All Members of the CRTO are issued a “certificate of registration” in either the General, Graduate, Limited (Practical) or Inactive class. All CRTO Members are “Respiratory Therapists” regardless of the class of certificate of registration they hold.

A General Certificate of Registration is issued to an individual who has met all academic requirements and has successfully completed the approved registration examination, or met the registration requirements under the Labour Mobility Act. If a Member holds a General Certificate of Registration, he/she must use the designation RRT and may use “Registered Respiratory Therapist” or “Respiratory Therapist” as his/her professional title.

A Graduate Certificate of Registration is issued to an individual who has met all academic requirements but has not yet successfully completed the approved registration examination. If a Member holds a Graduate Certificate of Registration, he/she must use the designation GRT and may use “Graduate Respiratory Therapist” as his/her professional title. This is a temporary class of registration. A Graduate Certificate of Registration is automatically revoked after 18 months.

The following conditions apply to a Graduate Certificate of Registration:

• The (Graduate) Member shall, at the first reasonable opportunity, advise every employer of any terms, conditions and limitations that apply to the Member’s graduate certificate of registration if their employment is in the field of Respiratory Therapy;
  • only perform a controlled act that is authorized to the profession if it is performed under the general supervision of a member of a CRTO within the meaning of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 who, the Member holding the graduate certificate has reasonable grounds to believe, is authorized to perform the controlled act and is competent to do so and who is available to be personally present at the site where the authorized act is performed on ten minutes notice;
  • not delegate a controlled act;
  • not perform added or advanced prescribed procedures below the dermis; and
• a Graduate Certificate is deemed to have been revoked 18 months after its initial date of issue.

Limited Certificates of Registration were issued to individuals who had not met all requirements for a General Certificate of Registration but provided sufficient evidence to a Panel of the Registration Committee of their competence to practice in a defined area of the scope of practice of the profession. (The CRTO stopped issuing Limited Certificates of Registration on February 25, 1999). If a Member holds a Limited Certificate of Registration, he/she must use the designation PRT and may use “Practical Respiratory Therapist” as his/her professional title.

A Member registered with a General or Limited Certificate of Registration may apply for an Inactive Certificate of Registration provided he/she is not practising the profession in the broadest sense of that phrase. The purpose of the Inactive Certificate is to allow Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRTs) and Practical Respiratory Therapists (PRTs), who are not currently practicing in Ontario, to maintain their CRTO membership. For example, RRTs on parental, sick or educational leave or those practicing outside Ontario often choose to apply for the Inactive Certificate. The Inactive Certificate of Registration does not apply to Graduate Members of the CRTO.

The following conditions apply to an Inactive Certificate of Registration:
The (Inactive) Member shall not, 
         (a)  engage in providing direct patient care;
         (b)  use his or her professional title or designation;
         (c)   supervise the practice of the profession; or
         (d)   make any claim or representation to having any competence in the profession