application of bill 21 kanawake - july 2012

Application of Bill 21 (An Act to amend the Professional Code and other legislative provisions in the field of mental health and human relations)

Richard Silver, S.W., lawyerLegal Counsel

Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et des thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec

July 2012

www.otstcfq.orgwww.otstcfq.org

Bill 21 (assented to 19 June 2009)

• New definition of professional activities for psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, vocational guidance counsellors and psychoeducators;

• Reserves activities where there is a risk of prejudice in the field of mental health and human relations to certain professional orders;

• Provides a framework for the practice of psychotherapy (in force since 21 June 2012).


There is a risk of prejudice when activities:

• Have an irreparable character;• Are complex;• Are highly technical;• Can sometimes be counter-indicated;• Can cause complications;• Can cause or accentuate infringement of physical or

personal integrity• Have the potential for physical, emotional or sexual

abuse;• Can entail loss of a right;


Activities reserved to social workers

Assess a person suffering from a mental or neuropsychological disorder attested by the diagnosis or evaluation of an authorized professional;

Assess a person further to a decision of the director of youth protection or of a tribunal made under the Youth Protection Act;

Assess an adolescent further to a decision of a tribunal made under theYouth Criminal Justice Act;

Assess a person with regard to child custody and access rights;

Assess a person who wishes to adopt a child;


Activities reserved to social workers

Undertake the psychosocial assessment of a person with regard to the protective supervision of a person of full age or with regard to a mandate given in anticipation of the mandator’s incapacity (reserved exclusively to social workers);

Determine the intervention plan for a person who suffers from a mental disorder or exhibits suicidal tendencies and who resides in a facility run by an institution operating a rehabilitation centre for young persons with adjustment problems;

Assess a child not yet admissible to preschool education who shows signs of developmental delay, in order to determine the adjustment and rehabilitation services required;

Make decisions as to the use of restraint and isolation measures in accordance with the Act respecting health services and social services and the Act respecting health services and social services for Cree Native persons.


Activities reserved to marriage and family therapists

• Assess a person suffering from a mental or neuropsychological disorder attested by the diagnosis or evaluation of an authorized professional;

• Assess a person with regard to child custody and access rights;

• Assess a person who wishes to adopt a child;


Explanatory Guide (May 2012)

Published by Office des professions in collaboration with professional orders and after consultation with other stakeholders;

Aims to establish a a common understanding and interpretation of the law;

Subject to revision.


Impact of introduction of reserved professional activities

• Persons who exercise one or more reserved activities and who are eligible for membership of the Order must apply for membership before the coming into force of legislative provisions.


Acquired Rights (s. 18)

Anyone who, at the date of coming into force of a provision of section 5 of this Act, fails to fulfil the conditions for obtaining the permit of an order referred to in the provision for the activities reserved for its members and who was exercising the professional activity referred to in the provision at the date of its coming into force may continue to exercise the activity as long as the order concerned is informed in the manner determined by its board of directors.

The board of directors of an order referred to in the first paragraph may determine by regulation the terms and conditions on which such a person may exercise the activity; the regulation may also determine which of the regulatory standards applicable to the members of the order apply to that person.


Who benefits from acquired rights?

• Persons not eligible for membership in the Order;

• Persons exercising the activity at the date the relevant sections come into force;

• Persons who could have exercised the activity but were on leave in accordance with terms of employment (e.g. parental leave, illness or unpaid leave).


Acquired Rights: Procedures

• Employer submits electronically list of eligible persons to Order within 30 days of the coming into force of relevant sections of Bill 21 on form provided by Order;

• Order contacts employees to inform them of conditions and sends notice or payment ($125 for first year);

• Employees pay registration fee;

• Attestation issued by Order;

• Order creates official register of persons with acquired rights with activities they practice. Accessible on Web site of Order;

• Registration updated annually;


Acquired Rights: Procedures

Information to submit to Order:

• Name, address, telephone and e-mail;• Date of birth and sex;• Address of employer;• Job title;• Date of hiring and entry in function;• Reserved activities exercised at date of entry into force

of relevant provisions of Bill 21.


Acquired rights: Conditions

• At least 6 hours of training for each professional activity engaged in per 2-year reference period;

• Person chooses among activities established by Order;

• First reference period starts 1 April 2013.

Source: Regulation respecting the training conditions of persons other than social workers to engage in professional activities that may be engaged in by social workers


Social Work Technicians

Social work technicians may assess, within the scope of the activities of social workers, a person further to a decision of the director of youth protection to receive reports regarding children, analyze them briefly and decide whether they must be evaluated further pursuant to the Youth Protection Act.

Source: Regulation respecting certain professional activities that may be engaged in by social work technicians


French language requirements(Charter of the French language)

35. The professional orders shall not issue permits except to persons whose knowledge of the official language is appropriate to the practice of their profession.

A person is deemed to have the appropriate knowledge if

(1) he has received, full time, no less than three years of secondary or post-secondary instruction provided in French;

(2) he has passed the fourth or fifth year secondary level examinations in French as the first language;

(3) from and after the school year 1985-86, he obtains a secondary school certificate in Québec.

In all other cases, a person must obtain a certificate issued by the Office québécois de la langue française or hold a certificate defined as equivalent by regulation of the Government.


Regulation to authorize professional orders to make an exception to the application of section 35 of the Charter

of the French language•

1. An order is authorized to make an exception to the application of s. 35 of the Charter in respect of a person who resides or has resided on a reserve, in a settlement in which a native community lives or on Category I and Category I-N lands within the meaning of the Act respecting the land regime in the James Bay and New Québec territories provided that

(1) the person declares under oath to the board of directors of the order that he resides or has resided on a reserve, in a settlement in which a native community lives or on Category I and Category I-N lands; and

(2) the person, despite the fact that he does not have knowledge of the French language appropriate to the practice of his profession, fulfils all the other terms and conditions for the issue of a permit provided for in the Professional Code and, where applicable, in the Act constituting the order.


Regulation to authorize professional orders to make an exception to the application of section 35 of the Charter

of the French language

2. Where a person fulfils the conditions provided for in section 1, the board of directors of the professional order shall issue a permit to that person authorizing him to practise the profession or to use the title, as the case may be, only on a reserve, in a settlement in which a native community lives or on Category I and Category I-N lands.


French language requirements

Person with a social work degree from a Québec university who does not have knowledge of French appropriate to the practice of the profession

Person applies for membership of the Order and registers for the French exam of OQLF;

Person also registers on register of persons with acquired rights;

Notice of success or failure from OQLF constitues proof as to whether person meets or does not meet admission requirements of Order;

Order delivers social worker permit to successful candidate;

In case of failure, person can only exercise activity granted by acquired rights.


French language requirements

Person with a social work degree from a university outside Québec who does not have knowledge of French appropriate to the practice of the profession

37. The professional orders may issue temporary permits valid for not more than one year to persons from outside Québec who are declared qualified to practise their profession but whose knowledge of the official language does not meet the requirements of section 35.

38. The permits envisaged in section 37 may be renewed, only three times, with the authorization of the Office québécois de la langue française and if the public interest warrants it. For each renewal, the persons concerned must sit for examinations held according to the regulations of the Government.

Charter of the French language


Social Work Students

Social work students registered in university programmes may exercise reserved activities required for completion of the programme under the supervision of a social worker who is a member of the Order

Source: Regulation respecting certain professional activities that may be engaged in by persons other than social workers


Question periodQuestion period


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Direction des communications, OTSTCFQJuillet 2012

application of bill 21 kanawake - july 2012

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