Paramedics are currently government regulated in Manitoba. The Emergency Medical Services branch of Manitoba Health is responsible for regulating all EMS providers in accordance with the Emergency Medical Response and Stretcher Transportation Act. The EMS branch is also mandated to regulate EMS service providers and operators in the delivery of ambulance and emergency medical services.

The purpose of regulation is to ensure that professionals practice in a safe, competent and ethical manner. One of the most persuasive arguments in favour of self-regulation is that a profession has evolved over time and developed a specialized body of knowledge which makes it increasingly difficult and expensive for the government to determine and monitor standards of practice for the profession. In such cases it is therefore thought that members of that profession are in the best position to set standards and to evaluate whether they have been met. Paramedics understand the profession and practice of paramedicine better than anyone else so it simply makes good sense for the public to have paramedics regulate themselves, as long as they do so in the public interest.

While it's difficult to estimate the annual operating costs at this time, the Paramedic Association of Manitoba used other Canadian paramedic College fees as a benchmark to approximate the fees in our application. Paramedics are self-regulated in three other province...Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. The 2012 registration fees in these jurisdictions range from $395 (NB.) to $425 (SK. and AB.) Taking into consideration that Manitoba has a higher number of practitioners to share the cost of operating a regulatory College than does New Brunswick, and the fact that Saskatchewan is recovering from two years of artificially low registration fees set by Government when their College was established, we are confident that our registration fees will fall into the suggested $300 - $400 range.

While it's true that Manitoba paramedics do not pay for licensing at this time, the current Government regulator could institute a fee at any time. The Emergency Medical Response and Stretcher Transportation Act allows for "prescribing the fee payable for the issuance of any license", including your EMS Provider License. Paramedic students will soon be paying a fee to write a national certification exam in order to license in Manitoba, and the current regulator has suggested they are actively considering an annual license fee for all paramedics in our province.

Registration fees are required to offset the cost of operating a regulatory College. Although licensing fees are not currently charged, Government does have the authority to prescribe a fee to issue or renew a license at any time. While PAM has suggested that the annual College registration fee would be between $300 and $400, we recognize that there will be need to consider a tiered fee structure based in part on license classifications.

The licensing of EMS Dispatch personnel is relatively new to the EMS profession in Manitoba (2006). It is anticipated that all EMS personnel currently licensed by Government would fall under the authority of a paramedic self-regulatory College, and that the various license levels could be subject to review as the transition to self-regulation is undertaken.

The Regulated Health Professions Act, which prescribes the duties and responsibilities of all health regulatory bodies, directs Colleges to establish a "continuing competency program to maintain the competence of the members and to enhance the practice of the regulated health profession ". That said we would expect that future continuing education programs be directed toward the needs of the license holder to ensure competency in his or her area of practice.

In the application for self-regulation, PAM recommends that all licensed College members be required to carry liability insurance. One scenario would have the liability insurance included in the annual College registration fee, which is the way other paramedic Colleges in Canada handle this requirement (NB., SK., and AB.). Another scenario could have members purchase their liability insurance from a selected "third party", which is the method used by Manitoba Dental Hygienists. Regardless of the way that a Manitoba College chose to offer liability insurance to it's members, PAM is confident the cost for annual registration INCLUDING liability insurance would fall within the estimated $300 - $400.

No. Self-regulation means that the government has granted a professional group, such as paramedics, the privilege and responsibility to regulate themselves. In essence, the paramedic profession would regulate their own members in order to protect the public from harm that could be caused by paramedics in the course of their practice. A College of paramedics would not regulate EMS service operators.

A self-regulating paramedic College is NOT an educational institution. A regulatory College is responsible to set standards for education, registration and practice, and to assist members in meeting those standards.

A self-regulated profession may, in accordance with the Regulated Health Professions Act, approve education programs and competency requirements that must be met by graduates applying for registration in the profession. However, before approving or removing approval from any educational program, the regulated health profession must consult with Government.

The Regulated Health Professions Act does require health professions to establish a continuing competency program to maintain the competence of their members and to enhance the practice of the profession.

All matters related to standards of practice and competency are subject to consultation with College members, Government and affected stakeholders.