The College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario
Newsletter | November 2023
In this issue…

  • New Resource: Privacy Legislation and Occupational Therapy Practice
  • Insights from Investigations: Snapshot of Complaints in 2022-2023
  • Thank you from the Quality Assurance Program
  • Coming Soon: Board Nominations and Elections Webinar
  • Student Supervision
  • Case of the Month: Documenting Group Interventions
  • Psychotherapy Q&As
  • Annual Report
  • October Board Meeting Highlights
  • Reminder: Bylaw Consultation
  • November Poll and October Results
Important News
Information and Updates
New Resource: Privacy Legislation
Introducing Privacy Legislation amd Occupational Therapy Practice
The College is pleased to publish a new Privacy Legislation and Occupational Therapy Practice guidance resource. 

This resource provides additional information about privacy legislation and how it may apply to your practice. 

The College guidance resource includes:

  • Information about the three privacy laws:
  • Personal Health Information Protection Act
  • Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
  • Privacy Act
  • Overview of roles and responsibilities of the Health Information Custodian and Agents of the Health Information Custodian
  • Practice considerations for consent, record keeping and privacy breaches
  • Access to additional privacy and security resources.

For any questions, please contact our Practice Resource Service at 1-800-890-6570 ext. 240 or practice@coto.org.
Insights from Investigations
Snapshot of Complaints in 2022-2023
Behind the scenes, we’ve been collecting and analyzing complaints data to share learning with registrants and help improve patient experience.

The snapshot is based on complaints by clients, caregivers, or family members in the previous fiscal year.

Coming soon: We’ll share some communications tips that promote good practice and may help you avoid getting a complaint.
Quality Assurance
Thank you from the Quality Assurance Team
Quality Assurance requirements have now closed for the year! Thank you for the feedback and comments about your experience. We are happy to hear registrants found the activities valuable and appreciate the excellent suggestions for future eLearning modules.

We appreciate your patience with the new system and we will be working to improve the experience going forward.
Mark Your Calendar
Reminders and Dates to Remember
Coming Soon: Board Elections
Upcoming Elections in Districts 2 and 3
The upcoming 2024 Board of Directors elections will take place in Districts 2 (Central West) and 3 (Central East). There is one position available in each district. Watch our video to learn more.

Reminder: We reduced the number of electoral districts from six to three. Your district may have changed. Review the lists to see if your area is up for election.

Electoral District 2 (Central West)
  • Includes: counties of Bruce, Grey Elgin, Essex, Huron, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Middlesex, Oxford, Perth, Brant, Wellington, Dufferin, Haldimand, Norfolk, Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Waterloo, and the Territorial Districts of Rainy River, Thunder Bay, Kenora, Algoma, Sudbury and Manitoulin.

Electoral District 3 (Central East)
  • Includes: York, Durham, Ottawa, Simcoe, Northumberland, Peterborough, Price Edward, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Prescott and Russell, Renfrew, Hastings, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington, Lanark, and Leeds and Grenville, and the Territorial Districts of Cochrane, Muskoka, Parry Sound, and Nipissing and Timiskaming.

Nominations open Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
Save the Date: Elections Webinar
Join Elinor Larney for a webinar on December 12, 2023 @ 12:15-1pm
College Registrar and CEO Elinor Larney will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 from 12:15pm to 1:00pm about the upcoming Board of Directors elections in Districts 2 and 3.

Governance at the College is changing. This is a great opportunity to learn about how you can get involved with the profession and what it means to be on the Board of Directors.
You and Your Practice
Information and Resources
Student Supervision
Consider involvement in 2024
Did you know?

  • 1,596 current registrants reported they provided student supervision last year.

  • 2,317 current registrants said they anticipate they will provide student supervision in the upcoming year.

Thank you! By supporting students, you are:

  • contributing to the entry level education of occupational therapists, and
  • engaging with the development of the profession, which is one of the competencies in the Competencies for Occupational Therapists in Canada (2021).

Take the time to consider supervising a student in 2024. Refer to the Standard for the Supervision of Students and Occupational Therapy Assistants for more information.
Survey: What's your reason for supporting a student OT?
Contributing to development of profession
Sharpening skills in coaching and mentorship
Supporting improvement initiatives at work
All of the above
Other
Case of the Month
Documenting Group Interventions
Stella works for a community organization providing occupational therapy services in clients’ homes. As part of the organization’s community outreach, they asked her to develop and run group education sessions at local community centres for adults with dementia and their caregivers.

As Stella puts together the outline for the group, she needs to determine how this group intervention will be documented.
Q&As: Psychotherapy
Your questions about the controlled act, training & supervision, and more
We've received a lot of questions from occupational therapists about the Standard for Psychotherapy.

To help answer these questions, this psychotherapy Q&A resource was developed in consultation with the College’s Practice Subcommittee and occupational therapists practicing psychotherapy.
Looking for the Standards of Practice and other resources?

Resources are available here: Standards and Practice Resources

Tip: 📑 Bookmark the page for future reference!
College Governance
Annual Report
The College's 2023 Annual Report is now available on our website. Read the report and see what we accomplished together this year.

You can view the 2023 Annual Report in English and French.
October Board Meeting Highlights
The College Board held a meeting on October 26, 2023.

View the key decisions in the highlights from the meeting.
Reminder: Bylaw Consultation
Provide your comments on our bylaw consultation by December 31
Reminder: the feedback survey for our proposed bylaw amendments closes on December 31, 2023.

To learn more about the College's use of fees and frequently asked questions, visit Understanding College Fees.
Connect with Us
Take the latest poll
November Poll & October Results
Would you be interested in a webinar about our new privacy guidance document?
Yes
No
In October we asked you: Most occupational therapists in Ontario work primarily with what age group?

We received 250 votes and here are the results:

  • 34.8% voted "Adults and seniors (seniors 18-64 and 65+)" (87 votes)
  • 23.6% voted "All ages" (59 votes)
  • 20.8% voted "Adults (ages 18-64)" (52 votes)
  • 12% voted "Children and youth (ages 0-17)" (30 votes)
  • 8.8% voted "Seniors (ages 65+)" (30 votes)
From the data we got from our registrants, OTs in Ontario work primarily with adults and seniors (18-64 and 65+)


Thank you for participating in our poll!
In case you missed it: New video
Last month in recognition of Occupational Therapy Month, the College released a new video on our YouTube channel.

The video helps educate the public about what licensed occupational therapists do, who they work with and where.
Occupational therapist working with a child. Certification of registration to the right. An icon that reads "Licensed" on the certificate. A play video button on top.
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