Frequently Asked Questions

The Tribunal is like a court. It holds hearings and makes decisions about whether a physician committed an act of professional misconduct or is incompetent. It also decides applications from physicians who want their certificate of registration reinstated.

Yes. On September 1, 2021, the Discipline Committee’s name changed to the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal.

The CPSO investigates complaints received from the public. The College’s Registrar may also ask that a physician be investigated. The results of either investigation may be considered by CPSO’s Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC). The ICRC decides whether to refer any allegations to the Tribunal for a hearing.

The Notice of Hearing is issued by CPSO and contains the College’s allegations against the physician.

Yes. The Notice of Hearing and a summary of the allegations are posted to the physician’s profile on CPSO’s Public Register.

Our Upcoming Hearings page also provides this information for hearings that will happen in the next 60 days. 

A physician whose certificate of registration was revoked or suspended by the Tribunal may apply to have it reinstated so they can return to the practice of medicine.

The Tribunal usually hears cases in panels of five. It is made up of both physician and public members. Each panel is selected by the Chair and must include at least two public members and at least one physician member who are part of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

The Tribunal’s Adjudicators webpage lists current Tribunal members.

An electronic hearing can be held by telephone or videoconference. Members of the public can obtain a link to watch videoconference hearings by emailing tribunal@opsdt.ca. 

An in-person hearing occurs when the parties, lawyers and panel are all physically present in the same place.

A physician who chooses to represent themselves at the Tribunal is a self-represented party.

There are three hearing types: merit, penalty and motion. The Tribunal also holds hearings on applications for reinstatement. Please see the Guide to the Tribunal Process for more detailed descriptions.

At a merits hearing, a Tribunal panel will hear evidence and submissions from the parties and decide whether CPSO has proven the allegations of professional misconduct and/or incompetence against the physician. For a more detailed description of the merits hearing, please see the Guide to the Tribunal Process. 

In a contested hearing, the physician denies the CPSO’s allegations.

In an uncontested hearing, the physician agrees with the facts CPSO says support the allegations and admits they amount to misconduct or incompetence. A physician may also plead “no contest” to the allegations. That means the physician doesn’t admit or deny the facts but isn’t “contesting” the finding of misconduct or incompetence.

In a partially contested hearing, CPSO and the physician agree on some issues, but not all. Usually, in a partially contested hearing, the physician admits, or does not contest, misconduct, but the parties do not agree on the penalty.

Yes. Contact the Tribunal Office by emailing tribunal@opsdt.ca or call (416) 968-5173. 

When a party wants a decision from the Tribunal about an issue affecting the hearing, it must make a motion. See the Guide to the Tribunal Process for more information about motions.

The Tribunal can:

• revoke the physician’s certificate of registration, which means they can no longer work as a physician
• suspend the physician’s certificate of registration, which means they cannot work as a physician for a set time.
• impose terms, conditions and limitations on the physician’s certificate of registration, such as limitations on the physician’s practice, required training or monitoring.
• reprimand the physician.
• require the physician pay a fine of up to $35,000 to the Minister of Finance.
• if the act of professional misconduct was the sexual abuse of a patient, require the member to reimburse the College for funding provided to that patient for therapy and counselling.

Yes. Where the Tribunal finds certain types of sexual abuse of a patient occurred it must immediately suspend the physician’s certificate of registration. ICRC manages issues of interim suspension in other circumstances.

Section 51(5) of the Health Professions Procedural Code specifies acts of sexual abuse which, if proven, will result in revocation of the physician’s certificate of registration. 

This means the parties agree on the penalty and costs. They present their proposed joint submission on penalty to the Tribunal at the penalty hearing.

Yes. The Tribunal can order the physician to pay costs of the hearing and investigation to CPSO. The Tribunal may also order the College to pay costs to a physician if it decides the commencement of proceedings was unwarranted.

In a reprimand, the panel speaks directly to the physician about their wrongdoing.

Yes. All hearings are open to the public. See our Upcoming Hearings page for a list of hearings scheduled within the next 60 days. All hearings are currently held by videoconference and streamed on YouTube. To get the unlisted YouTube link for a hearing, email tribunal@opsdt.ca.

The panel chair will ask you to promise to tell the truth. The party who asked you to come to the hearing will question you, followed by the lawyer for the other side. See the Guide to the Tribunal Process for more information.

When the hearing is uncontested, the Tribunal usually announces its decision at the hearing and gives its reasons in writing later. When the hearing is contested, it will likely reserve its decision until a later date.

The Tribunal’s goal is to release written reasons — and its decision, if not given at the hearing — within 12 weeks of the last hearing day or last written submission.

Recent Tribunal decisions and reasons are posted on the Tribunal’s Outcomes page. CPSO also posts decisions and reasons to the physician’s profile on its Public Register.

Tribunal reasons and decisions, including decisions of the Tribunal’s predecessor, the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, are freely accessible and searchable on the Canadian Legal Information Institute’s (CanLII) website.

Yes. The notice of hearing is posted to the physician’s profile on the CPSO’s Public Register.

You may access other documents in the Tribunal’s public record of the proceeding by submitting a request here: Request for access to documents filed in a Tribunal case after December 31, 2022. The public record contains the notice of hearing or notice of application, statements of particulars, agreed statements of fact, notices of motion, motion records, notices of application, application records, books of authorities, factums and written submissions, exhibits, case management directions, orders and reasons, and any other documents the Tribunal orders part of the public record.

If the documents you want were filed with the Tribunal before January 1, 2023, you must make a motion to the Tribunal to request them. See the Guide to the Tribunal Process for more information.

You can also purchase transcripts of a hearing. Please contact tribunal@opsdt.ca. We will tell you which court reporting company recorded the hearing.

Before providing the transcript to anyone other than the parties, the Tribunal will review the transcript to remove information covered by a publication ban or that would disclose patient health records or personal health information.

Effective: January 1, 2023

In a merits hearing, CPSO has the burden of proof and must prove the allegations of misconduct or incompetence.

In a reinstatement application, the former member has the burden of proof and must prove their reinstatement is suitable.

The standard of proof in all Tribunal hearings is proof on a balance of probabilities, which is different from the criminal standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, this means CPSO must show it is more likely than not that the alleged misconduct happened.