About Doctor Search

About Doctor Search

The Public Register

The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) sets out that the College will maintain a list of the medical doctors authorized to practise medicine in Ontario. The RHPA and College by-laws specify what information about each doctor is to be kept and made available to the public. We call this the public register.

Some of the information in the public register is obtained when physicians first register with the College, and it is verified at the source (e.g., the medical school confirms that the applicant has graduated with a medical degree). Other information is obtained directly from physicians when they complete our annual renewal form, or notify us when a change occurs (e.g., new practice address).

The public register includes a wide variety of information, such as each doctor’s name, practice address and telephone number and, if applicable, the name of each health profession corporation in which he or she is a shareholder.

The public register also includes information about each doctor’s registration status and class (i.e., is the doctor authorized for independent practice, or is he or she in training under a postgraduate education certificate of registration).

In addition, certain information about each doctor’s qualifications is noted, namely, medical degree, postgraduate medical training in Ontario, and recognized specialty designation. If the doctor is certified by Canada’s national examining/certifying bodies (College of Family Physicians of Canada for family medicine specialists or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons for all other specialties), the public register will include that fact. Please note that a doctor’s scope of practice or particular area of interest is not noted on the public register. It also does not specify whether a doctor performs a particular procedure or has expertise in a particular area.

The public register also notes the terms, conditions and limitations on each doctor’s certificate of registration (see Glossary of Terms for more information, section 3, Terms, Conditions and Limitations). Information about any current allegations or previous findings of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity, which relate to the doctor, are also specified.

The public register can be accessed any time by visiting Doctor Search on our website or by contacting the College during normal business hours (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm).

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Finding a New Doctor

It can sometimes be difficult to find a new doctor, particularly if there is a shortage of physicians in the area where you live. If you’re trying to find a new doctor, you may wish to try the following strategies:

Health Care Connect

Health Care Connect is a Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) program which helps Ontarians without a family health care provider find one.

The program refers people without a regular family health care provider to physicians and nurse practitioners who are accepting new patients in their community. To register for the Health Care Connect program, call 1-800-445-1822, or for more information, visit the MOHLTC website at: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ms/healthcareconnect/public/index.html

Local Hospital(s)

Hospitals often know which physicians with privileges or on staff are accepting new patients, and may be able to provide a few contacts.

Community Health Centre(s)

Community health centres are organizations that provide primary health care and prevention programs through physicians and a variety of other health professionals. If you have a local community health centre, it may be taking new patients. Keep in mind that most community health centres only provide services to people who live within their particular community (i.e., within their “catchment area”) and/or target populations. A list of community health centres in Ontario is available on the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s website at: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/contact/chc/chcloc_mn.html

Local newspapers

Some physicians, including those who are new to an area or who are beginning to establish a practice, will advertise that they are accepting new patients.

Public Register Search Options

1. All Doctors Search

Find a family physician or specialist by name, or select other search criteria to locate doctors by category:

  • gender
  • location of practice
  • hospital where the doctor has privileges
  • language of service other than English

2. Registration Number Search

Use this search option if you know the physician’s five-digit registration number.

3. Discipline and/or Fitness to Practise Search

Background

Search for doctors with current allegations and/or previous findings of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity.

Current allegations of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity, if any, are included on a doctor’s profile on the Additional Details page, under Current Referrals. Similarly, previous discipline or fitness to practise findings, if any, are noted under Past Findings.

The College includes a link to additional information about discipline findings, where available. For example, we publish summaries of discipline cases in our magazine, Dialogue. If we have published a discipline case summary in Dialogue about a particular doctor (only cases from 1993 onward) or if we have a PDF of the full written decision and reasons for decision (only cases from 2002 onward), we link to that information from the Past Finding public register entry. In this way, all information that is available in electronic format about a previous discipline finding is easily accessible from the public register.

Conducting Discipline/Fitness to Practise Searches

The All Doctors Search option must be used for this type of search. The discipline/fitness to practise fields are located at the bottom of the All Doctors Search page.

To find all doctors with a previous discipline or fitness to practise finding:

  1. Check off the “show only records with past decisions” box.
  2. To search alphabetically, type in the first letter of the last name. For example, type in “A” and all physicians with a previous discipline or fitness to practise finding whose last name starts with the letter “A” will be listed.
  3. Add a keyword or phase, such as “sexual abuse”, to further define your search.
  4. If you are looking for a physician who may be currently suspended or revoked, you also need to check off “All physicians” from the Registration Status field.

To find all doctors with a current referral to the discipline or fitness to practise committee:

  1. Check off the “show only records with current referrals” box. Follow steps 2 through 4 above, where necessary.

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Glossary of Terms

1. Specialty Designation

CFPC Certification

The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) is the national examining and certifying body for family medicine practitioners in Canada. The CFPC also accredits family medicine training programs in Canada.

If a physician is certified by the CFPC, Family Medicine is noted on the Doctor Search Summary page, under Specialties.

RCPSC Certification

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) is the national examining and certifying body for medical specialists in Canada. The RCPSC also accredits Canadian specialty training programs.

If a physician is certified by the RCPSC, the disciplines (e.g., Cardiology, Internal Medicine) in which the physician is certified are noted on the Doctor Search Summary page, under Specialties.

General Practitioner

In the mid-1990s, it became a requirement of licensure in Ontario for new family physician registrants to be certified by the CFPC. For Ontario graduates, certification is gained after residency training. Family physicians who trained prior to 1993 have the option of gaining certification through a practice-eligibility route, but certification is not mandatory. These physicians are deemed general practitioners.

If a physician is a general practitioner, the Specialties designation section of the Doctor Search Summary page will indicate none.

2. Classes of Certificates of Registration

The following are the various categories or “classes” of certificates of registration and a brief description of the type of practice which they authorize. The physician’s registration class is shown under Current Registration on the Doctor Search Summary page.

Independent Practice

  • permits independent practice in the areas of medicine in which the physician is educated and experienced.

Postgraduate Education

  • permits supervised practice after graduation from medical school, and is required for postgraduate (residency) medical training at an Ontario medical school;
  • may practice only as required by the postgraduate education program in which the physician is enrolled at an Ontario medical school;
  • may prescribe drugs only for in-patients or out-patients of a clinical teaching unit of the medical school;
  • may not charge a fee for medical services;
  • certificate expires when enrolment in postgraduate medical education ceases.

Restricted

  • must practice in accordance with the specific terms and conditions imposed on the certificate.

Academic Practice

  • may practice only in the medical school department in which the physician holds an academic appointment;
  • may practice only to the extent required by the appointment;
  • certificate expires when the academic appointment ends.

Short Duration

  • may practice only to the extent required by the short duration appointment at a public hospital, psychiatric facility or medical school;
  • must practice under supervision;
  • certificate valid for up to thirty days only;
  • issued only to fill urgent, short-term need or to provide education to Ontario physicians.

Academic Visitor

  • may practice only in the medical school department in which the physician holds an academic appointment;
  • may practice only to the extent required by the appointment;
  • certificate may be issued for up to fifteen months only.

3. Terms, conditions and limitations

The following provides information about “standard” and “non-standard” terms, conditions and limitations (TCLs). Both standard and non-standard TCLs are shown under Current Terms & Conditions on the physician’s Doctor Search Registration Details page. A link is provided to Additional Details, where available.

Standard TCLs

Every certificate under every registration class carries the standard term, condition and limitation that the physician may practise only in the areas of medicine in which he or she is educated and experienced. For the independent practice class, this is the only term, condition and limitation.

For other registration classes, there are additional standard terms, conditions and limitations that apply. For example, physicians with an academic practice certificate may practice only in the medical school department in which they hold an academic appointment; may practice only to the extent required by the appointment; and the certificate expires when the academic appointment ends. See above, under Classes of Registration, for further examples.

The only class of registration that has non-standard terms, conditions and limitations is the restricted class, as explained below.

Non-standard TCLs

Certain College committees – Registration; Inquiries, Complaints and Reports; Discipline; and Fitness to Practise Committees, are authorized to impose specified terms, conditions and limitations on a certificate of registration. Also, under certain circumstances, physicians can self-impose specified terms, conditions and limitations on their certificate as part of an undertaking to the College.

Whenever these specified, or non-standard, terms, conditions and limitations are imposed on a certificate, it automatically becomes a restricted certificate.

Non-standard TCLs – Registration Committee

The Registration Committee of the College has the authority to grant a restricted certificate of registration, in certain circumstances  for example, to individuals who have not successfully completed all of the examination requirements. In these circumstances, specified terms, conditions and limitations are ordered to safeguard the public (e.g., monitoring or supervisory arrangements, with accountability to the College for full compliance with the arrangements and for completing all examinations or successful completion of a practice assessment). When TCLs are ordered by the Registration Committee, the specified restrictions are included on the public register.

Non-standard TCLs – Discipline; Fitness to Practise; and Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committees

Both the Discipline Committee, which hears allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence, and the Fitness to Practise Committee, which hears allegations of incapacity, can order that terms, conditions and limitations be imposed on a physician’s certificate of registration. When TCLs are ordered by either committee, the specified restrictions are included on the public register.

The Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee* can make an interim order to impose terms, conditions and limitations on the physician’s certificate of registration, after it has referred specified allegations to the Discipline Committee or after it has made a referral to the Fitness to Practise Committee. TCLs imposed by the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee will appear on the public register for as long as they remain in force.

*Effective June 4, 2009, under an amendment to the RHPA, the member-specific functions of the Executive Committee transferred to a new committee – the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee. Previously, it was the Executive Committee that had the authority to make an interim order to impose terms, conditions and limitations on the physician’s certificate of registration, after it had referred specified allegations to the Discipline Committee or after it had made a referral to the Fitness to Practise Committee. TCLs imposed by the Executive Committee will appear on the public register for as long as they remain in force.

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