Amendments to the Health Professions Act (HPA) introduced by Bill 46, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2020 (No. 2), require that health profession colleges only carry out professional regulatory duties in the public interest and prohibit them from carrying out association and member services functions. The College has already taken steps to comply with this new legislation — including discontinuing branches, annual membership meetings, conferences, and the associate membership category — and work continues as the government provides new details and timelines.

The Minister of Health has approved a two-phased approach to the implementation of Bill 46. Cabinet approved the proclamation of the Phase 1 amendments on October 1, 2021. Colleges will have six months from the date of proclamation to submit a plan for separation to the Minister and a further 12 months to effect the separation. Dual-mandate colleges (colleges that currently act both as regulators and associations, like CARNA and the Alberta Dental Association and College) will likely need the full amount of time allotted to complete the separation; however, as the College has always been solely a regulator that provides limited membership services, we anticipate completing the separation ahead of the government’s deadline.

While work is underway on changes due to Bill 46, regulatory reform continues in Alberta. On October 25, 2021, the Government introduced Bill 49, the Labour Mobility Act (LMA), and proceeded to give the new bill first reading. Bill 49 carries over many of the concepts introduced by Bill 11, the Fair Registration Practices Act (FRPA), but is focused on professionals currently registered in a province or territory in Canada other than Alberta looking to become registered with a regulatory body in our province (labour mobility applicants). While the legislated intention for the FRPA was to try to facilitate the registration of internationally educated graduates, the FRPA currently applies to all applicants for registration with regulatory bodies. Once the LMA comes into effect, the scope of the FRPA will be narrowed to exclude this group.

Bill 49 will establish new and critical registration requirements for all 30 HPA colleges to recognize the credentials and training of out-of-province certified workers. These new requirements include, but are not limited to, determining what information/documentation types or quantities regulatory authorities can request, requiring that Alberta regulators register qualified Canadians who meet all the criteria established in the regulation, introducing maximum timeframes for registration decisions, and requiring appeal processes and processes for internally reviewing applications. Complying with Bill 49 will require dedicated resources, time and training for all health colleges.