Every year at the CPA convention, we sell orange T-shirts designed by Betty Albert to raise money for an Indigenous-led charity. In 2025 the convention was held in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and the recipient of the T-shirt proceeds is First Light, an organization that works with urban Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the city.

Stacey Howse is the Executive Director of First Light, and she joins the Mind Full podcast to tell us about the organization, their wraparound services, and the unique challenges facing urban Indigenous people in St. John’s today.

Podcasts and Profiles

The CPA is pleased to announce the release of two research-based booklets designed to help kindergarten children with phonological awareness.

These booklets were created in response to recent endorsements of kindergarten reading programs that emphasize the phonics approach over the whole-language approach. The first booklet, titled, Promoting Reading Success: A Teacher’s Guide to Phonological Awareness Activities for the Kindergarten Child, is intended for use by teachers and can be purchased on the Publications page of the CPA website. The booklet is available in both English and French. To learn more about this booklet, you can read the Preface here. The second booklet, titled, Promoting Reading Readiness: A Parent/Caregiver’s Guide to Phonological Awareness Activities for the Kindergarten-Age Child, is intended for use by parents and caregivers, and can be downloaded for free by clicking here – you also can find the link to this booklet on the Publications page of the CPA website.

If you know of any teachers, parents, or caregivers who may benefit from these booklets, please share this information with them.

Applying to grad school is a competitive and often confusing process. Use our roadmap to help you understand what programs are looking for and how to effectively prepare.

Now that the federal government has committed to a Fall budget, the CPA provide its views via a Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. As part of its strategic alliances, the CPA has also contributed and shaped the Briefs of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH), the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR), and the Extended Healthcare Professionals Coalition (EHPC) that were also submitted. The CPA has also requested to appear as a witness to the Committee hearings.

The Council of Professional Associations of Psychology (CPAP), in collaboration with the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), is seeking input on a potential group benefits plan for psychologists.

We ask that you please complete the brief survey below which asks whether you’re interested in a group benefits plan and if so, the coverage and features you would like offered/implemented.

English – https://web2.cpa.ca/membersurveys/index.php/415456?lang=en

French – https://web2.cpa.ca/membersurveys/index.php/415456?lang=fr

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey.

The CPA has created new “Psychology Works” Fact Sheets on Young Kids and Screens and on Teens and Screens.

• Young Kids and Screens – PDF | HTML
• Teens and Screens – PDF | HTML

You can find all of our “Psychology Works” Fact Sheets here

The Canadian Psychological Association’s Scientific Affairs Committee (SAC) is currently recruiting new members. The SAC’s primary aim is to advance psychological science by working on matters of importance to the psychological research community, CPA members and affiliates, and groups of researchers. It is also responsible for the policies and practices of the CPA’s journals and other publications.

Yearly activities of SAC members include reviewing student research grant applications, providing input on CPA journal matters (e.g., publishing agreements, open-access wording, publishing standards), and reviewing special issue proposals for the journals. Additional activities will come up throughout the term. For more information on the SAC, or to read the SAC Terms of Reference, click here.

If you are interested in joining the important work of the SAC, please send a letter of intent and updated CV to Dr. Lauren Thompson, CPA’s Science Director at science@cpa.ca. In your letter of intent, please specify whether your research falls primarily within the mandate of SSHRC, NSERC, or CIHR.

It is with great pleasure that the CPA’s Board of Directors releases the CPA’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan.

The CPA’s Board wishes to thank all members, affiliates, and associates who took the time, whether as individuals or as part of a collective, to provide input as part of our open consultation and call for feedback. With the new Strategic Plan, we have refreshed the CPA’s Vision, Mission, and Strategic Priorities.  More…

• 2024-2025 Annual Report
• Key Highlights of the 2024 Audit Report

For more information, see the Annual General Meetings and Reports page.

On December 17th, 2024, the CPA’s Board of Directors approved the Psychological Tele-Assessment: Guidelines for Canadian Psychologists.

For more information, or to download a copy of the guidelines, click here. (PDF)

The CPA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 CPA Student Research Grants. These grants recognize exceptional student research in all areas of psychology. This year, grants were provided by the CPA, jointly by the CPA and CSBBCS, and by BMS Canada.

Congratulations to all!

The Student Section is the winner of the CPA Section Newsletter Award for their Fall 2024 newsletter (PDF).
version francais (PDF)

The CPA recognizes the efforts that the Sections put into creating and maintaining their newsletters. Section newsletters serve as an important communication tool to help keep members informed and involved in the Section and in CPA.

In January 2025, the Federal Minister of Health issued a letter of interpretation on the Canada Health Act that identified certain regulated professions (nurse practitioners, midwives and pharmacists) as providing “physician equivalent services” and should be publicly insured by the provinces and territories. However, psychology was specifically not recognized, see CPA’s response.

Knowing that a federal election is around the corner, the CPA recognizes the importance and need to continue to invest in our collective mental health; which brings with it a number of health, social and economic dividends that benefit individuals, families, communities and the country as a whole. With the objective of contributing to the country’s public policy-making when it comes to mental health, the CPA has developed a policy primer entitled The Federal Government & Mental Health Policy…Preparing for the Next Federal Election. The CPA has focused on a select number of policy issues where the federal government can play a strong leadership role: (1) improving and expanding publicly funded access to psychological services; (2) improving employer-based coverage for psychological services; (3) increasing the number of practicing clinical psychologists, and (4) increasing investment in psychological research.