We are deeply saddened and concerned about the anti-Black racism and violent events occurring around the world. We acknowledge the existence of discrimination and systemic racism in our communities and throughout the province and know that we must all work together to do better.
In January of this year, Council updated the College values to reflect our commitment to treating everyone with dignity and respect and supporting equity, diversity and inclusion. We felt it essential that we make clear that any form of discrimination will not be tolerated by the College.
As a College, as a profession, as individuals and as society we must all continue to learn how we can better understand and address systemic - and any other form of - racism. We have work to do.
The College regulates occupational therapists in the interest of public protection. Client-centred care, ethics and professionalism are essential elements of practice. These expectations are reflected in our Code of Ethics. We are committed to ensuring services delivered to the public and occupational therapists are free of discrimination and uphold the values of the College and the profession. If there are concerns or behaviours that are discriminatory or racist, we will investigate and address.
As we move forward, we will be reviewing our own activities and functions to learn how we can improve. We are currently developing additional resources to ensure our anti-racism beliefs and policies are clearly reflected internally and externally.
If you have comments or questions, I encourage you to contact me directly at
[email protected] or 1-800-890-6570 x233 or anonymously at
[email protected]. We will continue to listen and learn and together we will move forward to create real change.
Sincerely,
Elinor Larney, MHSc., OT Reg. (Ont.)
Registrar