Mandatory Reporting

Mandatory reporting refers to the obligation under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) and the Health Professions Procedural Code for Massage Therapists, employers and facility operators to file written reports to the College in a number of circumstances. It is one of the ways the College fulfills its role to protect the public’s interest and to maintain the public’s trust in the Massage Therapy profession.

Mandatory reporting is considered an essential professional obligation because it is the best means of ensuring that instances of professional misconduct, incompetence, professional negligence, sexual abuse or concerns regarding incapacity are brought to the attention of the College. It is the responsibility of the College to review or investigate any report in the context of its self-regulatory role to protect the public from harm.

As regulated health professionals, RMTs also have mandatory duties to report information to named officials or agencies under other pieces of provincial legislation.

Mandatory reports can be submitted online using the Mandatory Report Form at the top of this page. Mandatory self-reports, which must be submitted as soon as practicable, should be submitted to professionalconduct@cmto.com. Mandatory self-reporting is also required at the time of renewal.

Circumstances requiring mandatory reporting by RMTs include:

Mandatory Reporting by Registrants

Circumstances requiring mandatory reporting by RMTs include:

Self reporting:

You must file a written report as soon as reasonably possible if any of the following conditions apply to you:

You have been charged with an offence (this includes municipal by-law infractions and offences under the Highway Traffic Act such as speeding tickets). Your report should include information about every bail condition or other restriction imposed on, or agreed to by, you in connection with the charge;
You have been found guilty of an offence (made by a court or in a civil proceeding or lawsuit);
There is a change in the status of a finding of guilt as the result of an appeal;
You have a finding of professional negligence or malpractice made against you;
You have a finding a professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity made against you by a body that governs a profession inside or outside Ontario.

Reporting of others:

- Suspected Sexual Abuse – A written report must be filed within thirty (30) days if you have reasonable grounds, obtained in the course of your practice, to believe that a patient has been sexually abused by any registrant of the College or by any registrant of another health regulatory college.
- Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect – The Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) requires registrants of the College (as professionals performing professional or official duties with respect to children) to report on suspected cases of abuse or neglect.
- Suspected Elder Abuse – Under the Nursing Homes Act, if you suspect that a resident has suffered or may suffer harm as a result of unlawful conduct, improper or incompetent treatment of care of neglect, you must report the suspicion to the Director of Nursing Homes.
- Privacy Breach – Under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), if you are a health information custodian (HIC), you must file a report to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario when a privacy breach occurs.

Further details about each of these reporting requirements, including preparing the report and information about the review and investigation process, are found in the accompanying Mandatory Reporting Guidelines document.

Mandatory Reporting by Employers and Facilities

The Health Professions Procedural Code requires the employers/facility operators of regulated health practitioners, such as Massage Therapists, to submit a report within thirty (30) days to the practitioner’s College whenever they:

- Terminate the employment of a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
- Revoke, suspend or impose restrictions on the privileges of a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
- Dissolve a partnership, a health profession corporation or association with a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
- Have reasonable grounds to believe that a health professional who practises at the facility is incompetent, incapacitated or has sexually abused a patient.

The employer/facility operator also has an obligation to file a report if the practitioner resigns or voluntarily restricts their practice to avoid the actions defined above.

Reporting of sexual abuse, professional misconduct, incompetence and incapacity can be complex and sensitive.

Facility owners and employers are encouraged to develop policies that help guide individual RMTs in how they are to handle these situations. In particular, the College suggests that policies be put in place defining who is responsible within the organization for preparing the report for filing with the College Registrar.