The OFC Reports on Progress Made in 2014-2015
The 2014-15 fiscal year was very busy for the OFC. The office completed the second comprehensive assessments of regulatory bodies' licencing practices, and hosted a forum called Transforming Access. It also partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade to conduct a study comparing employment match rates for immigrants educated in a regulated profession outside Canada with their counterparts born and educated in Canada. To learn more, read Fair Access: Changing the Conversation, Leading the Transformation, the annual report of the Office of the Fairness Commissioner for 2014-15.
Fair Registration Practices Reporting Simplified
The OFC is pleased to announce it has modernized its Fair Registration Practices reporting website. The new site has a significantly shorter qualitative part and expanded quantitative sections. The reports focus on results, rather than a full description of registration practices.
The new site is now available for regulators to prepare their submission for 2015. There are several new features in the site that will make it easier and more efficient for regulators to complete the report. The guidelines for reporting have also been updated to reflect the modernization. Orientation sessions were held in December 2015 for regulators' staff on key features and navigation of the new site. As usual, the reports must be submitted by regulators by March 1, 2016 and made publicly available by March 31, 2016.
The OFC Initiates 3rd Assessment Cycle
Starting in April 2016, for a period of eighteen months, the OFC will be conducting full assessments of regulators’ licencing practices. The OFC has modified its approach to assessments to lessen the overall reporting burden, streamline the process and offer more flexibility and customization in terms of timelines and procedures.
Defining the Terms
The OFC has launched a glossary of frequently used terms that provides definitions in the context of the OFC's work. Terms used in this document may have a diversity of meanings in different contexts. This new resource has been designed to support greater understanding and interpretation of the language and terminology used by the OFC. You can access it here.
OFC Holds Its First Learning Day
On November 25, 2015, the OFC held its first Learning Day at the YWCA in downtown Toronto. The day was attended by approximately 100 participants from Ontario's 42 regulators. The event aimed to create an opportunity to increase collaboration among regulators by sharing best practices, identifying concerns and working towards resolving common issues and problems. The day’s program was created to address specific issues and challenges regulators pinpointed during a recent survey in addition to those identified during the cycle 2 assessments. Read the summary here.
Online Learning Module 1 : Available in French
The OFC is excited to announce that its first Online Learning Module is now available in French. All modules will be available in French by this spring. You can view "Comprendre la législation sur l'accès équitable" here.
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