Save the date for the 2022 OPFA Annual Conference! The theme of this years conference is: Supporting Resilient Forests and Growing Trust We are evaluating the COVID-19 situation and health guidelines carefully to determine whether the conference will go ahead as a hybrid conference with an in-person session in Sudbury, or as a fully virtual conference. More information will be provided soon. Registration will open in February.

December 16, 2021 Bill 13 Supporting People and Business Act, 2021 received royal assent on December 2, 2021 and the changes to the Professional Foresters Act therefore came into effect upon that date. These changes refine the scope of practice of professional foresters and will allow the public to better understand their role. You can find the changes on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website: https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-2/bill-13. View the updated Professional Foresters Act, 2000 here.   What are the benefits of these changes?  These changes include new definitions, rewording the scope of professional forestry, and clearer wording related to protecting the title used by professional foresters. The changes more clearly define professional forestry and reduce overlap with different occupations that also work in forestry. Please note that the changes do not include any changes to Regulation 145/01 ; that is there is no change to the occupations that are excluded. For...

The 2017 Certification Standards are now being used by the Canadian Forestry Accreditation Board (CFAB) in the accreditation process for university programs. In 2021 they will begin to be used in the competency assessment processes- both for the Credential Assessment Process and for Associate Member Limited Scopes of Practice competency assessments. This change will only affect Provisional Members who have not graduated from a CFAB accredited program. For more information, please refer to the information document below, or watch the short video.

Due to the current situation with COVID-19, our physical OPFA office is closed. However our staff are working from home, and OPFA Members and the public can continue to contact us using phone and e-mail. Due to our virtual office system, we are able to continue to serve the public without any interruption and there are no additional changes in OPFA services to Members or the public.