"Outsourcing Accreditation of Dietetics Education: Why a National Conversation Is Needed"

In 2021, the Alliance of Dietetic Regulatory Bodies in Canada announced they were outsourcing accreditation of dietetics education programs to a third-party provider. Educators questioned the lack of due diligence in exploring alternatives, limited involvement from the profession, minimal inclusion of dietetics expertise within the selected accreditation body, and the absence of mechanisms to monitor and assess the new accreditation process. This commentary shares the views of two dietetic educators who identify the key stakeholders involved, describe enablers that likely contributed to the regulator's decision to pursue this path, including national and provincial boundary confusion, problematic conflict of interest procedures, rejection of consensus decision-making models, and intellectual property challenges, and call on dietitian colleagues to advocate for dialogue and change.