About the College
The System of Medical Regulation
T
he College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
(CPSO) regulates the province’s medical profession
to protect and serve the public interest. We issue
certificates of registration to allow doctors to practise
medicine; monitor and maintain standards of practice through peer
assessment and remediation; investigate complaints against doctors
on behalf of the public; and discipline doctors who have committed
an act of professional misconduct or who are incompetent.
Medical regulation is based on the premise that the College must
act first and foremost in the interest of the public. The role of the
College, as well as our authority and powers, are set out in the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), the Health Professions Procedural
Code under the RHPA and the Medicine Act.
The Council is the governing body of the College. The RHPA
stipulates that it consist of at least 32 and no more than 34 members:
• 16 physicians elected by their peers on a geographical basis every
three years;
• three physicians appointed from among the six faculties of
medicine (at Western University, McMaster University, University
of Toronto, Queen’s University, University of Ottawa, and the
Northern Ontario School of Medicine);
• between 13 and 15 non-physician or public members
appointed by the provincial government for terms decided by the
government.
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COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS OF ONTARIO