Annual Renewals

Your registration number can be found on your profile page in the Online Portal or on the College’s Online Register.

Yes. Newly registered individuals must still renew their registration with the College for the next calendar year before the deadline of December 31st.

You are legally required to be a registrant in good standing of the College to practise social work or social service work in Ontario. Additionally, you can only use the protected title of “social worker”/”social service worker” or “registered social worker” (RSW) /”registered social service worker” (RSSW) if you are a registrant in good standing.

To renew your registration, you must:

• Confirm the information the College has on file for you
• Confirm your participation in the Continuing Competence Program
• Answer the Declaration of Professional Conduct questions
• Answer the Equity and Inclusion questions (optional and not required)
• Pay your renewal fee

The online renewal system typically takes about 10-15 minutes.

The information you entered was saved in the portal. Access the Online Portal, click on the “Renewals” tab at the top of the screen and resume your renewal.

 If you do not renew your registration and pay the annual renewal fee on or before January 31^st, you will be required to pay a late fee penalty of $50 after February 1^st.  If you do not renew by the first week of April, your certificate of registration will be suspended for non-payment of fees and you will no longer be able to practise social work/social service work or use the protected titles of social worker/social service worker.

Refer to the Change or Update of Personal, Business and Academic Information webpage for details or send an email to info@ocswssw.org and indicate what information or section you need to update. In your email, you must provide your full name and registration number.

Yes, you must answer all the questions in the “Declaration of Professional Conduct” section of the renewal application every year. If you already reported an issue earlier in the year, you are not required to report it again.

The College will review each declaration or disclosure on a case-by-case basis. If additional information or documentation is required, the College will contact you.

Access the Online Portal and navigate to the “My Professional Conduct Declaration” under your profile name. Click on “Create New” to answer the questions and submit your declaration.

We understand that some registrants may not have access to or be able to use the Online Portal. In such cases, alternative methods are available.

Contact the Registration and Renewals Department at info@ocswssw.org if:

• You do not have an email address on file at the College or your email address is no longer active.
• You require accommodation due to specific circumstances.

The mandate of the College is to protect the public interest. The College is different than a professional association whose mandate is to advocate and provide services for its members.

However, benefits of registration in the College include:

• the ability to use the title “social worker”/”social service worker” or “registered social worker”/”registered social service worker”;
• eligibility to stand for election to Council and the opportunity to vote in the election of Councillors to Council;
• access to all College publications, including Practice Guidelines, Practice Notes, Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and Perspective newsletters;
• practice consultations; 
• online registrant services; and
•  attendance at the Annual Meeting and Education Day and Educational Forum.

Yes. Registrants who renew online must pay the fees by credit or debit.

Yes. The College does not store your credit card or debit card information.

If your payment was successful, you will receive an email notifying you that the payment went through. Additionally, your receipt for payment will be available for download in the Online Portal, which you can access in the “My Invoices” tab.

Yes, the College does accept cheques from employers. However, your annual renewal cannot be completed without the required fees and if an employer’s cheque is not received before the deadline of December 31st, you may be subject to late fees and penalties. We recommend that you pay the renewal fees online and provide the receipt to your employer for reimbursement.

No. Registration fees are set out in our legislation and bylaw, which notes one registration and renewal fee for all registrants within the general class of registration. Unfortunately, it is not possible for the College to base fees off of individual salaries. Costs associated with governing the professions remain the same, regardless of a registrant’s salary.

No. The College does not offer discounts for members of professional associations.

You can save your invoice and use it as a tax receipt. The College no longer offers separate tax receipts. Navigate to the “My Invoices” section under your profile on the Online Portal. Select the invoice for the renewal fees, click on the green down arrow “View/Pay Invoice” and then click on the PDF receipt under “Payment Details” to access the receipt.

Navigate to the “My Invoices” section under your profile on the Online Portal. Select the invoice for the renewal fees, click on the green down arrow “View/Pay Invoice” and then click on the PDF receipt under “Payment Details” to print the receipt.

Complete your renewal as soon as possible. Otherwise your certificate of registration can be suspended for non-payment of fees.

If your certificate of registration is suspended, you will no longer be able to:

• Use the title of social service worker/registered social service worker or social worker/registered social worker or their French equivalents.
• Represent yourself or lead others to believe that you are a social service worker/registered social service worker or social worker/registered social worker.
• Practise social work or social service work. It is an act of professional misconduct to engage in the practice of social work or social service work while your certificate is suspended.
• Stand for election to College Council, or vote in the election of members to Council.

A permanent suspension annotation will be placed on your Online Register profile. This information is available to the public.

For the removal of the suspension for non-payment of fees, you must pay a reinstatement fee of $150 plus applicable taxes, the penalty for failure to pay the annual fee of $50 and the annual fee of $400. The total cost for the suspension to be removed is $600.

If you do not reinstate your registration with the College within two years after the suspension date, your certificate will be revoked. If you want to reapply for registration in the future, you will be required to complete a new application, submit all of the required documentation, pay the fees and meet all requirements for registration in place at the time of your re-application.

The CCP documents are available on the College website.

All registrants in good standing, except those holding a retired class of certificate of registration, are required to complete the CCP on an annual basis. This includes registrants in the inactive class of registration.

Access the Online Portal and navigate to the “My Continuing Competence Program Responses” under your profile name. Click on “Update CCP Declaration” to answer the CCP questions and upload supporting documents, if applicable.

The College has the authority to suspend your certificate of registration if you do not complete the CCP.

You can submit your application for the retired class of certificate of registration through the Online Portal. For details, click here.

If you resign your registration or retire and wish to return to the practice in the future, you must re-apply for registration.

You will be required to complete an application form, submit all of the required documentation, pay fees and meet all requirements for registration in place at the time you re-apply.

NOTE: If you think you might want to return to practice in the future, you may wish to apply for a certificate of registration in the inactive class instead.

No. You are not entitled to practise social work or social service work (including part-time or on a volunteer basis).

You can use the protected titles “social worker,” “registered social worker,” “social service worker” or “registered social service worker” immediately followed by “retired” in English or “retraité” in French.

                                      Example: Jane Doe, RSSW, Retired

You can submit your notice of resignation through the Online Portal. Click on “Request Status Change” under your profile name and select the “Notice of Resignation” application.

If you do not have access to the Online Portal, you can send an email request to info@ocswssw.org. Your email should contain your full name and registration number must clearly indicate that you wish to resign or cancel your registration with the College.

Before initiating the resignation process, please read the information on the Notice of Resignation webpage.

If you want to re-apply for registration with the College in the future, you will be required to complete a new application for registration, submit all the required documentation, pay the fees and meet all the requirements for registration in place at the time of re-application.

No. The College is not able to offer an instalment plan for the annual renewal fee.