The Role of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

• Author: Marilyn J. Samuels/Elayne M. Tanner
• Pages: 11-20

Chapter

2

The

Role

of the

Ontario

College

of

Social

Workers

and

Social

Service

Workers

A.

Introduction

The

Ontario College

of

Social Workers

and

Social Service Workers

was

cre-

ated

by the

Social

Work

and

Social Service

Work

Act,

1998.l

The

College

is

an

incorporated entity

and is the

sole regulatory body

of the

social work pro-

fession

in

Ontario.

As a

corporation,

the

College

has all the

powers

of a

nat-

ural

person.

It can

hire

and

fire

employees, start

and

defend actions,

and

borrow

money.

It is

exempt

from

the

Business Corporations

Act and

thus

does

not

have

to

hold annual general meetings,

nor

does

it

issue shares.

As in any

other regulated profession,

the

primary purpose

of the

College

is

to

serve

and

protect

the

public

interest.2

When

the

Honourable Janet Ecker,

Minister

of

Community

and

Social Services, introduced

the

legislation

in

November

1998,

she

spoke

of two key

objectives

for the

legislation.

One was

to

provide recognition

for the

social work profession

and the

other

was to

ensure

that

the

public would receive high-quality ethical services

from

social

workers.

One of the

tenets

of a

regulated profession

is

public accountability,

which

comes

from

self-governance.

For

that reason,

the Act

dictates that

the

Council, which governs

the

College

and its

committees, must

do so

with

the

public

interest

in

mind. This provides

not

only

the

accountability required

of

a

regulated profession

but

also

the

openness

to

scrutiny

by the

public

of the

College's

activities, which

the

public expects

in

return

for

allowing

the

pro-

fession

to

govern itself.

The Act

outlines

10

objects

or

goals

of the

College:

1.

To

regulate

the

practice

of

social work

and the

practice

of

social

service

work

and to

govern

its

members.

1.

Social Work

and

Social

Service

Work Act, 1998

[SWSSW

Act], S.O. 1998,

c.

31.

2.

Ibid.,

s.

3(1).

11