#CanadaDeservesPAs
Protect Team-Based Care in Ontario
Tell decision-makers that the CPSO’s updated Delegation of Controlled Acts policy is disrupting patient access.
The CPSO’s updated Professional Obligations: Delegation of Controlled Acts policy requires physicians to clinically assess every new patient before, or within two business days of, a Physician Assistant initiating a delegated controlled act. This non-risk-based requirement is already creating duplicate visits, delaying care, and limiting the ability of PAs to support team-based practice in community and specialty settings.
Help us urge the CPSO, your MPP, and the OMA to adopt a practical, risk-based approach that protects patients without restricting access.
Duplicate Visits, Delayed Care
The new policy often forces patients to return for a second visit solely to satisfy a regulatory requirement, even when their care has already been appropriately delivered and reviewed.
A Double Standard for PAs
The CPSO exempts hospitals, emergency departments, remote communities, and Canadian Armed Forces settings. There is no clinical justification for applying stricter rules to PAs in community family practice and specialty clinics.
A Setback for Team-Based Care
PAs have been regulated CPSO registrants since April 1, 2025. Instead of building on existing safeguards, this policy adds mandatory reassessment disconnected from clinical risk, reducing clinic capacity and limiting access.
What we’re asking decision-makers to support
The Canadian Association of Physician Assistants (CAPA) is urging the following:
- Extending the exemption currently applied to hospitals, emergency departments, remote communities, and the Canadian Armed Forces to all Ontario PAs.
- Adding Physician Assistants to the exemption framework under Section 6(a).
- Developing a PA-specific delegation framework that reflects the training, regulatory status, and collaborative role of PAs.
A risk-stratified approach, rather than a universal timeline requirement, would better balance patient safety with access to care and system efficiency.
Send your letters in under two minutes.
Use this tool to send pre-written, customizable letters directly to the CPSO, your local MPP, and to the OMA if you’re a Physician.
Each letter explains the impact of the policy on patients and care teams and asks for a collaborative, risk-based solution.
Your voice helps ensure Ontario’s regulatory approach supports, rather than hinders, timely, team-based care.
Please note, some representatives or ridings may not appear due to recent elections or changes to electoral boundaries. Please check back later or email advocacy@canadadeservespas.ca.