Ethics and professional conduct
Crossings versus violations, gifts, dual relationships, social media, colleague conduct, and the sexual-abuse and mandatory-reporting rules that apply in Canada
Physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists and opticians, chiropractors and other regulated health professionals in every Canadian province and territory, including those responding to a college complaint, an ICRC or committee decision, an undertaking or a remediation program.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a college inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
Professional boundaries protect patients, colleagues and the trust the public places in regulated professionals. This course explains what boundaries are, the principles behind them, and why the duty to maintain them rests with the professional because of the power imbalance in care. It sets out the Canadian regulatory context, including the strict, often statutory, rules on sexual abuse and mandatory reporting.
It covers boundaries with patients (power, over-familiarity, gifts, dual relationships and digital contact) and with colleagues (respect, favouritism, conflicts of interest, bullying and harassment, multidisciplinary teams). It then turns to early warning signs, common situations that test boundaries such as stress and burnout, organizational safeguards, and the consequences of violations for patients, teams, the public and the professional.
Six case studies, including the grateful patient, a social media request, dual relationships, workplace favouritism, bullying and over-identification with a patient, bring the material together. The final section covers reflection using Gibbs' Reflective Cycle, insight and remediation, making the course especially useful for anyone responding to a boundary-related complaint or college review.
10 sections · 45 lessons · 2 hours (estimated) · 10-question final assessment
Final assessment
10scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Yes. It explains the zero-tolerance model set by Ontario's Regulated Health Professions Act and comparable regimes such as Alberta's (introduced through Bill 21): mandatory penalties including revocation for defined acts, public posting of findings, and the duty to report, in writing within 30 days in Ontario, when you have reasonable grounds to believe another regulated professional has sexually abused a patient.
It is written for professionals responding to a complaint, an ICRC decision or a remediation program as well as for prevention. Whether it meets a specific order or SCERP is for your college to decide, so confirm with your college before you enrol.
Yes. Section 4 covers respect and courtesy, favouritism and bias, conflicts of interest in supervisory relationships, bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, and boundaries in multidisciplinary teams, with two case studies on workplace favouritism and bullying.
A crossing is a minor, often well-meant departure from the usual professional relationship that may be harmless; a violation exploits the relationship and harms the patient. The course teaches early warning signs so drifts can be caught before they become violations.
Yes. Gifts, over-familiarity, dual relationships, friend requests, private messaging and online content are covered, with case studies on a grateful patient's gift and a social media request.
Section 6 explains the regulatory path (complaint, investigation, screening committee such as the ICRC, then dispositions from caution to referral to discipline), possible civil and criminal consequences, and the personal impact. Section 9 covers reflection with Gibbs' cycle, insight and remediation.
There are knowledge checks throughout and a final assessment of 10 multiple-choice questions with an 80% pass mark, followed by a reflective account and a certificate of completion. It takes about 2 hours online and costs CA$95.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: provincial and territorial health professions statutes, the regulatory colleges' standards and codes, and federal and provincial privacy law. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
Using social media within professional standards in Canada: patient confidentiality, online boundaries, endorsements and advertising rules, misinformation and handling online mistakes.
Valid consent, substitute decision-makers, adolescent consent, chaperones for intimate examinations and patient privacy, grounded in provincial law and college policy.
Professionalism and ethics for allied health and care professionals: core attributes, teamwork, digital conduct, candour and college processes.
