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Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is currently an unregulated profession in Ontario; no restrictions exist on who may call themselves a practitioner or who may practice the profession. As a result, Ontarians have no reliable way of knowing which practitioners possess the appropriate competencies and training required for safe practice. If passed, the legislation will make traditional Chinese medicine the first new health profession to be regulated since 1991.
Originating in China several thousand years ago, TCM therapies include acupuncture, herbal therapy, tuina massage, and therapeutic exercise. Traditional Chinese medicine views the body as a whole and addresses how illness manifests itself in a patient and assesses the whole patient, not just the specific disease. Ontario will be the second province in Canada to regulate traditional Chinese medicine after British Columbia.
Highlights of the proposed legislation include :
- The creation of a self-governing regulatory college. This college would have the authority to set standards of practice and entry to practice requirements for the profession
- A defined scope of practice and restricted titles that only members of the profession may use, including the use of the "doctor" title by certain members of the profession
- Restricting the performance of acupuncture to members of regulated health professions and to persons who perform acupuncture as part of an addiction treatment program within a health facility.
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