A recent report form the Competition Bureau indicates that self-regulated professions still need to do more to foster competition.

The report — Self–Regulated Professions: Post-Study Assessment — is a followup to a study it produced on self-regulated professions back in 2007, examining the regulation of five professions (accountants, lawyers, optometrists, pharmacists and real estate agents), with the objective of identifying measures that may be unnecessarily restricting competition. And, while it only looks at those five disciplines, it suggests that many of the conclusions could be extended to other self-regulated professions.

The followup report finds that the original study was successful at increasing awareness within the professions of the importance of avoiding unnecessary restrictions on competition, and it says that progress has been made toward removing some of these restrictions.

One area in which substantial progress has been made is the mobility of professionals between provinces, it notes, although it says that the accounting field is a notable exception. It says that Ontario maintains that material differences exist among the provinces and territories in terms of the standards for licensing the practice of public accounting. Mobility barriers also remain in the legal profession, it notes.

Additionally, the Bureau says that there have also been significant pro-competitive developments concerning restrictions on the marketing and advertising of accounting and legal services.

Yet, notwithstanding this progress, it says, “it is also evident that more can be done by the professions themselves, as well as the respective government authorities, to strike the right balance between competition and regulation. The level of consideration that self-regulating professional bodies give to competition issues in the development and review of their regulations is not always as comprehensive as it should be.”

In some cases there are legislative obstacles to removing barriers to competition, it notes. And, it says that restrictions that appear to be designed to protect the public interest can be interpreted and enforced in a way that unnecessarily restricts competition.

“To obtain the full benefits of competition, it is essential that self-regulating professional bodies, and the respective government authorities, continue to review and assess professional regulation to ensure that the right balance for all Canadians is struck between competition and regulation,” it concludes.

IE