Achieving a
Modern Approach
to the Regulation
of Veterinary
Medicine in
Ontario
Principle Based Approach
As a part of its legislative reform initiative, the College approved and
adopted a number of key principles against which to analyze recommen-
dations for change to the Veterinarians Act. These key principles provide
criteria which ground the final recommendations made to government in
the public interest.
Principle 1: Right Touch Regulation 4 : Right touch regulation is a concept
postulated by the then Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE)
in the UK, and at its core means utilizing the minimum regulatory approach
required to achieve the desired result. The intent is to focus on identified and
verified risks and to only implement regulatory solutions when necessary.
PRINCIPLE
BASED
APPROACH
Principle 2: Agility: Agility refers to the ability to look forward to anticipate change
and to have the flexibility to refine regulatory responses over time.
Principle 3: Just Culture 5 : A just culture proposes that discipline be tied to an
individual’s intent or behavioural choices rather than on the outcome of their
actions. In promoting a just culture, the College accepts that mistakes will
occur. The compliance aim is to consider both the individual and the system
which gives rise to errors. The disciplinary process must clearly manage “at
risk” and “reckless” behaviour where it exists, but more broadly seek to learn
from incidents and errors and improve veterinary care overall.
Principle 4: Collaborative self-regulation: Collaboration in self-regulation is
demonstrated by an approach that views the public, veterinarians, veterinary
technicians, government, and others involved in the safe delivery of veterinary
medicine as partners in achieving quality practice outcomes.
Principle 5: Risk Mitigation: In keeping with the right touch focus on risk
identification, regulatory solutions must seek to mitigate risks in practice.
College processes must support the measurement and evaluation of risk(s),
and solutions which manage them effectively and responsibly.
Principle 6: Transparency: The public needs access to appropriate information
in order to trust that self-regulation works effectively. Transparency includes
the provision of information to the public that enhances its ability to make
decisions or hold the regulator accountable. Transparency, however, must
balance public protection with fairness and privacy.
10 Achieving a Modern Approach to the Regulation of Veterinary Medicine in Ontario