Ontario government not proceeding with plan to deregulate Chinese medicine

The Ontario government says they will not be proceeding with their plan to deregulate traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists.

As a part of a new worker’s protection bill, called the Working for Workers Act, the government planned to wind down the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario, the profession’s regulatory body that was established in 2013.

Premier Doug Ford said last week the move was to address language barriers as he said the college prevented people who only speak Cantonese or Mandarin from writing licensing exams.

The College released a statement on Friday saying the requirement to be reasonably fluent in English or French is exemptible and “not one applicant has been denied registration because of a lack of language proficiency.”

The government reversed course on Monday, announcing they would not be proceeding with Schedule 5 of Bill 88 and would be working directly with the regulatory body to “offer a Chinese language entry to practice exam for registration with the college.”

“We know how important the practice of traditional Chinese medicine is to many Ontarians, which is why we intend to break down language barriers,” read a statement from the spokesperson of the Minister of Health.

Traditional Chinese medicine is an ancient treatment that focuses on acupuncture, herbal remedies, proper nutrition and Chinese massage to balance the yin and yang – or contrary forces – in one’s system.

Many stakeholders in the industry had not been pleased with the announcement, saying they had not been consulted about the government’s plan.

Heather Kenny, the president of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario, said she was looking forward to consultation because the legislation came as a shock.

“It would seem that a barrier to working in this profession such as language could be adequately overcome through effective communication between the government and the college,” she said.

Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture are increasingly popular in Ontario, and having a regulatory college guarantees certain standards, she said.

“There’s a guaranteed level of competency, there’s an expected level of patient care, an expected level of ethics and there’s also some very strict rules around how you treat patients,” Kenny said.