Committees

The mandate of each committee is set out in legislation or regulation, depending on its role in the governance structure. All statutory and regulatory committees are comprised of an equal number of members of the College in good standing and members of the public who must not now be, nor ever have been, a member of the teaching profession.

Statutory Committees:

Statutory Committees consider complaints and allegations made against individual members of the College in accordance with their statutory authority. They also consider registration disputes and can order interim suspensions, for example. In short, Statutory Committees deal with individual members of the College, and can impose remedial measures, or suspend or revoke a member’s certification as a form of professional discipline, among other measures.

Investigation:

Screens all complaints regarding members of the College and determines the appropriate outcome for those complaints. College staff investigate complaints and present the information gathered to a panel. The panel may decide to: refuse to further investigate; not refer a complaint and take no further action; issue a written reminder, advice, caution or admonishment; issue an oral caution or admonishment; adopt an agreement reached through the complaint resolution process; adopt an undertaking reached with respect to Teacher Performance Appraisals or an undertaking to resign and never to reapply; conduct medical inquiries regarding a member’s fitness to practise; or refer the matter to Discipline or Fitness to Practise. The role entails reviewing significant volumes of material.

• Anne Resnick (Chair)
• Robert Pellerin, OCT (Vice-Chair) 
• Simon Burke
• Colin Halsall, OCT
• Ramona Nazareth, OCT
• Elisha Turney Foss
• Philip Warner, OCT

Discipline:

Conducts legal proceedings that are generally open to the public and rules on allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence by members of the teaching profession. A three-person panel receives evidence and submissions before reaching a decision that is supported by written reasons. If a panel finds that a member engaged in professional misconduct or is incompetent, it may make orders that include reprimands, the imposition of terms, conditions or limitations on a member’s teaching certificate, suspensions or revocations. [Note: the Discipline and Fitness to Practise Committees share the same membership. Therefore, an appointment to the Discipline Committee will result in an automatic appointment to the Fitness to Practise Committee.]

• Kirby Chown, OCT (Chair)
• Linda Staudt, OCT (Vice-Chair)
• Kiran Qureshi
• Emile Ramlochan
• Myrna Tulandi
• Hanno Weinberger, OCT

Fitness to Practise:

Generally conducts closed legal proceedings and rules on allegations related to a member of the teaching profession’s physical or mental capacity to carry out professional responsibilities. A three-person panel receives evidence and submissions before reaching a decision that is supported by written reasons. If a panel finds that a member is incapacitated, it may make orders that include the imposition of terms, conditions or limitations on a member’s teaching certificate, suspensions or revocations. [Note: the Discipline and Fitness to Practise Committees share the same membership. Therefore, an appointment to the Fitness to Practise Committee results in an automatic appointment to the Discipline Committee.]

• Hanno Weinberger, OCT (Chair)
• Emile Ramlochan (Vice-Chair)
• Kirby Chown, OCT
• Kiran Qureshi
• Linda Staudt, OCT
• Myrna Tulandi

Registration Appeals:

Requests for review and/or applications from applicants who were denied College membership, or who had terms, conditions or limitations placed on their teaching certificate. Panels consider documentation provided by both the College and the applicant before rendering a decision supported by written reasons. Applicants may request the opportunity to deliver an oral presentation to the Panels.

• Christine Forsyth (Chair)
• Michael Collis (Vice-Chair)
• Marcel Castonguay
• Annie Lafleur, OCT
• Mark Lefebvre, OCT
• Rosemary Sadlier, OCT

Adjudicative Body of Chairs:

The chairs and vice-chairs of the Discipline, Fitness to Practise, Investigation and Registration Appeals committees also serve on the Adjudicative Body of Chairs. The Adjudicative Body of Chairs may: direct the Discipline or Fitness to Practise committees to hold a hearing to determine allegations of member misconduct, incompetence or incapacity; make interim orders directing the Registrar to suspend a member’s teaching certificate or impose terms, conditions or limitations on a member’s certificate; make an order to direct the Registrar to issue a certificate to a member or to remove the suspension of a member’s certificate (reinstatement); approve the Registrar’s appointment of an investigator; and hold a hearing for complaints made against a Council, committee or roster member for reasons of conflict of interest or for contravention of the oath.

Regulatory Committees

Regulatory Committees make decisions about the who, how and what of teacher training and education in Ontario. For example, these committees approve teacher education providers, teacher education programs, and ongoing teacher education courses. In short, Regulatory Committees do not deal with individual members of the College, but rather the means by which teachers become fully certified members of the College and expand their teaching practice once certified.

Accreditation:

Reviews and accredits teacher education programs offered by post-secondary educational institutions in Ontario. Teacher education programs are reviewed before they can be offered to teacher candidates, and existing programs are reviewed on a cyclical basis to confirm that they continue to meet standards and requirements. Panels made up of both OCT licensees and non-OCT licensees who bring specialized expertise in the area of study of each program conduct the reviews.  Panel members examine materials submitted by the program provider, interview program faculty and stakeholders, and review facilities and resources. Members of the public are always provided with an opportunity to offer feedback about the programs under review. After the review, the panel develops its report, and sets out its recommendations and the evidence it considered.  This report is considered by the Accreditation Committee when it issues its decision regarding the program’s initial or continuing accreditation.

• Catherine Foy, OCT (Chair)
• Robert Kyle (Vice-Chair)
• Brenda Brown
• Michel Champagne, OCT
• Sam Eskenasi
• Yasir Khalid
• Christian Lortie, OCT
• Jacques Pavesi, OCT

Accreditation Appeal:

Considers and rules on appeals from teacher education providers whose programs have been denied accreditation or awarded accreditation with conditions. The appeal process ensures that pre-service programs and in-service courses are accredited fairly by allowing appellants to present new information and request to have the decision reviewed.

• Bryan Auld (Chair)
• Vicky Fauteux, OCT (Vice-Chair)
• Nila Das
• John LaBine, OCT
• Sonya Mazerolle, OCT
• Amrita Sidhu

Standards of Practice and Education:

Advises on the development, implementation and review of the three components of the Foundations of Professional Practice: Ethical Standards, Standards of Practice and the Professional Learning Framework. The committee also reviews and approves Additional Qualification policy guidelines and associated research.

• Deani Van Pelt, OCT (Chair)
• Danny Anckle (Vice-Chair)
• Sabrina Di Marco, OCT
• Monique Ménard, OCT
• Roselynn Okobia
• Victoria Scott

Chair Duties:

The duties of the chair of a committee or subcommittee are limited to the following:

1. Providing leadership to the committee or subcommittee by,
   1. guiding the committee or subcommittee in carrying out its responsibilities, and working collaboratively with the Registrar,
   2. leading orderly deliberation and decision-making on matters before the committee or subcommittee, and
   3. acting as the liaison between the committee or subcommittee and the Council and the Registrar.
2. Managing meetings by,
   1. calling and presiding over meetings,
   2. approving meeting agendas and meeting dates,
   3. ensuring that meeting agendas reflect matters assigned to the committee or subcommittee in accordance with the Act or the regulations,
   4. ensuring that minutes are taken at each meeting, reviewing and approving minutes at subsequent meetings and signing the minutes once approved,
   5. directing members of the committee or subcommittee who have made a conflict of interest declaration to leave the meeting when the issue in question is being discussed, and
   6. providing reports for inclusion in the annual report and for presentation to the annual meeting of members.

In the absence of the chair, the vice-chair shall temporarily act as and have all the powers and duties of the chair.

Interested in a role on one of our committees? Learn more.

Applications for governance positions are accepted year-round and will be held for review until the annual selection process, which occurs at the end of each calendar year.