Fair Registration Practices Report

Auto Body and Collision Damage Repairers (2017)

The answers seen below were submitted to the OFC by the regulated professions.

This Fair Registration Practices Report was produced as required by:

the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act (FARPACTA) s. 20 and 23(1), for regulated professions named in Schedule 1 of FARPACTA
the Health Professions Procedural Code set out in Schedule 2 of the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) s. 22.7 (1) and 22.9(1), for health colleges.

1. Qualitative Information

a) Requirements for registration, including acceptable alternatives

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

b) Assessment of qualifications

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: Throughout 2017, the College continued making improvements to its operational processes related to the Trade Equivalency Assessment (TEA)—the alternative assessment option for applicants who have not completed an Ontario apprenticeship but have equivalent experience and skills in the trade. For example, the College made enhancements to the back-end of the assessment process including the creation of a new customized database application to enable better tracking of applicant information.

The College also increased the rigour of the process it uses to verify attestations of skills and experience provided by applicants from individuals, usually past employers, who live in different time zones that do not correspond to the College’s business hours and/or applicants who are not able to communicate fluently in one of Canada’s official languages. Beginning in Q2 2017, the College contracted a third-party, Sterling Talent Solutions, to conduct verifications of these applicants’ claims in the applicant’s language and during their local business hours. Prior to this, the College relied on email to conduct verifications for out of country verifications and only in English or French.
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: Improvements to information storage have resulted in greater accuracy and consistency in the way results are recorded, and in turn, greater transparency for applicants.

Improvements made to the verification process should positively impact applicants as the verifications are now made in the contact’s local language and during their local business hours, expediting the verification in most cases, and enabling it in other cases, such as where language barriers existed previously.

In addition, Sterling Talent Solutions makes multiple attempts (four or more) to contact and verify references, whereas previously, the College would only attempt to verify twice via email, meaning that more applicants are being approved who previously were denied simply because their contacts could not be reached to verify their claims.
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: Improvements made to the verification process have resulted in greater overall process integrity, including increased confidence in the authenticity of skills and experience claims being made by certain applicants whose claims were previously difficult to confirm.

c) Provision of timely decisions, responses, and reasons

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: Following the transfer of operational responsibility for the TEA process to the College’s Registration Services division at the end of 2016, operational improvements were made and additional staff resources where dedicated to successfully clear the application backlog in Q1 of 2017.

For the remainder of 2017 (Q2-Q4), the College met its application intake service delivery target of 48 hours, and typical assessment processing times met the College’s service delivery target of 4-6 weeks—far lower than the expected timeline of 8-10 weeks stated in the TEA Application Guide.
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: From Q2 2017 onwards, TEA applicants experienced much faster processing times than previously, with the large majority of applicants experiencing assessment-processing times of 4-6 weeks.

Certain applicants have experienced longer than is typical due to a number of factors, such as difficulty verifying references or assessment appeals, resulting in an average processing time of 8.6 weeks from Q2 to Q4.
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: The impact of these changes on the College is minimal, and included administrative changes to streamline administrative and IT processes, changes to staff resulting from the transfer of operational responsibility, and staff overtime to clear the backlog.

d) Fees

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

e) Timelines

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

f) Policies, procedures and/or processes, including by-laws

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

g) Resources for applicants

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: In 2017, the College continued its efforts to improve its publically available information and resources for applicants by developed a new, more client-focussed corporate website, expected to be launched in 2018. The College’s corporate site, www.collegeoftrades.ca, is the primary source of information regarding apprenticeship training standards and entry-to-practice requirements for compulsory trades in Ontario, and the first point of contact for all applicants to the College.

As of the end of 2017, the College was in the testing phase and preparing to launch its new site.

Improvements will include, for example: new more intuitive headings and sections, making registration information easier to find; and a streamlined, mobile- and print-friendly Trade Equivalency Assessment (TEA) page, making the process easier to follow and will eliminate the need for a separate Adobe PDF TEA Application Guide, which has been subject to accuracy/version control issues in recent years.

In addition to its online resources, the College provides registration-related information to prospective applicants in hard-copy and verbally and in-person when attending outreach events and information sessions across Ontario.

The College is invited to and attends hundreds of events and meetings each year, and in 2017, participated in over 180 outreach events, providing information about apprenticeship and the College’s registration processes to thousands of people, and to a range of audiences, including: high schools, employment agencies, career fairs, skilled trade competitions, immigrant and newcomer events, and first nations and aboriginal community events.
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: The impact of improvements to the College’s resources for applicants and members is expected to be positive, and specifically, prospective apprentice applicants will have more accessible online information on apprenticeship including the steps to becoming an apprentice in Ontario.
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: For the College, these continuous improvements to resources for applicants enhance transparency and accessibility, advance the public interest, and contribute to the achievement of the College’s strategic priority to streamline processes and improve applicant experience.

h) Review or appeal processes

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

i) Access to applicant records

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

j) Training and resources for registration staff, Council, and committee members

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: The College’s performance review program for staff includes a learning and development component where all staff are expected to undertake training relevant to their positions and funds are reimbursed for its successful completion.

After one TEA Analyst attended in 2016, two more staff from the College’s Assessments team attended a two-day ‘Recognition of Prior Learning Boot Camp’ training conference offered by the Canadian Association of Prior Learning Assessment (CAPLA). The training included sessions on assessment methods, types, and biases; tools and techniques to support Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL); and assessment processes and systems to ensure quality RPL, for example.
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: Relevant training for staff provides new tools and/or greater professional confidence to conduct assessments, so the impact on applicants is expected to be positive.
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: Staff will have additional tools and resources and greater professional confidence to conduct assessments and lessons learned from the conference have transferred to the other staff.

k) Mutual recognition agreements

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: In 2017, the College continued to support the implementation of the Apprentice Mobility Protocol by participating in national and provincial working groups along with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) but to a lesser degree then in 2016 as the focus of the Protocol implementation shifted to pre-apprenticeship training, which is outside of the College’s mandate.
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: The impact on apprentices is expected to be positive as they will have improved access to the labour markets in other provinces and be able to pursue them without interrupting their training.
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

l) Other (include as many items as applicable)

i. Describe any improvements / changes implemented in the last year.: No changes this year
ii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on applicants.: No changes this year
iii. Describe the impact of the improvements / changes on your organization.: No changes this year

Describe any registration-related improvements/changes to your enabling legislation and/or regulations in the last year

No changes this year

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2. Quantitative Information

a) Languages

Indicate the languages in which application information materials were available in the reporting year.

Language	Yes/No
English	Yes
French	Yes
Other (please specify)

Additional comments:

b) Gender of applicants

Indicate the number of applicants in each category as applicable.

Gender	Number of Applicants
Male	449
Female	24
None of the above	0

Additional comments:

c) Gender of members

Indicate the number of members in each category as applicable. Select the option that best corresponds to the terminology used by your organization.

Gender	Number of Members
Male	5015
Female	60
None of the above	0

Additional comments:

d) Jurisdiction where applicants obtained their initial education

Indicate the number of applicants by the jurisdiction where they obtained their initial education¹ in the profession or trade.

Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
372	86	3	United Arab Emirates 2 Lebanon 2 Dominican Republic 1 Poland 1 U.K. 1 S Arabia 1 Slovakia 1 Syrian Arab Republic 1 Total 10	2	473

¹ Recognizing that applicants may receive their education in multiple jurisdictions, for the purpose of this question, include only the jurisdiction in which an entry-level degree, diploma or other certification required to practice the profession or trade was obtained.

Additional comments:

e) Jurisdiction where applicants who became registered members obtained their initial education

Indicate the number of applicants who became registered members in the reporting year by the jurisdiction where they obtained their initial education¹ in the profession or trade.

Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
241	10	0	n/a 0 Total 0	0	251

Additional comments:

f) Jurisdiction where members were initially trained

Indicate the total number of registered members by jurisdiction where they obtained their initial education¹ in the profession or trade.

Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
5075	0	0	n/a 0 Total 0	0	5075

Additional comments:

We do not maintain a connection between this data and our members beyond an initial OFC report unless they were an apprentice in which case they are considered Ontario trained.

g) Applications processed

Indicate the number of applications your organization processed in the reporting year:

Jurisdiction where applicants were initially trained in the profession (before they were granted use of the protected title or professional designation in Ontario)
from January 1^st to December 31^st of the reporting year	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	372	86	3	10	2	473
Applicants actively pursuing licensing (applicants who had some contact with your organization in the reporting year)	372	86	3	10	2	473
Inactive applicants (applicants who had no contact with your organization in the reporting year)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Applicants who met all requirements and were authorized to become members but did not become members	0	0	0	0	0	0
Applicants who became FULLY registered members	241	10	0	0	0	251
Applicants who were authorized to receive an alternative class of licence³ but were not issued a licence	0	0	0	0	0	0
Applicants who were issued an alternative class of licence³	0	0	0	0	0	0

¹ An alternative class of licence enables its holder to practice with limitations, but additional requirements must be met in order for the member to be fully licensed.

Additional comments:

h) Classes of certificate/license

Inidcate and provide a description of the classes of certificate/license offered by your organization.

You must specify and describe at least one class of certificate/license (on line a) in order for this step to be complete.

#	Certification	Description
a)	Journeypersons Class	Description (a) Have met all of the registration requirements set out for their trade(s) and hold a valid Certificate of Qualification;* Have completed an Ontario apprenticeship program (holds a Certificate of Apprenticeship) in the trade, or have been assessed to have experience and/or qualifications that are equivalent to a completed apprentice in the trade, and passed the Certificate of Qualification exam, if one is required for the trade; and Can hold themselves out as Journeypersons in their trade * includes approved equivalency to apprenticeship applicants who have been issued a 90-day Provisional Certificate of Qualification (separate eligibility requirements set out Ontario Regulation 321/12)
b)	Journeyperson Candidates Class	Description (b) Have completed an Ontario apprenticeship program (hold a Certificate of Apprenticeship) in a trade that has a Certificate of Qualification exam (voluntary or compulsory) and have not passed the certification examination for their trade(s); Can remain in this class until they pass the Certificate of Qualification exam and become members of the Journeypersons class or for a maximum of one year (whichever comes first); Can continue to work legally in their trade, if they are in a compulsory trade, as they prepare to write their exams (individuals in voluntary trades do not have to be members of the College to work legally); Are subject to any ratios and/or wage rates that have been set out for their trade(s); and Can hold themselves out as Journeyperson Candidates (they are neither Apprentices nor Journeypersons).
c)	Apprentices Class	Description (c) Hold one or more valid registered training agreements with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development in a prescribed trade; Can remain in this class until they receive their Certificate of Apprenticeship; Are subject to any ratios and wage rates that have been set out in regulations for their trade; and Can hold themselves out as Apprentices.
d)	Tradespersons Class	Description (d) Practice voluntary trades where there is a Certificate of Qualification exam required to become a Journeyperson; Have been members of the Journeyperson Candidates Class, or have been assessed to have experience and/or qualifications that are equivalent to a completed apprentice in the trade; Have not yet passed the available Certificate of Qualification exam for their trade(s); Can remain in this class indefinitely or until they pass the available Certificate of Qualification exam for their trade(s); and Can hold themselves out as Tradespersons (they are neither Apprentices nor Journeypersons).
e)	Employer/Sponsor Class	Description (e) Employ journeypersons or sponsor or employ apprentices in a prescribed trade.

Additional comments:

i) Reviews and appeals processed

State the number of reviews and appeals your organization processed in the reporting year (use only whole numbers; do not enter commas or decimals).

Jurisdiction where applicants were initially trained in the profession (before they were granted use of the protected title or professional designation in Ontario)
from January 1^st to December 31^st of the reporting year	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	Total
Applications that were subject to an internal review or that were referred to a statutory committee of your governing council, such as a Registration Committee	15	1	16
Applicants who initiated an appeal of a registration decision	15	1	16
Appeals heard	14	0	14
Registration decisions changed following an appeal	14	0	14

Additional comments:

23 registration-related files were opened in 2017: 16 applications were subject to internal review, and all 16 initiated an appeal of the internal review decision. However, one of those applicants abandoned/did not complete his appeal and one of those applicants passed his Certificate of Qualification exam, thereby no longer requiring an appeal of his registration status. Therefore, 14 appeals were ultimately considered by panels of the Registration Appeals Committee resulting in 14 changes to the initial internal review decision.

The other 7 files were not subject to internal review and were closed early in the process, either because the applicant passed his/her Certificate of Qualification exam (4) or the applicant abandoned/did not complete his/her application (3).

*Numbers reported are for all trades under OCTAA, including all 23 compulsory trades and 133 voluntary trades.

j) Paid staff

In the table below, enter the number of paid staff employed by your organization in the categories shown, on December 31 of the reporting year.

When providing information for each of the categories in this section, you may want to use decimals if you count your staff using half units. For example, one full-time employee and one part-time employee might be equivalent to 1.5 employees.

You can enter decimals to the tenths position only. For example, you can enter 1.5 or 7.5 but not 1.55 or 7.52.

Category	Staff
Total staff employed by the regulatory body	193
Staff involved in appeals process	6
Staff involved in registration process	54

Additional comments:

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3. Submission

Submission

I hereby certify that:
Name of individual with authority to sign on behalf of the organization:: Dale Richardson
Title:: Manager, Member Records and Data
Date:: 2018/03/01

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