This bill modernizes the Ambulance Services Act by aligning terminology and oversight with the Regulated Health Professions Act Paramedics Regulations (EC218/24). It replaces references to 'emergency medical technician' with 'paramedic', defines 'paramedic' and 'paramedicine' by reference to the provincial regulatory regime, and substitutes the historic Board with the College of Paramedicine of Prince Edward Island.
Substantively, the bill removes the statutory requirement that ambulance operators retain a medical advisor and replaces provisions that previously routed certain operational controls through a medical advisor with an explicit power for the Director to issue written directives and impose reporting requirements on operators. The text also tightens employment rules (operators may only employ regulated paramedics to practise paramedicine) and updates inspection and gendered-language provisions throughout the Act.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill updates definitions to adopt 'paramedic' and 'paramedicine' as regulated terms, removes the statutory medical-advisor role, empowers the Director to issue directives and reporting requirements to ambulance operators, and names the College of Paramedicine as the statutorily referenced regulator.
Who It Affects
Ambulance operators across PEI, regulated paramedics and paramedicine applicants, the Department of Health (Director and inspectors), and the College of Paramedicine will face new statutory roles and obligations. Small or community operators that previously relied on a retained medical advisor are particularly affected.
Why It Matters
This harmonizes ambulance-service law with the province's professional-regulation framework, shifts clinical and operational accountability, and creates a clearer enforcement channel (Director directives) that can change how clinical practice and service delivery are supervised and audited.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill systematically modernizes the Ambulance Services Act to reflect that paramedicine is now regulated under the Regulated Health Professions Act and its Paramedics Regulations. Definitions for 'paramedic' and 'paramedicine' are added by reference to those regulations and the statute's wartime references to 'emergency medical technician' are replaced.
That change is not cosmetic: it explicitly ties who may practise on ambulances to the provincial licensing scheme.
A central operational change is the repeal of the Act's requirement that an operator retain a medical advisor and the repeal of the statutory duties that flowed from that advisor role. Where the previous law channeled certain advisory and oversight functions through a medical advisor, the bill gives the Director of Ambulance Services the express authority to issue written directives to operators and to impose reporting requirements.
Operators are required to comply with those directives and reporting obligations.The bill also tightens employment rules: an operator cannot employ a person who is not a paramedic to practise paramedicine in the course of employment, and must not permit paramedics to provide services outside the Act, regulations, protocols and guidelines. Inspection powers are clarified to permit inspection, examination and testing of vehicles, equipment and patient-care supplies used or intended for use in ambulance services.
Several drafting cleanups—replacement of gendered pronouns and renaming the Board reference to the College of Paramedicine of Prince Edward Island—align the Ambulance Services Act with the new regulatory architecture.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill adds definitions of 'paramedic' and 'paramedicine' by reference to the Regulated Health Professions Act Paramedics Regulations (EC218/24).
It repeals the statutory requirement for an ambulance operator to retain a medical advisor (repealing section 6 and related references).
The Director gains explicit authority to issue written directives to operators and to impose reporting requirements; operators must comply with those directives.
Operators are prohibited from employing or allowing a person who is not a regulated paramedic to practise paramedicine in their employment (new text replacing section 14).
The Act now refers to the College of Paramedicine of Prince Edward Island in place of the former Board and clarifies inspection language to include patient care equipment and supplies 'used or intended to be used' by operators.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Definitions updated to paramedic and paramedicine
This section removes obsolete terms ('emergency medical technician', 'medical advisor', 'Board') and inserts references to 'paramedic' and 'paramedicine' as defined in the Paramedics Regulations under the Regulated Health Professions Act. Practically, that ties scopes of practice and mutability of professional titles to the separate professional-regulation regime rather than to legacy Ambulance Services Act language.
Director issues directives; reporting requirements established
Subsections 3(3)–(6) are repealed and replaced with a two-part mechanism: the Director may issue written directives to operators and may impose reporting requirements; operators must comply. That converts a previous medical-advisor-centered chain of operational control into an administrative enforcement tool resting with the Director, creating a direct statutory route for the Department to set and enforce operational policy.
Removal of medical advisor duties and related references
The bill deletes the heading and the substantive section that laid out the medical advisor role and duties, and removes other references to retaining a medical advisor. Operators no longer have a statutory obligation to engage a medical advisor; clinical oversight responsibilities previously tied to that advisor are instead redistributed to the Director and to the professional regulator where applicable.
Inspection powers and inspector language clarified
The Act now authorizes inspectors to inspect, examine and test any vehicle equipment and patient care equipment and supplies used or intended for use by operators. The bill also replaces gendered pronouns with functional language ('the inspector's'), tightening the statutory text and broadening the scope of items subject to inspection.
References to Board replaced by College of Paramedicine
Where the Ambulance Services Act referenced a 'Board', the bill substitutes the College of Paramedicine of Prince Edward Island. That names the statutory external body now expected to act as the professional regulator for paramedics, signaling a shift from the Act's internal governance references toward the province's regulated-health-professions framework.
Paramedics take the place of EMTs; employment and practice prohibitions
Headings and multiple provisions that previously used 'emergency medical technicians' are replaced with 'paramedics'. Section 14 is replaced to make it an explicit offence for an operator to employ someone who is not a paramedic to practise paramedicine, and to bar operators from permitting paramedics to provide services inconsistent with the Act, regulations, protocols and guidelines. These changes operationalize the regulatory exclusivity of licensed paramedics.
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Explore this topic in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Regulated paramedics — Clear statutory linkage to the Paramedics Regulations secures exclusive use of the title and practice of paramedicine and integrates clinical standards under the College framework.
- Patients and the public — Standardization under the professional-regulation regime and clarified inspection authority aim to improve consistency of care and safety oversight.
- Department of Health (Director) — Gains a direct statutory enforcement lever (written directives and reporting requirements) to manage system-wide clinical and operational issues without relying on retained medical advisors.
Who Bears the Cost
- Ambulance operators — Must adjust to the removal of the medical-advisor model, comply with Director-issued directives and reporting obligations, and ensure all employed clinicians are regulated paramedics.
- Small or community providers in rural areas — May face recruitment and compliance challenges if locally available personnel lack paramedic licensure or if retaining a physician advisor was previously cost-effective.
- College of Paramedicine and professional regulator — Will inherit increased administrative and disciplinary responsibilities (and potentially higher expectations for practice guidance) once referenced formally in the Act.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill balances two legitimate goals—centralized, enforceable operational control and modern professional regulation—against each other: centralizing authority with the Director and naming a professional College improves standardization and accountability, but it risks weakening clinical governance previously anchored by a local medical advisor and may strain small providers who lack immediate access to regulated paramedics.
The bill relocates clinical oversight from a retained medical-advisor model to a combination of Director-issued directives and professional regulation by the College of Paramedicine. That redistribution leaves practical gaps to be resolved: protocols, clinical advisory lines and accountability for on-scene clinical decisions are now divided between administrative directives and professional-regulation standards.
The Act does not itself set out how Director directives will interact with College standards or established clinical protocols, which creates potential for conflict or duplication unless operational memoranda or inter-institutional agreements fill the gap.
Operationally, smaller operators may struggle with the ban on employing non-paramedics to practise paramedicine if workforce supply lags the regulatory change. The bill imposes no transitional exemptions in the text; any short-term allowance would need to come from regulations, Ministerial direction, or College practice permits.
Finally, the enforcement model leans on the Director's ability to draft and enforce directives and reporting requirements, which increases administrative control but also concentrates discretionary power without new, detailed statutory limits on scope, timelines, appeal routes or penalties.
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