Ethics and Professionalism Courses for Health Professionals in Canada

A general ethics module can explain autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. What it cannot do is show a pharmacist how NAPRA's standards apply when a dispensing error has to be disclosed, show a dentist where treatment planning becomes overtreatment, or show a chiropractor what valid consent to spinal manipulation must cover. When a concern is raised, the question is whether you met your college's standard, in your profession's setting.

Canada adds a second layer: regulation is provincial. A physician in Ontario works under the Regulated Health Professions Act and CPSO policies, one in British Columbia under the Health Professions and Occupations Act and CPSBC standards, and one in Quebec under the Professional Code and the Collège des médecins' code of ethics. Our profession courses teach the national codes most colleges draw on and show where provincial rules differ, so you know what to check with your own college.

Each profession page sets out the two core courses, how they map to your college's codes and standards, how they can support your quality assurance or CPD program, and the supporting courses most relevant to your work.

• Doctors: CPSO, CPSBC, CPSA, Collège des médecins du Québec and the other medical regulatory authorities. CMA Code of Ethics and Professionalism, CanMEDS, consent and capacity, conflicts of interest.
• Nurses and midwives: CNO, BCCNM, CRNA, OIIQ and midwifery colleges. The CNA Code of Ethics, delegation and supervision, end-of-life and maternity ethics, MAID.
• Dentists: RCDSO, BC College of Oral Health Professionals, CDSA, Ordre des dentistes du Québec. The CDA Code of Ethics, consent, fees and overtreatment, digital conduct.
• Pharmacists: Ontario College of Pharmacists, College of Pharmacists of BC, Alberta College of Pharmacy, OPQ. NAPRA standards, dispensing errors, shortages and mandatory reporting.
• Optometrists and opticians: provincial optometry and opticianry colleges. Scope of practice, prescriptions and commercial pressure in retail eye care.
• Chiropractors: provincial chiropractic colleges. Consent and material risks, boundaries in hands-on care, treatment plans and records.
• Osteopathic practitioners: no statutory regulator for osteopathic manual practitioners anywhere in Canada at present; voluntary associations set codes. Osteopathic physicians are licensed by medical colleges.

If your profession is not listed, for example physiotherapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, dietetics or psychology, start with the cross-profession courses below. They explain the provincial-college framework that applies to every regulated health profession.

Colleges rarely separate the two, and most codes mix values with rules. For learning purposes we split them, because each answers a different question.

Most professionals benefit from both. Good intentions without knowledge of the standards can still breach a code, and knowing the standards without ethical reasoning leaves you stuck when no rule quite fits.

Whatever your profession and province, some obligations come up again and again in college codes and complaint decisions:

• Consent and capacity: provincial consent law, such as Ontario's Health Care Consent Act, 1996, and the common law on informed consent and material risks.
• Privacy and confidentiality: provincial health-information laws such as PHIPA in Ontario and the Health Information Act in Alberta, and PIPEDA where it applies to private-sector practice.
• Boundaries and sexual abuse: strict college rules, including Ontario's sexual-abuse provisions and duty to report another professional, with similar rules elsewhere.
• Honesty and self-reporting: duties to tell your college about matters such as criminal charges or findings by another regulator, set out in statute or college rules.
• Disclosure of harm: an expectation, in college policies and national guidance, that patients are told honestly when something goes wrong, supported by apology legislation in most provinces.
• Cultural safety and anti-racism: commitments drawn from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action and reports such as In Plain Sight on Indigenous-specific racism in BC health care.

Most Canadian colleges run a quality assurance or continuing competence program that includes self-directed learning you choose, record and reflect on. Our courses are designed to fit that model: each has a clear topic, 2 hours of learning, an assessment and a reflective account you can attach to your records.

Rules differ widely. Some colleges set no minimum hours and look for a learning plan and reflection; others set hours or credits over a cycle, and many physicians track learning through national programs such as the Royal College's Maintenance of Certification program or the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Mainpro+.

• Instant access after enrolment, on any device, at your own pace.
• Every course is 2 hours (estimated) and CA$95.
• Short reflective checks through each section, then a reflective account with guided prompts.
• A 10-question final assessment with an 80% pass mark (8 out of 10); you can review and try again.
• A certificate of completion that includes your reflective account, ready for your learning records.

Pick your profession above, or begin with the cross-profession pair if your profession does not have its own page.