College Connection | Fall 2026
Transition Council continues progress on official documents
College Connection | Fall 2026
Transition Council continues progress on official documents
The Transition Council met on September 23 & 24, 2026. Replays from these discussions are available at cvo. org / Council. The Transition Council meets next in December. The public is welcome to watch Council via the livestream; please contact the College to attend in-person. The Transition Council considered the following items in September:
Transition Council Chair
Cathy Hecimovich took over as Chair of the Transition Council in September. The provincial government appointed Hecimovich to the College in June 2023. She currently serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Accreditation Committee. Professionally, Hecimovich is an experienced healthcare CEO and Certified Health Leader.
By-laws
Transition Council continues work on finalizing the by-laws to guide the College of Veterinary Professionals of Ontario( CVPO). One aspect of the draft by-laws is to guide the nominations and elections process.
Council is currently elected from electoral districts and two employerbased districts. Most new regulatory models use a Nominations Committee to ensure a Council maintains the necessary competencies to support governance effectiveness. With this process, all licensed members would vote for all Council seats. Following discussion, Transition Council adopted the nominations and election process by-law.
Transition Council has also been considering outsourcing the CVPO disciplinary process to an independent third-party tribunal. The Health Professions Discipline Tribunal administers hearings for 10 health profession regulators in Ontario. An experienced adjudicator chairs the panel, which includes four veterinary professionals and public members. Following discussion, Transition Council chose to partner with the tribunal and approved this by-law.
Standards
Transition Council discussed and approved the following standards for consultation:
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Medical Records
• After-hours Veterinary Care
The consultation on the draft CVPO standards is expected for the spring of 2027. Transition Council also approved several omnibus policies for approval as they have minor changes.
Licensure policies
Transition Council continues to establish licensure policies for the CVPO with the following decisions:
• adoption of the North American Essential Competency Profile for Veterinary Medicine
• support for language benchmarks for veterinarians and veterinary technicians’ initial application, with the CVPO Council to consider whether further study is needed on language benchmarks for veterinary technicians
• suppport for development of a policy on determining applicant suitability to practise
• support for development of a policy on quality assessments and pathways for veterinarians and veterinary technician applicants
cvo. org / Council
CONTACT THE COLLEGE
Registrar Jan Robinson, Registrar & CEO registarsinbox @ cvo. org
Shilo Tooze, Deputy Registrar stooze @ cvo. org
President Dr. Louise Kelly, President president @ cvo. org
Transition Council Cathy Hecimovich, Transition Council Chair TransitionCouncil @ cvo. org
Associate Registrar
Dr. Kim Lambert, Associate Registrar Regulatory Programs klambert @ cvo. org
College Staff Find the staff list & contact information at www. cvo. org / contact-us
Program E-mails inquiries @ cvo. org licensure @ cvo. org accreditation @ cvo. org complaints @ cvo. org qualityassurance @ cvo. org
Public confidence in veterinary regulation cvo. org 3