Notice to all CRTO Members
After a careful review of the CRTO’s finances and cost projections, Council has made the decision to increase the membership fees beginning with the 2024/25 registration renewal. Therefore, the CRTO’s annual Registration Fee for General Class, Graduate Class and Limited Class will increase by $50 to $700. All other fees (e.g., Inactive Class, Late Fees, etc.) will remain the same.
Like many businesses and organizations, CRTO’s operating costs continue to rise, often at an annual rate equal to or exceeding the cost of inflation. To address this, the CRTO By-Laws were updated in 2020 to enable the CRTO to incrementally increase fees annually based on the average Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, in recognition of the challenges that Respiratory Therapists (RTs) faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRTO Council made the decision not to increase fees in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Had we done so, the registration fee would already be over $700.
The current fee increase is necessary to ensure the CRTO can remain financially sustainable and continue to fulfill its mandate of regulating the profession in the public interest.
In recent years, the cost of regulating the RT profession has risen substantially due to such things as:
- An increased need for more advanced technology to manage sensitive membership data and mitigate the threat of a cybersecurity attack;
- A doubling of the number of complaints and reports about RTs being received from members of the public, employers, etc. (between 2018 and 2023), along with;
- a significant increase in the fees charged by external parties such as investigation firms and decision writers; and
- a growing number of more complex matters involving RTs’ clinical competency and fitness to practice.
- Several new requirements for health regulatory Colleges imposed by the Ontario Ministry of Health have necessitated increased expenditures to meet our legislative requirements.
The CRTO is committed to mitigating the need for fee increases and has already done the following:
- Actively exploring options to reduce occupancy costs of our office space, with the hopes to lower these costs by 50% or greater by the start of 2025.
- Transitioned to a virtual format for almost all Committees and Council meetings, substantially decreasing travel expenses, etc.
- For less complex professional conduct cases, we have begun conducting investigations and drafting decisions “in-house” wherever possible.
While we appreciate that a fee increase is never good news, the CRTO Council aims to be as transparent as possible regarding its decision’s rationale. More information and opportunities to provide feedback will be provided in the coming months. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Registrar.
Registration Fees FAQs
Why doesn’t the College move its office to a less expensive location?
We plan to! Our lease at 180 Dundas Street expires at the end of 2024, and at that time, we plan to move out and begin sharing office space with one or two other health regulatory bodies. This will substantially reduce our occupancy costs.
Why do we pay higher fees than nurses?
We would never be able to match the membership fees charged by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). Our College is legislatively required to perform all the same tasks as the CNO, and yet their costs can be spread over almost 200,000 nurses – whereas ours must be accomplished with less than 4,000 members.
Why do we pay higher fees than other professions that earn about the same amount of money?
The CRTO membership fees are actually lower than those of a number of professions with comparable annual earnings.
| Regulated Profession | Average Annual Salary (FT)* | 2023 Membership Fees |
| Chiropodists (hospital-based) | $55,000 | $1,950 |
| Dental Technologists | $98,000 | $1,949 |
| Denturist | $75,000 | $1,921 |
| Homeopaths | $57,000 | $1,335 |
| Massage Therapists | $87,000 | $897 |
| Naturopath | $78,000 | $1,904 |
| Occupational Therapists | $86,000 | $743 |
| Opticians | $58,000 | $944 |
| Respiratory Therapists | $85,000 | $650 |
Why are the CRTO operating costs increasing?
Our most significant expense increase is due to the doubling in the past five years of complaints and reports we receive about RTs’ conduct, competency, and fitness to practice. These matters are very costly to investigate and remediate.
Approximately 18% of an RT’s membership fee is allocated to professional conduct processes, including investigating complaints and reports, having the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) review and decide on the investigation, communicating the decision to the RT and complainant (when applicable), attending for appeals proceedings initiated by either the complainant and/or the RT, and monitoring the RT to ensure that they have completed remedial activities ordered by the ICRC.
There are three pressure points that have caused the increase in expenses in the professional conduct department:
- A doubling of complaints and reports submitted to the CRTO in the last five years. The Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, requires that all matters before the ICRC be addressed in an expeditious manner and that all complaints be resolved within 150 days of submission. This often requires the CRTO to conduct multiple investigations simultaneously, increasing our need for investigator services.
- (Often repeated) cases related to RTs’ behaviour, such as professional boundary violations and unprofessional behaviour with patients/clients. These types of concerns make up roughly 40-45% of all matters investigated by the CRTO. We have had several RTs before the ICRC three times in a span of a few years for repeating the same types of improper professional behaviour in the workplace. This, in turn, results in tripling the cost to address the same concern about the same RT.
- RTs non-compliance – for example, RT’s failure to complete the Quality Assurance Program requirements, abide by orders of the ICRC, or to complete remedial items they had agreed to do. These situations result in the CRTO having to conduct multiple follow-ups and monitoring activities and dedicate additional resources to address the issue.
Interested in getting more involved with the CRTO?
CRTO is often looking for assistance from members of the profession. From time to time, we need RTs to sit on specialized working groups (e.g., IPAC, AA, etc.) or to serve as PORTfolio Reviewers or Assessors. Although these are considered “volunteer” positions, RTs who fill these roles are financially compensated for their time. If you are interested in putting your name forward, please fill out our online form.
Why were the Members not consulted prior to this current fee increase being approved?
The CRTO Council is responsible for setting the fee schedule for the CRTO. CRTO By-Law 3 (article 4.20) allows for incremental fee increases yearly based on the average Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, given the challenges RTs faced during the pandemic, the CRTO Council decided to waive any increases to membership fees for the past three years. Had the CRTO increased the membership fees based on the yearly CPI, the membership fees would have been over $700 by the start of 2023.
The majority of Council members are RTs, and these individuals are elected to their positions by the RTs who work or live in their respective districts. The role of Council is to ensure that CRTO programs/services meet its mandate of regulating the profession in the public interest and to ensure CRTO’s future operational and financial sustainability. Council members carefully consider the impacts of decisions on all CRTO stakeholders, including the membership. Participating in the election process (either by putting your name forward or voting) ensures that your voice is heard. In our most recent election (for districts 3, 4 & 6), less than 8% of the RTs eligible to vote in those districts took advantage of the opportunity to have their say.
Please keep in mind that positions on our Council and Committees will be available in 2024 in Districts 1, 2, 5 & 7.