensure that members of Council cannot seek a further term after a break once they have already served ten years.
Action plan
The action plan outlines the recommendations from the governance report, descriptions of the recommendations and Council’s decisions.
Next steps
The College will continue to work on implementing the approved recommendations over the next year.
The remaining recommendations in the action plan will be considered by Council at its December 2022 meeting.
For more information
For questions related to the College’s Council and the governance review, please email the Office of the Registrar at oor@ocswssw.org.