The Registrar is on site in Wellington, New Zealand, covering key highlights and insights from CLEAR’s 8th International Congress on Professional and Occupational Regulation.
When a regulatory reform is big enough to reshape an entire profession, understanding how people experience that change becomes just as important as the change itself. That was the central message delivered at CLEAR’s International Congress by Doha Melhem, VP Consulting/Chief Evaluator at Pivotal Research Inc., Jan Robinson, Registrar and CEO of the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO), and Shilo Tooze, CVO’s Deputy Registrar.
Ontario is in the midst of modernizing its Veterinarians Act. This legislative shift will formally bring Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVTs) under regulation and enable new, team-based care models.
As Robinson explained, the current Act dates back to 1989 and no longer reflects today’s practice realities. The updated framework removes exclusive scopes of practice, adopts a risk- and harm-focused model, and aims to create a more nimble, collaborative system that better leverages veterinary teams.
But legislative modernization raises a practical question. How ready are veterinary professionals to implement team-based care?
To answer this, CVO partnered with Pivotal Research to develop an evidence-driven engagement and benchmarking strategy. The strategy was designed not only to understand early reactions, but to track sentiment, readiness, and adoption over time.
Melhem walked attendees through the structured response-monitoring framework used to assess awareness, comprehension, attitudes, and confidence. Separate focus groups with veterinarians and RVTs allowed participants to speak openly about expectations, worries, and the realities of practice hierarchy. These insights shaped a province-wide survey that gathered nearly 1,200 responses, offering one of the most comprehensive snapshots to date of how professionals are interpreting the shift.
The findings reveal both momentum and meaningful gaps. Roughly one third of clinics already report using elements of team-based care, and many see clear benefits—improved patient outcomes, better access to care, and fuller use of RVT expertise. Yet confidence varies widely. Participants frequently noted that they understood change was coming, but not what it would look like in day-to-day practice. Clear guidance on delegation, liability, and day-to-day responsibilities emerged as top priorities, alongside joint training to strengthen collaboration between veterinarians and RVTs.
Tooze emphasized that this baseline creates a roadmap for CVO to monitor readiness through proclamation and beyond. With research, practitioner insight, and long-term evaluation shaping the work, the College is well positioned to support a smoother, more transparent transition grounded in day-to-day practice.
8th International Congress on Professional and Occupational Regulation
Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR)
Congress Presenters: Doha Melhem, MPP, VP Consulting/Chief Evaluator, Pivotal Research Inc., Jan Robinson, Registrar and CEO, College of Veterinarians of Ontario and Shilo Tooze, Deputy Registrar, College of Veterinarians of Ontario.
