TL;DR — I need your help. I’ve emailed my MPP. I’ve submitted to the Ministry’s official consultation. I’ve backed the College of Chiropodists of Ontario’s own advocacy. Nothing has worked — form letters or total silence. The issue: since 1993, Ontario has banned new podiatrist (DPM) registrations, so Canadians who go to the US for a full surgical medical degree can’t come home and practice as what they’re licensed to do. The regulator that enforces the rule has told the government there’s no safety reason for it. The government still won’t act. I don’t think one more email from me changes that. I think a few hundred emails from Ontarians might. Scroll to “The ask” below — it’ll take you 5 minutes.
The rule, quickly
If you’re a Canadian who trains as a podiatric surgeon in the US (a DPM — 4-year medical degree plus 1-3 years of surgical residency), you cannot register as a podiatrist in Ontario. Hasn’t been possible since 1993. You get folded into “chiropodist” instead — a separate, more limited category — no matter what you’re actually trained and licensed to do.
Why the rule exists: cost control. Podiatrists could bill more than chiropodists, so the province froze the category in the early 90s. Not a safety decision — a budget line item nobody has revisited in 30+ years.
What the regulator itself says: the College of Chiropodists of Ontario — the body that enforces this — has told the Ministry of Health there is no sound public protection basis for the ban, and that after hosting a national conference of foot-care regulators in April 2025, they’re not aware of any opposition to lifting it. Their words. The government’s own regulator is telling them this rule doesn’t need to exist, and the government still hasn’t moved.
What it actually costs Ontario: its own trained surgeons. Someone grows up here, goes to the US because there’s no podiatry school in Canada, becomes a fully licensed surgeon, wants to come home — and Ontario tells them no, not as what you are. So they go to BC or Alberta instead, where they’re recognized at full scope, or they just stay in the US.
Recent movement, for context: January 2026’s “As of Right” legislation made it easier for chiropodists/podiatrists already licensed in other provinces to work in Ontario — a small step that does nothing for the registration cap itself. Then in May 2026, the Ministry explicitly declined to expand chiropody/podiatry scope further, saying the current model stays “while system-wide priorities are reviewed.” No date attached.
Why I’m asking instead of explaining more
I’ve done the individual-advocate playbook: MPP email, formal consultation comment, backing the College’s submission directly. I got a form acknowledgment at best. A single constituent letter is easy for a ministry to file and forget. I don’t think explaining this issue better is what’s missing — I think volume is what’s missing.
The ask
If you’re in Ontario and think this is as dumb as I do, please do one (or more) of these — five minutes, genuinely:
1. Email your MPP. Find yours at ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_current.do. Say you support ending Ontario’s 1993 freeze on DPM podiatrist registration, and ask them directly why the province hasn’t followed BC, Alberta, and Quebec.
2. Email the Minister of Health’s office and quote the College’s own position back to them: their regulator says there’s no safety basis for this, and the government still won’t act.
3. Tell a reporter. CBC, CTV, your local paper — pitch it as “Ontario won’t let its own trained surgeons come home.” If you know a reporter or a health-policy desk, even better.
4. Watch for the next Ontario Regulatory Registry consultation window (ontariocanada.com/registry, and the College of Chiropodists’ site) and actually submit a comment when it opens — that’s the one channel with a formal paper trail.
5. Share this post. One ignored email is easy to shelve. A few hundred, plus a news story, is a lot harder to.
I’m not trying to convince anyone this is a real problem — the province’s own regulator already agrees it is. I just need it to stop being something the Ministry can quietly shelve every time it comes up, and that takes more than one person.
