CONO finally reversed the fee hike and confirmed the registration costs will remain manageable for our profession. You stood your ground and forced them to look at the reality of our financial situation. Keep an eye on your inbox for official notices about the adjusted payment process.
March 1, 2016
Final supporters
Dear CONO:
The purpose of this letter is to express our concern for what we consider very high registration fees for naturopathic doctors seeking to register with CONO.
For some of us, this is the beginning of our second year of practice, so we've only been registered with the BDDTN once before and now with CONO but the difference in fees is alarmingly different. Additionally, the latest announcement that we are now to pay for HST has caused further alarm and concern for our ability to afford this. We question why in order to avoid future deficits, we are the ones having to make up for this, especially with such short notice. Many of our colleagues are struggling to make ends meet and now with this significant upcoming expense, things are starting to look quite scary to us. To put things into perspective for you, many NDs are not even making $1000 per month, have many expenses and thus, the upcoming expense of $1689.35 seems beyond our reach and signifies going further into debt, in which as you may know, most of us are quite embedded. The fees that are being imposed on us are catching up to many of us and are leading many people to consider leaving the profession. This would be detrimental to our profession and to the College, as we will lose members, which could drive fees up, making even more people leave the profession due to the high fees. The reason why this is alarming is that if this happens, eventually, there may not be enough members to sustain the College of Naturopaths.
Many of us have many questions. We would appreciate a detailed explanation of the reasoning behind the registration fee, as well as a break down of where our registration fees go and how the money is spent. We would also like to request that you explore any possible options for lowering the registration fee so that more NDs are able to pay it without going into further debt. We feel that there must be options if you look carefully into this.
The College of Homeopaths, a much smaller institution was able to substantially lower the registration fees for their members, allowing for more homeopaths to be able to register. Therefore, we feel that this could be an options for naturopaths too.
It is our hope to work with you to ensure that all parties benefit and are able to thrive.
We thank you for the time taken to review our concerns and look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Updates
February 19, 2016
I am currently compiling the stories many of you have shared about the financial strain caused by these registration fees. Please email your local representative today to explain how these costs prevent you from practicing. We need to keep pressure on the board until they address this unsustainable model.
February 19, 2016
The momentum behind this petition proves that our struggle to pay these fees is a shared reality that CONO can no longer ignore. Post this link on your Facebook page today and email your regional representatives to demand a meeting immediately. We need you to text three colleagues who are currently silent so they understand how high the stakes are for our profession.
Reached 100 supporters
February 19, 2016
48 Comments
There should also be a reduced fee for P/T practitioners. Any profession has P/T people, since life happens to all of us: women on maternity leave, stroke survivors, practitioners living with chronic disease, etc.
Adding the HST just before fees are due is a underhanded fee increase and goes against the inflation adjusted rate increase policy that we already had. If you are adding HST the base rate should have at least been frozen from last year.
Recent graduates pay for NABNE and CONO board exams then for preregistration/registration fees, Insurance and finally Prescription textbook and the prescription course, then register for prescription exam this is a total of $4500 in less than 6 months upon finishing the License exams!!
This will also be my last year in this profession. The fees are just too high when struggling in a business. It's fees similar to an MD's professional dues, but without the MD pay. I really think CONO has a misconception on how much NDs make or hasn't even considered it.
Please strongly consider alternatives to this increase in fees - sliding scale based off income or cost saving measures elsewhere. Newly licensed NDs like myself cannot afford to pay these fees, and in many cases cannot go further into debt to maintain their license, which is a huge detriment to public access to naturopathic care.
What is the point of entering a beautiful profession such as naturopathic medicine only to realise barriers, such as exorbitant fees, that ultimately force NDs to abandon their calling? Who are these fees really serving?
As a student about to enter the workforce, this is extremely concerning to me!
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CONO finally reversed the fee hike and confirmed the registration costs will remain manageable for our profession. You stood your ground and forced them to look at the reality of our financial situation. Keep an eye on your inbox for official notices about the adjusted payment process.
March 1, 2016
Final supporters
Dear CONO:
The purpose of this letter is to express our concern for what we consider very high registration fees for naturopathic doctors seeking to register with CONO.
For some of us, this is the beginning of our second year of practice, so we've only been registered with the BDDTN once before and now with CONO but the difference in fees is alarmingly different. Additionally, the latest announcement that we are now to pay for HST has caused further alarm and concern for our ability to afford this. We question why in order to avoid future deficits, we are the ones having to make up for this, especially with such short notice. Many of our colleagues are struggling to make ends meet and now with this significant upcoming expense, things are starting to look quite scary to us. To put things into perspective for you, many NDs are not even making $1000 per month, have many expenses and thus, the upcoming expense of $1689.35 seems beyond our reach and signifies going further into debt, in which as you may know, most of us are quite embedded. The fees that are being imposed on us are catching up to many of us and are leading many people to consider leaving the profession. This would be detrimental to our profession and to the College, as we will lose members, which could drive fees up, making even more people leave the profession due to the high fees. The reason why this is alarming is that if this happens, eventually, there may not be enough members to sustain the College of Naturopaths.
Many of us have many questions. We would appreciate a detailed explanation of the reasoning behind the registration fee, as well as a break down of where our registration fees go and how the money is spent. We would also like to request that you explore any possible options for lowering the registration fee so that more NDs are able to pay it without going into further debt. We feel that there must be options if you look carefully into this.
The College of Homeopaths, a much smaller institution was able to substantially lower the registration fees for their members, allowing for more homeopaths to be able to register. Therefore, we feel that this could be an options for naturopaths too.
It is our hope to work with you to ensure that all parties benefit and are able to thrive.
We thank you for the time taken to review our concerns and look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Updates
February 19, 2016
I am currently compiling the stories many of you have shared about the financial strain caused by these registration fees. Please email your local representative today to explain how these costs prevent you from practicing. We need to keep pressure on the board until they address this unsustainable model.
February 19, 2016
The momentum behind this petition proves that our struggle to pay these fees is a shared reality that CONO can no longer ignore. Post this link on your Facebook page today and email your regional representatives to demand a meeting immediately. We need you to text three colleagues who are currently silent so they understand how high the stakes are for our profession.
Reached 100 supporters
February 19, 2016
48 Comments
I currently have a small part-time ND practice and the fees are making me reconsider my long-term career plan. I am also an OT regulated by COTO under the RHPA and the ND fees are $700-800 more than my other profession.
There should also be a reduced fee for P/T practitioners. Any profession has P/T people, since life happens to all of us: women on maternity leave, stroke survivors, practitioners living with chronic disease, etc.
Adding the HST just before fees are due is a underhanded fee increase and goes against the inflation adjusted rate increase policy that we already had. If you are adding HST the base rate should have at least been frozen from last year.
Recent graduates pay for NABNE and CONO board exams then for preregistration/registration fees, Insurance and finally Prescription textbook and the prescription course, then register for prescription exam this is a total of $4500 in less than 6 months upon finishing the License exams!!
This will also be my last year in this profession. The fees are just too high when struggling in a business. It's fees similar to an MD's professional dues, but without the MD pay. I really think CONO has a misconception on how much NDs make or hasn't even considered it.
Please strongly consider alternatives to this increase in fees - sliding scale based off income or cost saving measures elsewhere. Newly licensed NDs like myself cannot afford to pay these fees, and in many cases cannot go further into debt to maintain their license, which is a huge detriment to public access to naturopathic care.
What is the point of entering a beautiful profession such as naturopathic medicine only to realise barriers, such as exorbitant fees, that ultimately force NDs to abandon their calling? Who are these fees really serving?
As a student about to enter the workforce, this is extremely concerning to me!
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I currently have a small part-time ND practice and the fees are making me reconsider my long-term career plan. I am also an OT regulated by COTO under the RHPA and the ND fees are $700-800 more than my other profession.