As CDO readies to unveil a new, four-year strategic plan later this month, the College is looking back to celebrate the accomplishments of the past five years. The 2020-25 Strategic Plan was approved by the Board (formerly the Council) just ten days after a state of emergency was declared in Ontario due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To lay the groundwork for the new plan, CDO revised its mission statement, reaffirming its commitment to public protection, and focusing on the role of the College in regulating dietitians practising in Ontario. The College also adopted four new strategic goals that took a proactive approach to the changing landscape of professional self-regulation and the expectations of the public:
Goal 1: Measure and report its regulatory performance to the public.
Goal 2: Communicate effectively to support the public’s understanding of the College’s mandate, services and resources.
Goal 3: Decisions will be made in accordance with a risk (harm reduction) framework.
Goal 4: Update its governance model in accordance with evidence-based practices.
“The 2020-25 Strategic Plan was an ambitious project that transformed the College and set a new standard for regulatory innovation,” explains CDO Registrar and Executive Director Melanie Woodbeck. “It became the roadmap that helped us all through the pandemic, changes in leadership, and transformative changes to society, culture, dietetic practise and professional regulation.”
Notably, the original, four-year strategic plan was extended for one year due to the pandemic, and the College responded to social changes by working to embed EDI-B within our strategies and operations. “As part of our ongoing work in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, CDO adopted an additional core value to formally recognize the significance of EDI-B in fulfilling its public protection mandate,” explains Melanie.
(To find out more about the College’s commitment to EDI-B, visit our Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging webpage and read our status report.)
As the timing of our strategic plan ends on March 31 (coinciding with the close of our fiscal year), we celebrate the accomplishments that have transformed CDO over the past five years, as they reflect our commitment to the public interest and dedication to regulatory excellence.
To read the accomplishments in full detail, visit the 2020-25 Strategic Plan Review.
We also recommend visiting our Annual Reports webpage and reading how CDO was responding with resilience during the pandemic, our year of transition, how we were cultivating growth and, our most recent annual report — Setting the Standard: How CDO is Leading Change in Regulatory Innovation, to discover how the College of Dietitians of Ontario is a recognized leader in governance modernization, transparency, accountability and more.
