Our Not-for-Profit Model

No. Continuum is a non-charitable not-for-profit organization operating on a commercial, fee-for-service basis. It does not depend on donations or volunteer labour and does not issue charitable tax receipts.

No. Continuum charges professional fees and may generate an operating surplus. The difference is that surplus is not distributed to shareholders. It is retained to support reserves, clinical capacity, quality assurance, technology, research and service development.

Yes. Continuum is a separate legal entity that can enter enforceable agreements, employ staff, retain contractors, hold intellectual property, carry insurance and assume contractual obligations. A client agreement can address the same core commercial terms as an agreement with a for-profit supplier.

No. Clinicians are paid fairly for genuine professional services. Continuum’s model supports competitive professional compensation, whether a psychiatrist works personally or through an appropriately structured medical professional corporation.

No. Fees are intended to be responsible, transparent and sustainable. They reflect professional time, expertise, administration, technology, quality assurance and follow-up support. The model changes the destination of surplus; it does not eliminate the need for sound pricing.

Continuum is fee-funded and operates with budgeting, capacity planning and appropriate reserves. Growth and service commitments are intended to remain realistic, and reasonable financial and operational due-diligence information can be provided during contracting.

Yes—through controlled growth. Continuum can add clinicians, administration and technology as demand develops while monitoring referral matching, capacity, turnaround time and quality. For larger programs, a defined pilot can establish volumes, service levels and performance measures before broader rollout.

No. Not-for-profit status does not create a blanket tax or HST exemption. The treatment of a service depends on the service, the applicable legislation and professional advice. Continuum applies tax treatment based on those requirements.

Continuum is led by occupational psychiatrists, with formal board oversight and documented clinical governance. Directors must act in the organization’s best interests, and the respective responsibilities of the board, officers and clinical leadership are documented.

A not-for-profit corporation has no shares or shareholders. The founder may serve as a member, director, officer or clinical leader. The organization’s assets belong to the corporation and must be used to advance its purposes.

They may be paid for genuine services where permitted, provided conflicts are disclosed, compensation is fair and appropriate approvals are obtained from disinterested decision-makers. The structure does not permit undisclosed personal benefit or distribution of corporate surplus.

The responsible psychiatrist retains professional accountability for the clinical opinion. Continuum does not promise predetermined conclusions, and commercial relationships do not override professional duties, regulatory obligations or the requirement for an objective assessment.

Selection considers current licensure, relevant experience, scope of practice and professional liability protection. Clinical governance also addresses referral matching, report standards, quality review, escalation, complaints, corrections and performance concerns.

Continuum uses structured service pathways, standardized areas of inquiry, physician review, quality checks, peer consultation when appropriate, escalation processes and client feedback. These supports promote consistency without replacing the treating or assessing physician’s judgment.

AI may assist with information collection, organization, synthesis, workflow and flagging issues for review. It does not independently diagnose, prescribe, determine benefits or replace physician judgment. A physician remains accountable for clinical conclusions, and tools are evaluated for privacy, security, safety, accuracy, bias, usefulness and appropriate human oversight.

Continuum’s privacy and security program is designed to support compliance with the requirements that apply to each service, role and data flow. These may include Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA); the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA); other applicable Canadian federal, provincial and territorial privacy and health-information laws; professional-college requirements; contractual obligations; and breach assessment, documentation, notification and reporting duties.

Safeguards are scaled to the sensitivity of the information and include:

• documented accountability, permitted purposes, consent or other legal authority, and collection limits;
• least-privilege access, multi-factor authentication, encryption in transit and at rest, secure configuration, logging and access review;
• accuracy and correction processes, retention and secure destruction, workforce training and vendor oversight;
• cross-border and data-location assessment, incident response, breach notification, access and complaint processes; and
• business continuity, backup and disaster-recovery controls.

Custody, access, use, disclosure, retention, return and destruction are defined for the particular contract and clinical workflow.

Our systems are designed to meet SOC 2 requirements.

Relevant agreements address credentials, confidentiality, privacy, security, permitted use, data location, subcontracting, insurance, incidents, audit rights and continuity. Continuum remains accountable for selecting and overseeing providers used to deliver its services.

Continuum maintains coverage appropriate to its operations, which may include commercial general liability, professional liability, errors and omissions, directors’ and officers’ liability, and cyber/privacy coverage. Evidence of current coverage can be provided during due diligence. Participating clinicians are also expected to maintain the required professional protection.

Planning addresses backup clinical and administrative capacity, records access, backups, incident response, alternative communications, succession, disaster recovery and orderly service transition. Capacity is monitored so the organization does not accept commitments it cannot reliably support.

Records, contracts and service responsibilities belong to the organization rather than to one individual. Cross-coverage, access permissions, escalation responsibilities and succession arrangements are expanded as the organization grows. Any transition is managed consistently with patient consent, privacy obligations, professional requirements and the client agreement.

Measures can include referral acceptance, time to appointment, report turnaround, completeness, clarification requests, treatment gaps identified, follow-up responsiveness, case-manager experience, quality findings, safety or privacy incidents and agreed clinical or functional outcomes.

Depending on the engagement, Continuum can support review of corporate registration and governance, insurance, clinician credentialing, privacy and security policies, applicable PHIPA, PIPEDA and provincial assessments, SOC 2 requirements, business continuity and disaster recovery, AI governance, subcontractors, service levels, performance reporting and financial reserves.

The agreement should define notice, service transition, records handling and the return or secure destruction of data. Continuity of care and privacy remain priorities. Information is retained, returned or destroyed according to applicable law, professional requirements and the contract.