What does it mean if a member has been ordered to pay costs or to reimburse the College for funding related to the therapy and counselling program?
If a member has been ordered to pay costs, this means that the member must pay the College the amount ordered by the Discipline Committee in their decision. Costs are often ordered where a member’s uncooperative or unreasonable behaviour in a hearing causes the hearing to take much longer than it should. Costs are not meant to punish members for their conduct that gave rise to the hearing; they are meant to share the financial burden of running a hearing where a member’s unreasonable behaviour in the hearing caused the hearing to take longer than necessary.
If a member has been ordered to reimburse the College for funding related to the therapy and counselling program, this means that the member must reimburse the College for costs that the College provided to student victims of sexual abuse or child pornography or to such students’ families. More information about the Therapy and Counselling Program can be found on the College’s website.
Where a member has been ordered to pay costs, they will typically be provided with a deadline to make any payments to the College. College staff who are responsible for the enforcement of any such orders may contact members as needed. Members should seek legal advice about the potential consequences for not paying a costs order.
Other Resources
- Members might find the following resources useful when preparing for their hearing:
- Rules of Procedure of the Discipline Committee and Fitness to Practise Committee
- Ontario College of Teachers Act
- Practice Direction for Electronic Proceedings
- CanLII for similar cases [use search term ONOCT]
- National Self-Represented Litigants Project: The CanLII Primer | CanLII)
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