What is the Sexual Abuse Prevention Program?

In 2021, the provincial government amended the Ontario College of Teachers Act to require all Ontario Certified Teachers and applicants for certification by the College to complete an online Sexual Abuse Prevention Program.

The Ontario College of Teachers partnered with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to develop the Program, which was successfully launched in January 2022.

The Program consists of a series of video modules, each with a distinct focus on subjects that include how to recognize when a student may be disclosing that they have been abused and how healthy relationships with trusted adults can help individuals who have experienced abuse successfully recover. 

The Program, and related content such as the Professional Boundaries professional advisory, are anchored in the College’s Ethical Standards for the Teaching Profession and will be familiar to Ontario Certified Teachers.

It takes approximately three hours to complete the Program. It can be completed all at once or taken over multiple sessions. The Program concludes with an assessment component that requires a minimum score of 80 per cent for the Program to be considered complete. It can be attempted multiple times if necessary.