When a complaint
is made

The Professional Conduct Committee is responsible to review all complaints made to the College; part of their responsibility is to determine whether to investigate the complaint. They will consider whether the complaint falls within the jurisdiction of the College and within the definitions of professional misconduct or professional incompetence. They will also consider whether the issue is frivolous or is without any basis. In those cases, the Committee may decide not to investigate further.

The College will write to the person making the complaint (the complainant) noting that the complaint has been received and whether it will be investigated.

The specific complaint(s) will be provided to the member against whom a complaint has been filed (the respondent) and a response will be requested. At the discretion of the Professional Conduct Committee, the member may be given a copy of the written complaint. 

The complainant and any other witnesses to the incident may be interviewed by a member of the Committee or an outside investigator. Other relevant information will be reviewed as well. A written investigation report will be provided to the Professional Conduct Committee. All reports are confidential and will only be shared with the complainant, the respondent, and the two Committees if a decision is made to refer the matter to a Discipline Committee.

The Committee will review the investigation report and will decide to do one of the following:

• Dismiss the matter as the investigation shows there was no basis for the complaint;
• Propose that a consensual process be followed to resolve the complaint; or
• Refer the complaint to the Discipline Committee for a hearing.

They may also ask for more information to be gathered by the investigator.

Once they have decided on a course of action, the Professional Conduct Committee files a written report with the Discipline Committee and provides a copy to the complainant and the respondent. If the complaint is dismissed or resolved through a consensual process, the report is also provided to Council. The report itself is not made public but a summary which does not identify the parties may be posted on the website. If the complaint is referred to the Discipline Committee for a hearing, the report only specifies the charges and the steps the Professional Conduct Committee took to investigate the complaint. A Notice of Hearing would be issued which makes this information public, including posting on the College website.