Testing Accommodations Policy

Date Effective: November 15, 2022

Scope
This policy applies to all candidates who have documented needs related to any human-rights-protected grounds and require Testing Accommodations for the Physiotherapy Competency Examination (PCE).

Principles
The Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR) is committed to providing equitable and accessible services to all examination candidates. CAPR recognizes and performs its duty to respect the independence and dignity of all individuals who may have additional needs related to any human rights protected grounds by ensuring that the PCE is free of barriers to accessibility.

Testing Accommodations are intended to enable candidates to demonstrate their competence by altering the examination environment to compensate for documented needs. Testing Accommodations are not intended to ensure success in the examination for candidates with documented needs; rather, it ensures that all candidates are given a fair and equitable chance to succeed in the PCE.

CAPR considers the following fundamental principles for each review and decision made in response to a Testing Accommodations request:

CAPR’s Duty to Accommodate. CAPR will protect every candidate’s right to demonstrate competence within the context of the PCE, in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Equality Rights:

Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.1

CAPR’s Duty to Protect the Public. CAPR will uphold its mandate to support physiotherapy regulators across the country in their duty to protect the public by ensuring a fair, secure, valid, and reliable exam that assesses whether a candidate has the abilities, knowledge, and skills to conduct safe, effective, and independent physiotherapy practice.

Definitions
For the purposes of this policy:

Disability: any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment – or a functional limitation – whether permanent, temporary, or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with any barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.

Note: throughout CAPR documentation related to Testing Accommodations, we use the term “impairment” to mean disability.

Activity/Functional Limitation: a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action.3

Barrier: anything physical, architectural, technological or attitudinal, anything that is based on information or communications, or anything that is the result of a policy or a practice that hinders the full and equal participation in society of persons with an impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment or a functional limitation.4

Reasonable accommodation: necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.5

Undue hardship: the nature or requirements of the Testing Accommodation being requested will entail significant difficulty or expense.6

Note: In the context of the PCE, undue hardship relates to factors such as disproportionate costs, staffing limitations, test centre or platform restrictions, and risks to examination integrity (the fairness, security, validity, and/or reliability of the examination).

Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to outline the standards, procedures, and other considerations related to Testing Accommodations for the PCE.

Policy

  1. Eligible examinations candidates with a documented need based on any human-rights-protected ground may submit a Testing Accommodations request for the PCE.
  2. Testing Accommodations requests and all required supporting documentation must be received by CAPR by the application deadline of the relevant exam in order to be considered. Late requests will not be reviewed; the candidate will be notified.
  3. CAPR reviews all Testing Accommodations requests received by the deadline on a case-by-case basis in accordance with examinations policies.
  4. All requests are confidential and are managed in accordance with CAPR’s Privacy Policy, which meets the inherent principles of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act [PIPEDA], and the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act [PHIPA].
  5. Candidates may submit an urgent request in situations of recent injury or illness which occur after the Testing Accommodations request deadline. These requests may be considered by CAPR if received no later than 15 business days before the examination date.
  6. CAPR will officially respond to all Testing Accommodations requests in writing via email.
  7. CAPR is responsible for the cost associated with any approved Testing Accommodations.
  8. CAPR will not alter the examination policies (e.g., the examination passing standard, the number of examination attempts) or the content of the PCE in response to a Testing Accommodations request.
  9. All individuals (e.g., a reader, recorder, external Testing Accommodations consultant) involved in Testing Accommodations must sign an agreement with CAPR stating that they will not provide any assistance to the candidate other than that agreed to by CAPR in the context of the accommodations, or attempt to copy or recall any exam materials, in accordance with CAPR’s Rules of Conduct and Examination Security.
  10. CAPR is not required to grant the same Testing Accommodations to candidates as were granted to them by their post-secondary institution.
  11. The outcome of a Testing Accommodations request is valid only for the examination date specified in the request.
  12. The outcome of a Testing Accommodations request for a particular administration of the PCE does not obligate CAPR to provide to the candidate the same or different Testing Accommodations for any future administration of the PCE.
  13. The outcome of a Testing Accommodations request cannot form any part of the basis of an application for Administrative Reconsideration.

Potential Outcomes:
Each Testing Accommodation requested as part of the overall Testing Accommodation request is evaluated individually, and one of the following outcomes is provided.

  1. The requested Testing Accommodation is approved.
    • The supporting documentary evidence is current (meets CAPR’s validity timeline), describes the documented impairment(s), describes the impact of the functional limitation(s) on the candidate’s ability to take the PCE, and provides a rationale for the requested Testing Accommodation that is in alignment with the candidate’s functional limitations; and
    • The requested Testing Accommodation is reasonable and does not cause undue hardship.
  2. The requested Testing Accommodation is modified.
    • The requested Testing Accommodation is not in alignment with the documented impairment(s), functional limitation(s), rationale(s), and/or recommendation(s) provided in the supporting documentary evidence; and/or
    • The requested Testing Accommodation is not reasonable, and/or causes undue hardship.
  3. The requested Testing Accommodation is denied.
    • The supporting documentary evidence is not current, and/or does not adequately describe the documented impairment(s), and/or does not describe the impact of the functional limitation(s) 4 on the candidate’s ability to take the PCE, and/or does not provide a rationale for the requested Testing Accommodations that is in alignment with the candidate’s functional limitations; and/or
    • The requested Testing Accommodation is not reasonable, and/or causes undue hardship.

Procedure

Eligible examination candidates must submit a complete Testing Accommodations request and related supporting documentation through the Client Portal by the application deadline of the relevant examination. This includes:

  • A complete Testing Accommodations Request form.
  • Supporting medical documentation that contains recommendations on the appropriate Testing Accommodations based on a comprehensive assessment conducted by a regulated healthcare provider. This can be communicated through:
    • The Healthcare Provider Form, and/or
    • A complete psychoeducational, neuropsychological, or psychological assessment report (for the relevant conditions)
  • Any additional supporting documentary evidence deemed relevant by the regulated healthcare provider.

Assessment reports and supporting documentary evidence must be based on a clinical assessment completed by a regulated healthcare provider with the legislative authority to diagnose and manage the candidate’s impairments. Evidence provided must be based on a clinical assessment which has been conducted within the validity timelines outlined below. CAPR will not review documentary evidence that does not fall within these timelines.

ADHD/ADD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Learning and Intellectual DisabilitiesWithin five years of the PCE examination date
Psychiatric DisordersWithin twelve months of the PCE examination date
Brain InjuriesWithin twelve months of the PCE examination date
Acute Physical and Sensory Impairments, Pregnancy and Post-partum Considerations, and Other Medical ConditionsWithin twelve months of the PCE examination date

A complete Testing Accommodations request must be received by CAPR by the examination deadline of the relevant exam. When a late request is received, the candidate is informed that it will not be reviewed, and is provided with the options available to them (take the exam without Testing Accommodations, reschedule to another exam date that allows sufficient time for the Testing Accommodations request to be processed, or withdraw from the exam), as well as information about the fees associated with these options.

Upon receipt of the complete request, CAPR will appoint two CAPR staff to conduct a review of the request and the documentary evidence. Additional staff will be consulted for non-precedent requests. The services of an external Testing Accommodations consultant may be sought for complex cases.

Should additional information or documentary evidence be required, CAPR staff will inform the candidate via email, and outline the deadline for providing this information. All requested additional documentation must be received by CAPR via mail or email by the deadline outlined.

NOTE: Delays in responding to requests from CAPR staff (either in submitting additional documentation or in reviewing and signing the Testing Accommodations Plan) will delay the outcome of the review of the candidate’s request, and the implementation of the Testing Accommodations. Should delays on the part of the candidate result in required documentation not being received by CAPR within the specified timelines, CAPR will be unable to provide the requested Testing Accommodation(s).

Upon completion of the review of the request, CAPR staff will contact the candidate via email and provide a Testing Accommodations Plan for review and signature. The Testing Accommodations Plan must be signed and returned to CAPR via email by the deadline outlined. No further action will be taken by CAPR staff until the candidate returns a signed Testing Accommodations Plan.

Upon receipt of the signed Testing Accommodations Plan, CAPR and the test delivery partner will implement the plan.

NOTE: that not all test centres or modes of exam delivery (test centre vs. remotely proctored) are able to implement a candidate’s approved Testing Accommodations Plan, and, therefore, CAPR cannot guarantee that the candidate will be able to select their preferred test centre or exam delivery mode.

A candidate can withdraw their Testing Accommodations request at any time. To do so, the candidate must send an email stating that they are making an informed decision to challenge the exam without testing accommodations.

¹ https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art15.html

² Accessible Canada Act S.C. 2019, C. 10 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/A-0.6/page-1.html#h-1153392

³ Federal Disability Reference Guide https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/disability/arc/referenceguide.html#h2.3-h3.4

⁴ Accessible Canada Act S.C. 2019, C. 10 https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/A-0.6/page-1.html#h-1153392

⁵ United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-2-definitions.html

⁶ The Duty to Accommodate, Canadian Human Rights Commission. https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/about-human-rights/what-theduty-accommodate