By Claude Balthazard

It is often assumed that the leading edge of HR as a profession is either in the U.S. or the U.K., but with regard to the regulation of the human resource profession, two Canadian jurisdictions are blazing the trail for all others.

By regulation, we mean official governmental sanction to oversee and regulate members of a profession. Although many professional organizations, through self-governance, do some of the same things that government regulatory bodies do, the “difference that makes a difference” is official governmental engagement. In Québec and Ontario, the provincial HR associations—the Ordre des CRHA et CRIA du Québec (ORHRI) and the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPA)—have received this official governmental sanction to regulate the HR profession.

One challenge in explaining professional regulation vs. government regulation is that the former can vary widely in different jurisdictions. In Canada, professional regulation is, in virtually all cases, a provincial matter. Also, professional regulation tends to follow a self-regulation model as opposed to a direct regulation model.

In self-regulation models, governments will delegate regulatory powers to bodies representing the professionals under regulation. In direct regulation, governments regulate professions through a government agency or department. The advantage of self-regulation from a governmental perspective is that it enables governments to have some control over the practice of a profession and the services provided by its members without having to maintain the specialized in-depth expertise required to intelligently and effectively regulate a profession.

The granting of regulatory authority is done by means of a law (an act or statute) that provides a framework for the regulation of a specified profession and identifies the extent of the legal authority that has been delegated to the profession’s regulatory body. Of course, such a delegation of powers comes with terms and conditions. Most important, the self-regulatory body agrees to govern and regulate its members in the public interest.

Although Canada’s regulation of trades and professions falls, almost invariably, under provincial jurisdiction, this does not mean that regulation is universal—indeed, what is a regulated profession in one province may not be in another. This is the case for human resource management. In Canada, provincial legislation that grants to a professional regulatory body the right to regulate the HR profession exists only in Québec and Ontario.

In Québec, the Professional Code (Code des professions) grants to ORHRI the authority to regulate the HR profession in that province, including the exclusive right to grant Canada’s Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation to Québécois professionals. In Ontario, the Registered Human Resources Professionals Act grants the HRPA authority to regulate the human resource profession in that province, including the exclusive right to grant the CHRP designation there.

Although these regulatory powers are delegated by government, they are real powers—as real as when governments directly regulate a profession. For instance, in Canada the decisions of professional regulatory bodies are enforceable, and conversely reviewable, by the same courts that would enforce or review administrative decisions made by government agencies.

What can create confusion is the equating of regulation with licensure—they are related concepts, but they are not the same thing. Licensure is one of the most restrictive forms of professional regulation. Specifically, licensure provides an occupational group with monopoly control over who can practice a profession or perform specified “controlled” or “restricted” acts. Only those individuals who have met specific requirements set out by the regulatory body are issued a license to practice the profession or to perform these controlled or restricted acts.

Other forms of professional regulation do not provide monopoly control over who can practice a profession, but they grant the regulatory body the same powers to develop, establish, maintain and enforce standards of qualification; standards of practice; standards of professional ethics; and standards of knowledge, skill and proficiency. It is important for HR professionals to help industries and stakeholders understand that not being licensed does not mean that the profession is not regulated.

The importance of achieving self-regulation status cannot be underestimated. Becoming a regulated profession is, as they say, a “game changer.” First, it legitimizes the HR profession in ways that nothing else can. Second, it indicates that the government has confidence in the maturity of the profession and its regulatory body. Third, it gives the profession greater control over its destiny and a greater influence in matters of social policy. Finally, and critically, it enhances the status and recognizes the unique expertise of individual members of the profession.

Claude Balthazard is vice president for Regulatory Affairs of the Human Resources Professionals Association, Ontario, Canada.

This article was originally published in WorldLink, WFPMA.