OMA elections: Frequently asked questions

The OMA elections process is guided by a commitment to continual improvement and strong governance principles. We regularly assess our policies and practices to ensure they reflect member feedback, evolving best practices, and legal requirements. This year, the board approved several enhancements designed to strengthen transparency, ensure candidates’ skills and experience align with the board’s needs, as well as increase the diversity of the pool of board director candidates, and ensure continued compliance with the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA), which came into full force in 2024. These changes are reflected in our Single Election Period – Policy and Procedure, Board Recruitment Policy and Elections Communication Guidelines.

Board Candidates

This year, the board approved skills-based screening criteria for board candidates, ensuring nominees have relevant governance and leadership experiences appropriate for a provincial medical association board.

These new requirements are two-fold: 1) a set of core competencies, and 2) the addition of prioritized skills, identified annually to address emerging organizational needs.

Any OMA member in good standing, who resides or works in Ontario, can still put their name forward for consideration during the nominations process. A third-party candidate evaluation, overseen by the Governance and Nominating Committee (GNC), will review all candidates against the skills-based screening criteria and produce a shortlist of qualified candidates. This shortlist will consist of a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of four (4) candidates per open position to support informed member choice without overwhelming ballots. The total number of candidates to be shortlisted will depend on the skills and experience in the initial pool of candidates, the board’s identified needs, and the number of vacancies available in any given year.

As part of our commitment to transparency and accountability, and to support voters’ decision-making, an annual summary report of the board’s skills and experience will be published in advance of the single election voting period.

President-Elect Candidates

There are no changes to elections for president-elect this year.

Constituency Group Candidates

Social media checks will now include constituency group chair (sections, districts and fora) candidates, to strengthen alignment with the Member Code of Conduct & Civility. These social media checks are already in place for board and president-elect candidates.

As part of the application process, candidates will be asked to provide all their social media handles/usernames. Failure to provide this information makes it impossible to complete the required social media checks and may result in the application being deemed incomplete.

These checks are limited to publicly available content and focus only on material inconsistent with the OMA’s mission, vision, and values, or its Member Code of Conduct & Civility, such as illegal activity, violent behaviour, sexually explicit content, or expressions of intolerance. They do not assess or consider political opinions, perspectives on the OMA, or views about the health-care system.

Concerns arising from a candidate’s social media check will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with the candidate and OMA Legal to determine whether there are impacts on eligibility to hold office.

Election Communications Guidelines

The communication guidelines have been updated to provide more clarity around what types of candidate communications are permitted during the election period. We have also made the following changes, based on feedback we received from voters and candidates:

• The communication guidelines apply to all OMA elections.
• Candidates communicating on social media or to their own personal networks may share biographical information, experience and skills, request member support (e.g., “I am standing for election and would appreciate your support”), and encourage members to participate in the election and vote, but must continue to refrain from “traditional campaigning” (i.e., campaign promises, negative comments on other candidates).
• Board members and officers may promote OMA elections in a neutral manner, by encouraging voter participation and sharing official election information. General social media engagement (such as “liking” or sharing an OMA election post) is not considered an endorsement of any candidate. However, they must not publicly express support for, or opposition to, any specific candidate.

An all-board director and president-elect candidate meeting will be scheduled following the close of nominations to learn about the process, allowed activities, key deadlines and address any questions.

From the close of nominations until the end of the voting period, the OMA will not disseminate to members, by any means, communications that support individual candidates. Similarly, current OMA physician leaders cannot use OMA communications channels to send communications to members that support individual candidates.

Members who do not hold an OMA leadership position and are not running for a position in the election will on occasion use their own personal communications channels to endorse or support individual candidates. Members are free to express their personal opinions as they see fit, but the OMA discourages any activity or messaging that may undermine the democratic process. 

Every year, we conduct an annual review of elections, seeking feedback from voters, candidates, and OMA leaders. For the past several years, we have consistently received feedback from members that the increasing number of board candidates presents a significant challenge to voters in making an informed decision. Last year, we had 39 candidates for four board director roles. Voters and candidates told us that we must make changes to better support decision-making. Voters wanted to know that regardless of who they vote for, that they could feel confident that the candidate possessed a solid foundation of experience and skills appropriate for a board of a large, complex medical association.

We also heard from members and candidates that constituency group chairs need additional accountability mechanisms to ensure that they are adhering to the Member Code of Conduct & Civility in their social media activities.

In addition to listening to the clear and consistent feedback from members, we also received feedback from our third-party recruiters Promeus Inc. and LHH Knightsbridge and conducted an environmental scan of other professional associations election policies and processes.

These changes did not require bylaw amendments; they were all within the purview of existing board policies.

This year’s nomination and voting timelines have been adjusted with nominations opening two weeks later than usual, running for four weeks (Nov. 20-Dec. 17, 2025), and voting will be open for two weeks (Feb. 23-Mar. 10, 2026), as required by the OMA Elections Policy.

To enable these improvements, the board approved unlinking the voting period from the annual OMA dues renewal cycle. This change provides greater flexibility to enhance member engagement, avoids the year-end period when members are often busiest, and allows sufficient time for thorough candidate evaluation, including the new screening process supported by a third-party recruiter. Engagement data also indicated no increase in voter participation when the two processes were previously linked.

With the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) in full effect as of last year, external legal counsel recommended we update our voting method to ensure we are better aligned with the legislation as it pertains to the election of board directors.

ONCA requires that board directors be elected by “ordinary resolution”, which means they receive a simple majority of the votes cast. Our previous preferential ballot method used for OMA board elections will not yield the required majority for winners. Therefore, we have moved to a “plurality block voting” method, where voters will select one candidate for each open position on the board. In the unlikely event that an elected candidate doesn’t receive the required majority (more than 50 per cent +1 of votes cast), the results will be brought forward to members at the OMA’s Annual General Meeting for ratification. This will satisfy the ONCA requirement.

We have also reinstituted our process of a simple yes/no ratification vote for non-physician board members seeking re-election to ensure compliance with ONCA, provided the director continues to be eligible, performs well as compared to the board’s median performance indicators, and has skills and experience that align with the board’s current and anticipated needs. Other strategic priorities or external factors influencing board composition may also be considered.

Voting for all other constituency positions will continue to use the preferential ballot method, as the ONCA requirements do not pertain to these elections.

We have also added a provision for member-driven nominations. Under ONCA, members can put forward a nominee to be placed directly on the ballot by securing the signatures of at least 5 per cent of members. This provides a mechanism for members to bypass the shortlisting process. Although this mechanism was available during past elections, it did not have a practical application since our election process allowed for any member who met the eligibility criteria in the bylaws to put their name forward to be put on the ballot.

The aim of these changes is to ensure highly qualified candidates are presented to the membership, and to support member confidence in the fairness and transparency of OMA elections. All members will continue to have an equal chance to self-nominate for the board, president-elect, or constituency group to which they are an eligible member during the nominations period. And all members will continue to have the final say on who sits on the board by the election itself.

The OMA board, through the Governance and Nominating Committee (GNC), provides oversight for the OMA’s election policies, procedures, and shortlisting process to ensure fairness, transparency, and alignment with governance best practices. The Immediate Past President, on behalf of the board, oversees the election itself. Member engagement is a shared priority for the President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President, and through their ongoing connection with members, the Immediate Past President is well-positioned to oversee and promote this important democratic process.

The board of directors, as individuals and as a collective, exercises its duties of oversight, care, skill, diligence, integrity and transparency to ensure effective, efficient and agile board performance that leads to OMA mission realization.

Individual board directors do not represent the interests of any single constituency group, but the interests of all members.

The board duties include the following:

• Provide strategic oversight to the CEO’s management of OMA business and the integrity and effectiveness of all governance affairs of the OMA
• Provide advice and guidance on matters related to risk management and financial stewardship
• Exercise power, as appropriate, according to OMA bylaws, governance policies, and applicable laws and regulations
• Protect the best interests of the OMA, as a whole, and not the interests of any specific stakeholder entity or constituency
• Consistently be guided by high integrity and ethics when executing responsibilities
• Act in good faith and demonstrate fiduciary duty to the OMA and its membership

The OMA Board’s matrix of core competencies and skills was refreshed based on advice from our third-party partner, Promeus Inc., consultation and review by the board and OMA staff, and is now comprised of the following (not in ranked order):

• Governance & Fiduciary Oversight
• Healthcare System & Professional Insight
• Strategic & Transformational Thinking*
• Financial, Risk & Business Acumen
• Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility (EDIA)*
• Member Engagement, Influence & Advocacy
• Innovation & Digital Leadership*

* Skills identified as priority areas for 2025-26 recruitment.

Promeus Inc., who supports the recruitment and nomination process, will use this skills matrix during their interview process and in support of the creation of the president-elect and board candidate profiles.

Formal governance roles, on a board or equivalent, committee or oversight leadership, executive or operational roles with fiduciary responsibility, elected or appointed leadership in complex organizations, and other external equivalent experience such as serving on a tribunal, commission, or advisory council with decision-making authority and fiduciary obligations, will be considered preferable experience during the third-party evaluation. Specific examples of experience in these areas can be found in the Board Recruitment Policy. In addition to these areas, the third-party recruiters will also consider the Individual Board Director Position Description.

This list of positions may give rise to a potential or real conflict of interest and would disqualify them from sitting on the board as a director or board observer:

1. Being a paid employee in an executive capacity of the MOH (including any government agencies that report to it), which includes positions with titles that include the following:
   
   
   • Vice-president
   • Chief medical officer of health
   • Provincial chief nursing officer
   • Provincial medical director
   • President titles
   • CEO titles
   • Chief, clinical quality
     
     
2. A member of the executive/board/council of an external medical professional advocacy organization
3. Serving on the executive of a section, district or advocacy arm of a section/ district (i.e. committee) 

The following is a list of positions that would not disqualify a person from serving as an OMA director, but it would be appropriate for these positions to be disclosed, and steps to mitigate any potential conflict of interest may be required. Volunteer roles when the volunteer has a fiduciary duty to two separate organizations.

• Serving on a political party in anything more than a consulting capacity
• Serving in municipal politics
• A paid position with a pharmaceutical company
• A member of the CMPA Council
• Paid position in media, i.e. journalist
• A hospital paid position, such as chief of staff, etc.

Physician candidates are eligible to hold office as outlined in the OMA bylaws. They must:

• Be an OMA member
• Reside or practise in Ontario
• Not hold a certificate of registration that is suspended or has been revoked by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
• Have not surrendered, resigned, or not renewed their certificate of registration within one year of an investigation by the college or a suspension of their certificate by the college
• Not hold a certificate of registration that is restricted by the CPSO because of a finding of professional misconduct
• Have not been convicted of an indictable offence under the Criminal Code of Canada

There are three positions on the OMA board for non-physician directors. Our third-party recruitment firm, Promeus, actively recruits for these positions to bring specific skills to the board. Recruitment efforts are guided by the same annual skills prioritization process used for physician directors, ensuring the board has the right mix of governance, financial, legal, strategic expertise and other identified skills to meet its mandate. Non-physician directors are elected by the membership during the single election period.

Re-election

The board chair, in consultation with the third-party recruiter, will assess whether a non-physician director position should be presented to the membership for re-election through a yes/no vote or whether an open recruitment should be undertaken and the recommendation will be brought to the board for approval. The individual non-physician director shall recuse themselves from the board’s discussion and approval process.

This review will be based on a variety of data points, including, eligibility status, the individual’s most recent annual director assessment, compared to the board’s median performance, alignment between the individual’s skills and expertise and the board’s current and anticipated needs, any strategic priorities or external factors influencing board composition, such as diversity and inclusion goals or emerging risks and feedback from the board chair, other board members, and staff regarding the individual’s contribution to board culture and effectiveness. Only those non-physician members initially elected by the membership during the single election period are eligible for yes/no re-election vote. Voting members have indicated that evaluating non-physician candidates is challenging and they prefer to rely on the board’s assessment of their performance to inform their choice to re-elect.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) are among the OMA’s core values. This includes building an association in which all experiences, views and perspectives are represented, especially throughout the governance structure. The new board candidate screening process will further enhance OMA’s ability to ensure EDIA values are embedded into board leadership.

Candidates can be exempt from the reference check process, providing they have had an OMA elections reference check completed within the past 18 months or have participated in the OMA-initiated board director evaluation within the past 12 months.

All OMA members residing in Ontario are eligible to vote. As per the elections procedure, the voter list will be frozen at the close of nominations. There are more than 47,000 eligible voters, each with a confidential voting account set up in their name.

Members are invited to vote in the elections for any open board director positions, the election of president-elect, and in any of the elections for their constituency leader positions (e.g., district or section officers) that are open this year. When a member logs into the voting system, they will automatically see all the polls they are eligible to vote in.

A notice of voting will be sent to all members with instructions on how to vote. Voting takes place online. If a member cannot vote online, they can request a paper ballot, which can be completed and returned by mail. The deadlines to request a paper ballot and return the ballot will appear in the notice of voting and on the elections webpage.

The OMA is committed to accessibility and to removing barriers to member participation. If you have unique needs or face challenges that make it difficult to vote either online or by paper ballot, please reach out to the OMA elections team to discuss ways to support your participation.

All constituency leaders, the president-elect and the new board directors begin their terms at the close of the annual OMA AGM.