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Advertising and Public Communications by Podiatrists

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Professional Standards Regarding Advertising and Public Communications by Podiatrists

Preamble

Canadian law recognizes advertising by professionals as protected free speech, with such advertising to be regulated to maintain a high standard of professionalism.

Professional Standard(s)

1. Podiatrists must ensure that any public communication is compatible with the best interests of the public and upholds the reputation of their profession.

2. Regardless of the medium, all communication by podiatrists with the public must not be misleading or deceptive. Communication must be appropriate to the setting, truthful, and within the podiatrist scope of practice, as well as considering the overall integrity and reputation of the profession. All advertising and communication must be compliant with copyright law and all other applicable legislation.

3. Advertising

Specifically, any communication by podiatrists with the public must not:

  1. claim or imply any superiority of a particular podiatrist or service over any other member or services of the profession;
  2. attack competitors, disparage their services, products, or business methods;
  3. create unrealistic or unjustified expectations of beneficial treatment or guarantees about results;
  4. present information that is outside of the scope of podiatrists;
  5. present information that is non-compliant with patient confidentiality requirements;
  6. disclose identifying patient information unless the patient’s prior consent has been obtained;
  7. present information outside of broadly accepted evidence-based research and information;
  8. offer any inducements for the public to seek a medical service; and
  9. be non-compliant with CPSNS standards or policies.

4. Titles

Podiatrists may only use titles approved by the Medical Act Regulations for their profession:

  1. a person holding a podiatrist licence is authorized to use the designation “Podiatrist”, “Doctor of Podiatric Medicine”, “Pod.”, or any derivation or abbreviation of those designations;
  2. podiatrists are authorized to use the designation “Doctor” or “Dr.” only if it is used with the word “podiatry” or a derivation of the word “podiatry”.

5. Fees

When a podiatrist is advertising medical care that is not a publicly insured service, the podiatrist has an obligation to communicate that fees will be charged to patients.

6. Special Interest Identification 

When advertising a special interest within their practice, podiatrists must be able to demonstrate the interest is supported by relevant training, experience, and continuing professional development. If podiatrists have received certification in a special interest area, they must identify the certifying body.

Definitions

Advertising is any communication, in any medium, whether spoken, text or image based, that has for one of its purposes, the promotion of the podiatrist, clinic, or group with which the podiatrist is directly or indirectly associated.

Public communication is the transmission of information to the public in any medium, including online and social media communications.

Special interest refers to a specific area that a clinical chooses to focus on and develop deeper expertise in, beyond their general scope of practice.

Resources

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia:

Canadian Medical Protective Association:

Health Canada

Ad Standards

Acknowledgements

The development of this College standard was informed by similar documents produced by the Nova Scotia Podiatry Association, Health & Care Professions Council, and the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta.

Document History

First approved by the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia: March 21, 2025

© 2025 College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia