Protected Titles

In Ontario, the title “Respiratory Therapist” is protected under the Respiratory Therapy Act, 1991 (RTA).

This means that to use the “Respiratory Therapist” title or any variation or abbreviation of that title, and/or hold oneself out as qualified to practice respiratory therapy in Ontario, a person must be registered with the CRTO¹.

Professional Designations, Professional Titles & Job Titles

Professional title is the full expression of the title, as it corresponds to the Member’s certificate of registration.

Designation is the abbreviation of the professional title.

Job title is often the term given by employers, educational facilities, and certification bodies to designate certain professional roles. These titles are not protected under law but can be used in addition to the protected professional title/designation to highlight the RTs credentials and/or position within their organization.

Section 67 of the Registration Regulation (O. Reg. 596/94) specifies that:

Members may use the protected title that corresponds to their certificates of registration (see table 2 below).

Members must use the designation that corresponds to their certificates of registration(see table 2 below)

Job titles may also be used, but they must be accompanied by the appropriate designation.

Table 2: Professional Designations, Protected Titles & Job Titles

Class of Registration	Designation	Protected Title	Job Title
General	RRT	Registered Respiratory Therapist or Respiratory Therapist	Anesthesia Assistant (AA) Patient Educator Registered Polysomnography Technician (RPSGT) Certified Respiratory Educator (CRE)
Graduate	GRT	Graduate Respiratory Therapist
Limited (Practical)	PRT	Practical Respiratory Therapist
Emergency	RT(E)	Respiratory Therapist (Emergency)

Documents or records signed by a Member or used by a Member in a professional capacity (e.g., business card) must include, at a minimum, their name and their professional designation (e.g., RRT).

Example…

An RT who has successfully completed an Anesthesia Assistant certification program may use “AA” when working in their role as an AA, provided their designation is listed first (i.e., RRT/AA). Additional information regarding the AA role can be found in the CRTO’s Respiratory Therapists As Anesthesia Assistants Professional Practice Guideline.

Registered Names

It is also important that when practising the profession, Members use the name that they have registered with the CRTO in all interactions with the public and the healthcare team. The name used to register with the CRTO is the one that is found on the Public Register and is used to identify the Member as being registered with the CRTO. The Professional Misconduct Regulation (O. Reg. 753/93) states that it is professional misconduct for a Member to be “using a name other than the Member’s name as set out in the register, in the course of providing or offering to provide services within the scope of practice of the profession”.

PLEASE NOTE:

It is an expected standard of practice that RTs manage their professional and therapeutic relationships by “introducing themselves to patients/clients and other members of the healthcare team using their name and professional title” (CRTO Standards of Practice – Standard 13. Professional Responsibilities – Responsibilities to the Profession and the Public).

If a Member feels that identifying themselves by name could put them at risk, they should seek further assistance by contacting the CRTO.

P LEASE NOTE:

In 1999, the CRTO adopted the use of the title Registered Respiratory Care Practitioner (RRCP) to identify Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRTs) in Ontario. At the time, it was felt that this title more accurately reflected the role of CRTO Members. However, Members who responded to a survey conducted by the CRTO in June 2002 were overwhelmingly in favour of returning the professional title and designation back to Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) because they believed that the RRCP designation caused confusion for both the healthcare team and the public. As a result, the CRTO Council voted in September 2003 to amend the Registration Regulation and returned Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRT) as the official professional title and designation for Respiratory Therapists in Ontario.

Professional titles and designations are intended to help safeguard the public by making registered members of health professions easy to identify. Using a title and designation that is no longer official may be contrary to this intention and, therefore, the title “Registered Respiratory Care Practitioner” and the designation “RRCP” is not to be used by Members of the CRTO. For the correct professional titles and designation for the various classes of registration, please reference table 2 above.

With the exception of Inter-jurisdictional Respiratory Therapists who meet the conditions under O. Reg. 199/23 Exemption – Restricted Titles, which include having submitted an application for registration to the CRTO.

Protected Titles