Talk about government regulation for long enough and one topic will always inevitably arise – how should regulatory agencies measure their performance? How can they quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate their ability to protect the public interest? How can we measure what regulators are doing right as easily as we take note of their shortcomings? Is any of this even possible?

The College Performance Measurement Framework (CPMF), created in 2020 by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, attempts to address these questions. It attempts to accurately capture the efficacy of regulatory work. The CPMF covers how regulatory colleges in Ontario respond to complaints, process applications, and track the vocational progress of licensed professionals, among other performance criteria.

In our latest episode of Ascend Radio, Editor-in-Chief Paul Leavoy sits down with Thomas Custers, co-creator of the CPMF, Dan Faulkner, Registrar and CEO of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (and a current CPMF user), and Lynsay Nair, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses, who currently uses the framework as a reference point for her own regulatory performance measurement system in her own province.

In a wide-ranging conversation about qualitative and quantitative performance evaluation in regulation, they discuss:

• How the idea for the CPMF came about.
• The stakeholders involved in its creation.
• The challenges involved in quantifying the success of regulatory colleges, and much more.

We also explore what external accountability and internal improvement in regulation look like, as well as what the general standards are for a high-performing regulator. To learn more about the details of the framework – including its ideological foundation, the seven performance measurement domains it covers, and some key takeaways from the 2020 reporting cycle – check out the summary offered by the Ministry of Health.

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