The criteria for obtaining an injunction provision against unregistered persons vary between jurisdictions and even in legislation within a single jurisdiction. This variation was made evident in Collège des Médecins du Québec c. CEO (Études en ostéopathie) inc., 2020 QCCS 3603 (CanLII), http://canlii.ca/t/jbhfz. The medical regulator had obtained offence findings against persons associated with an osteopathy school for performing activities reserved to physicians. The school continued to operate and its patient clinic remained open.
The medical regulator wanted to obtain an injunction to prohibit those individuals from performing the reserved acts going forwards. However, the statutory provision required the consent of the Attorney General, which had not been obtained, and repeated offence findings. Here there was only one offence finding. The medical regulator initiated an injunction proceeding based on case law, rather than legislation. The Court held that the case law route required proof of an intention to continue to perform the reserved acts. Since practising osteopathy itself (without performing a reserved act) was legal, the Court found that continuing to operate the school and the patient clinic did not, in itself, establish an intent to perform reserved acts. The Court declined to issue the injunction.