{"id":7039,"date":"2023-12-11T13:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T18:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebao.ca\/?p=7039"},"modified":"2024-02-21T10:31:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T15:31:28","slug":"int-ceo-registrar-bao-progressing-to-become-a-more-effective-modern-bereavement-regulator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebao.ca\/stage\/int-ceo-registrar-bao-progressing-to-become-a-more-effective-modern-bereavement-regulator\/","title":{"rendered":"Int. CEO\/Registrar – BAO progressing to become a more\u00a0effective, modern bereavement regulator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Jim Cassimatis, <\/em>
Interim CEO\/Registrar, BAO <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Interim CEO\/Registrar’s message <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next year will be an ambitious one for us at the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, board, management and staff at the BAO have made the most of 2023 setting a foundation for progress on our path to become a more effective, modern regulator for grieving families \u2013 the consumers of the bereavement sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 2023 calendar year draws to a close, I\u2019m looking back on what we accomplished and learned to set us up for 2024 and beyond.
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To be an effective regulator, an organization needs the right staff and resources. We have great staff and we\u2019re working on having the appropriate resources and tools. 

During the last year, the BAO started on a path toward greater effectiveness and modernization. The BAO had, for its first several years, been under resourced in terms of staffing and technology.

Implementing 46, or 90 per cent, of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario\u2019s 51 BAO recommended action items has been a good start for us.

Sustainability<\/strong>

We knew that achieving those action items also meant we needed a significant increase to our licensing fees, from which we are wholly funded.

So, we started 2023 by making sure we would be appropriately funded to meet and sustain the regulatory demands of a growing population and the BAO\u2019s expanded role \u2013 as necessitated by recommendations of the Auditor General.

Last winter, we informed the Ministry of Public and Business Services Delivery, consumers and our 9,500 business and personal licensees of our proposed increase to regulatory fees. It all became official in May<\/a> with the announcement of the fee increase that started going into effect last July for the 2024 licensing year.

Thanks to the increased fee, we can maintain our staff expansion of 10 positions in 2022, which grew the BAO to 38 skilled employees. That increase in staff still makes us one of the smallest regulators in Ontario.

OBIS<\/strong>

The increased fees are also needed for the development of our new information technology system, replacing one dating to the early 1990s under the BAO\u2019s predecessor organization, the Board of Funeral Services.

The BAO will become even more effective next year for the public, licensed businesses and professionals thanks to the implementation of the new system, which we\u2019ve named OBIS \u2013 Ontario Bereavement Information System.

I thank our staff, led by our Information Technology team, for the overall planning and executing the work required to develop OBIS.

From electronic inspection reports and improved tracking and analysis, to sharing bereavement sector data with BAO licensees and the public \u2013 OBIS will provide the tools required to better serve everyone.

The new system will organize the BAO’s expanded services, while tracking progress, licensee compliance and other data analytics.

It will start replacing our archaic system in the new year and is planned to go-live in April.

Among the improvements, OBIS will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n