Grey Areas

SML’s Grey Areas newsletter has been in publication since July 1992 and discusses the latest developments in professional regulation. New issues are published monthly – subscribe below to learn more about recent studies, case law and legislative updates in the regulatory world. Explore our catalogue below.

Issues published before 2020 can be found on CanLII.

January 2022, Issue No. 262– Adverse Impact

While the term “adverse impact” has a well-known meaning amongst human rights lawyers, it is still not widely recognized in the regulatory world. That may be about to change.

November/ December 2021, Issue No. 261– The Report Card is Out– Part 2 Notable Practices

As reported in the last issue of Grey Areas, earlier this year the Ontario health regulators filed and published detailed reports on their own performance. The reports were based on the College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF) issued by the Ministry of Health in 2020. The Ministry promised to issue a summary of the trends and observations it made in reviewing

October 2021, Issue No. 260- The Report Card is Out

Earlier this year the Ontario health regulators filed and published detailed reports on their own performance. The reports were based on the College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF) issued by the Ministry of Health in 2020. The Ministry promised to issue a summary of the trends and observations it made in reviewing the reports. That “report card” was released in the

September 2021, Issue No. 259- Complaints Screening Criteria

What criteria should be used to screen complaints for a possible referral to discipline? Decades ago most screening bodies simply referred a complaint where there was a prima facie case. Restated, the test was whether, if the evidence were believed, a finding could be made.

Summer 2021, Issue No. 258- Fixing Good Character Registration Requirements

As a general rule, regulators cannot discipline practitioners for conduct that occurred before they became registered: Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario v. Leung, 2018 ONSC 4527 (CanLII), https://canlii.ca/t/htl3k. One exception is where the applicant provided false information on their application for registration about their pre-registration conduct. However, the questions posed on the application form must then be clear and

June 2021, Issue No. 257- Responding to the Pandemic: Reflections by Regulators

While the pandemic is not yet over, reflections on how regulators have responded to, and can learn from, their pandemic experience is already happening. Last month the UK oversight body, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) released its preliminary report entitled: LEARNING FROM COVID-19: A case-study review of the initial crisis response of 10 UK health and social care professional regulators