Regulatory colleges are legal entities in Canada charged with serving the

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefor ...

by regulating the practice of a

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully '' professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted b ...

. They function as

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and t ...

s that are state-sanctioned to regulate the practice of their professions within Canada. Most regulatory colleges are established by an

acts of parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

instead of through

articles of association In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where it exists) form the company's constituti ...

, and usually do not require registration in order to acquire

juridical person A juridical person is a non-human legal person that is not a single natural person but an organization recognized by law as a fictitious person such as a corporation, government agency, NGO or International (inter-governmental) Organization (suc ...

ality. They are legislated as requirements to work in a given field. For example, no worker in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

may work in a skilled trade classified as a "compulsory trade" without membership in the

Ontario College of Trades The Ontario College of Trades was the regulatory body that governs skilled trades in Ontario. The College officially opened on April 8, 2013 and its activities are mandated by the ''Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009'' (OCTA ...

. The specific individual Regulatory Colleges are granted specific powers and responsibilities by

. They are charged with protecting the public by investigating incidents of misconduct by member, and expelling or charging members who engage in misconduct. Misconduct may involve willful malicious acts, but may also include not working to the standard of competence set by the college, or not following an established

code of ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...

, or infringing upon one of the bylaws maintained by the college. In addition to investigating misconduct, they have a duty to maintain a public register of members.

References

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