Concept
Current Provisions
Scope of
Practice
Proposal
Risk of Harm Clause
As this model, and compliance with the model, relate to the
authorized acts and the risk related to animal outcomes, any individual
not licensed by the College who treats or advises about an animal’s
health where it is reasonably foreseeable that serious bodily harm to
an animal or human may result from the treatment or advice or from
an omission from them could be prosecuted for the unlawful practice
of veterinary medicine.
Exemptions Exemptions
The Veterinarians Act currently 7 prohibits
any person, other than a veterinarian,
from engaging in the practice of
veterinary medicine or holding himself or
herself out as engaging in the practice of
veterinary medicine. However, there are
exemptions for: It is proposed that the current exemptions in the Act remain with a
change to expand the learner exemption to include students of an
accredited veterinary medicine program and students of an accredited
veterinary technician program. Further, it is proposed that the existing
exemption in (b) be amended to also exempt a custodian of an animal
to administer a treatment plan, made by a veterinarian, and at the
direction of the owner.
(a)a person who is providing emergency
first aid without charging a fee; In addition, the Veterinarians Act would not apply to prevent a person
who holds an appropriate certificate of registration from the Ontario
College of Pharmacists from compounding and dispensing drugs for,
or selling drugs to, the owner of an animal.
(b)an animal’s owner, a member of
the owner’s household, or a person
employed for general agricultural or
domestic work by the owner;
(c)a person who is taking blood samples
(d)a person who is preventing or treating
fish or invertebrate diseases;
(e)a person who is collecting or using
semen for the purposes of a business that
engages in the artificial insemination of
livestock;
(f)a person who is collecting or
transporting ova and embryos of animals
other than mammals;
(g)a student of veterinary medicine to
the extent that the student is engaging in
the undergraduate curriculum of studies
at the Ontario Veterinary College of the
University of Guelph.
There would be an additional proposed exemption for:
• An act by a person is not in contravention of the authorized activities
section of the Act if the person is exempted by the regulations under
this Act
This broad exemption is intended to allow for agility by allowing the
creation of exemptions in regulations, such as exemptions for:
1. A person performing an authorized activity under a delegation or
order of a veterinarian
2. A member of the College of Chiropractors of Ontario is exempt
from the authorized activities section of the Veterinarians Act for the
purpose of:
a. Moving the joints of an animal’s spine beyond the animal’s usual
physiological range of motion using a fast, low amplitude thrust
b. putting a finger beyond the anus for the purpose of manipulating
the tailbone
Veterinarians Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.3, s 11.
Achieving a Modern Approach to the Regulation of Veterinary Medicine in Ontario 49