Accreditation

The CPA promotes excellence and innovation in psychological education through its accreditation standards and procedures for doctoral and internship programmes in professional psychology.

Whereas individual practitioners of psychology are licensed, training programmes in professional psychology can be accredited. The CPA accredits such training programmes but the CPA does not accredit, register, license, or certify individuals to practice psychology in Canada. Accreditation is a voluntary process but allows doctoral and internship programmes to demonstrate that they have met a community standard of training. The training standards are currently in the process of being revised.

Standards Revisions Process

Revision began in 2017
Initial Consultation Survey of Training Directors and Site Visitors
Survey of Training Stakeholders
Formation of Standards Review Committee
Draft of Revisions
Focused Consultations
External Stakeholder and Public Consultation Period
Submission to CPA Board of Directors
Approval and Implementation

NEW Accreditation Standards Public Comment Period Now Open. The CPA Accreditation Panel is pleased to open the public commentary period for the proposed 6th revision of the CPA’s Accreditation Standards for Doctoral and Residency Programs in Professional Psychology. You can download a copy of the draft document here: Proposed Revisions 6th Revision CPA Accred Stds.pdf. Please feel free to forward any comments or questions to Dr. Stewart Madon, Registrar, Accreditation at accreditation@cpa.ca.

For information about the CPA’s accreditation activities, click on any of the boxes below or contact the CPA’s Accreditation Department, via email (accreditationoffice@cpa.ca) or by phone (613-237-2144, ext. 334 or toll-free: 1-888-472-0657 ext. 334). You may also wish to visit our Accreditation FAQs page for any questions regarding accreditation, studying abroad, working in Canada as a psychologist, and more.


Accreditation News

Accreditation Panel Opens Public Commentary Period

The CPA promotes excellence and innovation in psychological education through its accreditation standards and procedures for doctoral and internship programmes in professional psychology. The training standards are currently in the process of being revised and the Accreditation Panel is pleased to open the public commentary period for the proposed 6th revision of the CPA’s Accreditation Standards for Doctoral and Residency Programs in Professional Psychology. For more information on the process, and to view a copy of the draft document, please visit cpa.ca/accreditation.

Comment period closes on December 31, 2021.


NEW “Accreditation Update” newsletter Summer/Fall 2021