OAA Webinar: Understanding your Role as a Licensed Professional

There are two sides to the self-regulation coin. Self-regulation affords regulated professionals valuable privileges, but also imposes important professional responsibilities. This session will explore the benefits and duties that come with being a licensed professional. It will be presented by the Deputy Registrar and Manager of Practice Advisory Services of the OAA.

What are the privileges associated with being a licensed professional? How do they benefit you? Architects and other licensed professionals enjoy many benefits, including exclusive use of title and a protected scope of work. Regulators also protect the public by preventing unlicensed individuals from holding themselves out. In this session, we will consider the privileges of licensure and how they benefit licensed professionals.

What is expected of a licensed professional? What are the consequences of not meeting your professional responsibilities? The privileges of self-regulation have corresponding responsibilities, which include maintaining registration requirements, professionalism, and the standards of the profession. We will discuss the responsibilities of licensed professionals and how they operate to better serve the public interest. We will also review some of the methods of enforcing these responsibilities.

This webinar will be available with live closed captioning.

Learning Objectives:

1) Gain a better understanding of the general objectives of self-regulation.
2) Learn about the privileges associated with being a licensed professional, including exclusive use of title and a protected scope of work.
3) Learn about the responsibilities of a licensed professional, including maintaining registration requirements and the standards of the profession, and the methods in place to enforce these responsibilities.
4) Gain a better understanding of how these privileges and responsibilities operate to better serve clients, while ensuring the protection of the public.

Speakers:

Mélisa Audet, B. Sc. Arch., M. Arch., Architect
Mélisa Audet is the Manager of Practice Advisory Services at the OAA. She works alongside Practice Advisors to coordinate the delivery for a broad range of practice services that support members and architectural firms. Mélisa obtained both her Bachelor of Sciences and Masters of Architecture from McGill University and also obtained a certificate in Project Management from Toronto Metropolitan University. Fully bilingual (French and English), Mélisa has an extensive and wide range of experience working with private practices, Federal Government, as well as with working at Construction Management firm. Mélisa provides practical insights within the industry. She joined the OAA Council in 2017 and was the Vice President of Regulatory from 2018 to 2019. Mélisa was also an active member of the McGill Alumni Board of Directors in Toronto from 2014 to 2018 as well as the Toronto Society of Architects from 2017 to 2018.

Claire Hepburn, Hons. B.A., L.L.B.
Claire is a lawyer with over 19 years of experience working in the area of professional regulation, family law, and civil litigation. Before that to joining the Ontario Association of Architects as Deputy Registrar, she worked at the Law Society of Ontario, as manager of Experiential Training. Prior to that, she oversaw the Family Law and Tenant Housing division at the University of Toronto’s student legal clinic, Downtown Legal Services. Claire obtained her law degree at the University of Windsor and has an honours degree in French and English from McMaster University.

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