ONTARIO REGISTERED PSYCHOTHERAPISTS DISCIPLINE TRIBUNAL
Tribunal File No.: 25-005-RP
BETWEEN:
College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists of Ontario
College
- and -
Dilnawaz Qamar
Registrant
FINDING AND PENALTY REASONS
Heard: February 2, 2026
Panel:
Jennifer Scott (chair) Steven Boychyn (public) Shelley Briscoe-Dimock (psychotherapist) Janet Cullen (psychotherapist) Kevin Sack (public)
Appearances:
Joanna Birenbaum, for the College Rebecca Young, for the registrant
RESTRICTION ON PUBLICATION
Pursuant to Rule 2.2.2 of the HPDT Rules of Procedure and ss. 45-47 of the Health Professions Procedural Code, no one shall publish or broadcast the names of clients or any information that could identify clients or disclose clients’ personal health information or health records referred to at a hearing or in any documents filed with the Tribunal. There may be significant fines for breaching this restriction.
The Ontario Registered Psychotherapists Discipline Tribunal is the Discipline Committee established under the Health Professions Procedural Code.
Introduction
1The registrant, Dilnawaz Qamar, blurred the line between friendship and professional practice when she provided personal emotional support to her friend, Mr. A. She contravened the profession’s standards of practice when she asked Mr. A to sign a consent to disclose personal health information and when she wrote a professional letter intended for Mr. A’s workplace falsely stating she was Mr. A’s psychotherapist. In that letter, she described the symptoms Mr. A was purportedly experiencing and the treatment she claimed to be providing. Ms. Qamar did not treat Mr. A. When Ms. Qamar learned a complaint about her conduct had been made to the College by Mr. A’s spouse, she told Mr. A and his spouse that they could be sued for making a false complaint. She discussed putting an end to the complaint with Mr. A in an attempt to undermine the College’s role as her regulator.
2Ms. Qamar admits that these acts constitute professional misconduct.
3The College and Ms. Qamar agree that the penalty should be a four-month suspension, individualized ethics instruction, counselling, supervision and a reprimand. Our role on a joint submission is limited. We must make the requested order unless it would bring the administration of the professional discipline system into disrepute. The parties’ proposal does not do so, and we made the requested order at the hearing. These are our reasons.
The Misconduct
4From December 2023 to July 2024, Ms. Qamar formed a friendship with Mr. A. She spent hours on the phone with him discussing personal matters, including supporting him with his workplace stresses and anxieties. She had in-person meetings with Mr. A at her office.
5On April 17, 2024, Ms. Qamar asked Mr. A to sign a formal consent to disclose personal health information. Ms. Qamar did not have a treating relationship with Mr. A.
6On May 16, 2024, Ms. Qamar wrote a letter on her professional letterhead stating she was Mr. A’s treating psychotherapist and described the course of treatment she claimed to be providing. This information was false. The letter included a description of the symptoms Mr. A was purportedly experiencing. Ms. Qamar knew the letter would be submitted to Mr. A’s workplace.
7On July 11, 2024, Mr. A’s spouse told Ms. Qamar that she had made a complaint to the College about her conduct. Ms. Qamar sent an email to Mr. A’s spouse that day in which she made demeaning and insulting statements about her and said she and Mr. A could be sued for making a complaint to the College. In a text exchange between Ms. Qamar and Mr. A on July 13, 2024, Ms. Qamar talked about putting an end to the complaint. On July 31, 2024, Mr. A’s spouse was served with a cease-and-desist letter by Ms. Qamar’s then legal counsel.
8Ms. Qamar admits that she blurred professional boundaries and failed to maintain the standards of practice when she: provided personal emotional support to Mr. A, sent a consent to disclose personal information to Mr. A, wrote a false letter claiming to be Mr. A’s treating psychotherapist, and threatened Mr. A and his spouse for making a complaint to the College. It is improper to discourage the filing of complaints and interfering in the regulatory process when they are filed. In doing so, Ms. Qamar misused the privilege of being a registered health professional.
9When she acted in this way, Ms. Qamar committed the following misconduct under s. 1 of Ontario Regulation 317/12 under the Psychotherapy Act, 2007, S0 2007, c. 10 (Professional Misconduct Regulation). She failed to maintain the standards of practice of the profession (para. 1), notably the General Conduct (Standard 1.5) and Maintaining Professional Boundaries (Standard 1.7.4) standards. She signed a document that she knew contained a false statement (para. 26) and falsified a record (para. 27). Her conduct was disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional (para. 52) and unbecoming a member of the profession (para 53).
Penalty
10Our role is limited when the parties agree on penalty. We should only depart from a joint submission if the proposed penalty is not in the public interest because it would bring the administration of justice into disrepute or is contrary to the public interest in some other way: R. v. Anthony-Cook, 2016 SCC 43 at para. 32.
11A joint submission is not in the public interest when it is so unhinged from the circumstances of the case that reasonable and informed persons aware of those circumstances believe the proper functioning of the professional discipline system has broken down: Anthony-Cook at para. 34. This is a very high bar.
12The most important goal of a penalty order is the protection of the public. The public must have confidence in Ms. Qamar, the profession and the College’s ability to govern the profession in the public interest. Other penalty goals that support protection of the public include discouraging Ms. Qamar and other registrants from committing misconduct (specific and general deterrence), rehabilitating Ms. Qamar, ensuring a safe return to practice and expressing the Tribunal and the profession’s disapproval of the misconduct.
13We are satisfied the joint submission on penalty achieves the above purposes and is not contrary to the public interest. The lengthy suspension and reprimand send a strong message to Ms. Qamar and to other members of the profession that serious consequences will result if they fail to maintain appropriate boundaries in their personal and professional lives, if they falsify records to convey a clinical relationship that does not exist and if they attempt to discourage complaints from being filed.
14The suspension is also consistent with the cases provided by the College, especially when considering that the misconduct before us involves numerous forms of misconduct – making false statements, discouraging reporting to the College, and unprofessional comments. See, for example, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers v. Mayer, 2023 ONCSWSSW 12; College of Chiropodists of Ontario v. Mandlsohn, 2025 ONCPDT 7 and ONCRPO v. Haramic, 2018 ONCRPO 1.
15Finally, the requirement for further education, counselling and supervision will help to reduce the possibility of similar misconduct in the future. The penalty protects the public and demonstrates the College’s professional discipline system is working. It is accepted for these reasons. The parties’ agreement on costs is also reasonable and is based on the tariff.
Order
16We made the following order:
Penalty
The Tribunal requires the registrant to appear before the panel to be reprimanded.
The Tribunal directs the Registrar to:
a. suspend the registrant’s certificate of registration for a period of four (4) months, commencing February 3, 2026 at 12:01am and concluding on June 2, 2026 at 11:59pm.
b. place the following terms, conditions and limitations on the registrant’s certificate of registration, effective February 3, 2026 at 12:01 a.m., all of which shall be completed at the Registrant’s own expense:
i. Within six months of the Tribunal’s Order, the Registrant shall participate in and successfully complete individualized instruction in professional ethics and boundaries, satisfactory to the College, with an instructor approved by the College. The instructor shall provide a summative report to the College, including their conclusion about whether the Registrant successfully completed the instruction.
ii. The Registrant shall attend counselling sessions with a psychotherapist approved by the College (the “counsellor”), focused on boundaries, communications, professionalism, conflict of interest, and ethics. The counsellor shall be provided with a copy of the Notice of Hearing, Agreed Statement of Facts (including exhibits), July 11, 2024 email sent by the Registrant to the complainant, and the Tribunal’s reasons for decision. The counselling sessions shall continue until such time as the counsellor confirms in writing, to the satisfaction of the Registrar, that the Registrant has demonstrated insight into her conduct and can apply the standards of practice. If the counselling sessions are not completed by August 3, 2027, the matter may be referred to the Registrar for investigation.
iii. For a period of twelve (12) months following the Registrant’s return to practice, the Registrant shall be required to practice under supervision of a supervisor approved by the Registrar, with the practice supervision focused on communications, conflict of interest, boundaries, and professionalism. The supervision shall include at least ten (10) meetings between the supervisor and Registrant. Within thirty (30) days of the completion of the supervision, the Registrant shall ensure that the supervisor submits a written report to the Registrar which confirms that the Registrant co-operated and complied with the supervision, incorporated advice from the supervisor, and which sets out the position of the supervisor as to the Registrant’s communications, conflict of interest and professionalism skills.
Costs
- The Tribunal requires the registrant to pay the College costs in the amount of $4,700.00, paid by quarterly instalments (i.e. every three (3) months) of $1,175.00 each, beginning thirty (30) days after the date of the Tribunal’s order.