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Our Purpose

The Ontario Association of Osteopaths (OAO) is a non-profit corporation that promotes osteopathy in Ontario.

The OAO was originally called the Transitional Council of the College of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners of Ontario (TC-COMPO). The TC-COMPO was started in 1999 by a group of osteopaths and osteopathic students. Their goal was to have osteopathy become regulated under Ontario's Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991.

Today, the OAO promotes public awareness of osteopathy via:

  • Media: web, brochures, posters & print
  • Professional Settings: research groups, associations & seminars

Objectives

The objectives of the OAO as stated in the By-laws (pdf document) are:

  1. to promote the practice of osteopathic health care in the province of Ontario
  2. to set standards of practice for osteopathy in Ontario in order to protect the public
  3. to seek public support in Ontario for the enactment of legislation by the government dealing with the regulation of the practice of Osteopathy in Ontario under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991
  4. to make representations and submissions to the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council and the Government of Ontario for the enactment of such legislation
  5. to represent the members and to advocate the position of the members before administrative tribunals, health institutions, other professional organizations, the Ontario Ministry of Health, the provincial and federal governments and to the public
  6. to provide continuing educational programs in order to advance the knowledge of Osteopathy in Ontario to promote the common interest and activities of the members of the corporation
Man on beach.

Plans to Regulate Osteopathy in Ontario

Today, there are no government regulations for the manual practice of osteopathy in Ontario. The OAO is working on a submission to the Ontario government that asks the government to create regulations for osteopathy in Ontario.

Any future Ontario regulations will have to recognize the difference between 2 types of osteopathy practitioners.

Osteopathic physicians practise in Ontario, and they are recognized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. However, the training needed to become an osteopathic physician is not available in Canada - these practitioners get their training in the United States. They have a medical degree from a college approved by the American Osteopathic Association. They are licenced physicians who also have osteopathic manual training.