Introduction

In April 2012, Ontario’s Office of the Fairness Commissioner assessed the way the College of Dental Technologists of Ontario   registers people who apply for a licence to practise in Ontario, to ensure that the registration practices are fair and continue to improve.  

This summary of the assessment includes commendable practices that are under way and recommendations for improvement.

The College of Dental Technologists of Ontario is subject to Ontario's fair access law, which amended the law about health professions, the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA). The law spells out the college’s obligation to have transparent, objective, impartial and fair registration methods and requirements.

The Office of the Fairness Commissioner

To encourage accountability under the fair access law, the Office of the Fairness Commissioner (OFC) works with professions’ regulatory bodies to improve the way they register people who apply for professional licences. As a result of the OFC’s work, qualified people, no matter where they were originally trained, will have faster, fairer access to their licence to practise here.

In its work with regulators so far, the OFC has found that they have succeeded in streamlining their registration processes, but they need to do more. For example, regulators need to be more transparent and hold their assessment agencies more accountable for fairness.

To encourage, and hold regulators accountable for, continuous improvement, the OFC assesses their licensing practices in a two-year cycle. This cycle includes recommending improvements where needed and monitoring the bodies’ action plans that address the OFC’s concerns. This approach benefits applicants, the professions and the province.

You can read more about the OFC’s strategy for continuous improvement and its guide for assessments elsewhere on this site.

For more information about this particular assessment, contact the OFC.

Note: The words license, register and certify all refer to authorizing a person to practise a profession.

Commendable Practices

The College of Dental Technologists of Ontario (CDTO) is demonstrating many commendable practices, in the following areas. (These areas correspond to the sections of the assessment guide, and are derived from the fair access legislation.)

Information for Applicants

• The CDTO website includes a section called "How Do I Become a Member of the CDTO?" This section provides the following:
  • the CDTO's competency profile for dental technologists (a description of the various skills and knowledge needed by a dental technologist)
  • a career map
  • education requirements
  • practical-training requirements
  • information about qualifications assessment, the eligibility examination, and the registration examination.
  The CDTO lists criteria for each education and practical-training requirement, and provides contact information in case applicants have questions.
• The CDTO describes the role of the qualifications assessment agencies that play a part in the registration process.
• The CDTO website identifies the steps in the registration process that an applicant can do or start outside of Canada.
• In the 2012 Registration Examination Guide (posted online), the CDTO advises international applicants of the potential delay in obtaining documents for the required assessment of educational credentials.

Documentation of Qualifications

• The CDTO provides information about the documentation required for registration applications on its website in the 2012 Registration Examination Guide.

Assessment of Qualifications

• The CDTO identifies any criteria an applicant did not meet in a qualifications assessment, such as the registration examination (which includes separate written, jurisprudence and practical examinations). After the examination, the applicant is provided with the results and, if he or she is unsuccessful, given complete instructions on the appeal criteria and procedures for taking the examination again. The CDTO invites all applicants (approximately six weeks after the examination) to meet with a registered dental technologist at the CDTO to discuss the projects attempted at the examination. Applicants are able to look at their projects from the practical examination and have a dental technologist review each project with them and show them how to do it correctly.
• The CDTO informs successful candidates (candidates who meet all of the criteria in the qualifications assessments) about the next steps, such as applying for registration.
• The CDTO takes measures to ensure that assessments are made free from bias. For example:
  • The CDTO uses qualifications assessment agencies to assess applicants' education and uses language-assessment agencies to test applicants' language skills.
  • The CDTO uses a national competency profile for dental technologists to ensure that educational assessments and examinations (for eligibility and registration) are assessing necessary competencies (the skills and knowledge needed to become a dental technologist).
  • Written examinations use multiple-choice questions to avoid subjectivity in marking and are double-checked by two teams of markers for accuracy.
  • All examinations have marking guides to ensure consistent evaluation, and a blind assessment (where markers do not see an applicant's name) is used for marking.
  • Before examinations, the CDTO checks the markers for any conflict of interest.

Fairness

• The CDTO has published its registration requirements/criteria, standards and policies. Also, applicants receive the marking guide before taking the examinations. The CDTO's competency profile for dental technologists is posted online and forms the basis for qualifications assessments.
• The CDTO has amended its registration regulation, to remove its work experience requirement.

Recommendations

The OFC recommends improvements in the following areas. (These areas correspond to the sections of the assessment guide, and are derived from the fair access legislation. Recommendations marked "Required" correspond to the practices regulators must demonstrate in order to meet the specific duties in the legislation. Recommendations marked "Good" correspond to the practices the OFC encourages a regulatory body to adopt in order to meet the general duty to provide registration practices that are transparent, objective, impartial and fair.)

Information for Applicants	Status
Provide plain-language information about all requirements that are subject to exemption, or provide a note on the website to contact the CDTO for clarification, as some regulations and legislation use legal wording that can be challenging to understand. [Good]	December 2012
On the CDTO website, include a message in French telling applicants to contact the CDTO for registration information in French. [Good]	June 2012
Update documents that the CDTO has already identified as needing updating, and, on the CDTO website, include a clear description of all steps in the CDTO's registration process. [Required]	December 2012
Make the information regarding appeals and special accommodation more easily available by putting this information or links to it on the website (in "How Do I Become a Member of the CDTO?" and in the 2012 Registration Examination Guide). [Required]	December 2012
In the application package, inform applicants about which documents are kept by the CDTO and which are returned. [Good]	December 2012
Update the document that the CDTO is creating with its registration timelines and important dates for applicants, to provide clearer information about timelines for applicants at each stage of the registration process, including variables that can slow down the process. Post this document online. [Required; Good]	December 2012
Training
Provide staff and registration committee members with anti-discrimination training. [Good]	Acceptable alternative December 2012
Access to Records
Describe the length of time the CDTO keeps an applicant's registration documentation, in the CDTO's privacy code or registration materials. [Good]	December 2012

Blank = Implementation is in progress.
= Recommendation is implemented.
Acceptable alternative = Regulator implements acceptable alternative to this recommendation.