Professional development and frequently asked questions

The self-assessment is an online questionnaire, which is available to complete in your CRPO user account. It is intended to help you reflect on your practice and identify areas for improvement that will inform your professional development. The self-assessment is intended to help you build awareness of the current state of your practice by capturing a snapshot of your current knowledge, skill and judgment. You must complete all sections of the self-assessment and provide responses that are complete, coherent, and related to the subject matter. The self-assessment consists of two sections, as described below.

The General Professional Obligations Inventory will help you assess your own knowledge, skill, and judgement in select competency areas related to professional regulation. It incorporates the  Professional Practice Standards and addresses changes in your practice environment and advances in technology.

The Reflection Section consists of a series of exercises designed to help you contemplate the more interpersonal aspects of your practice, such as your professional relationships, support systems, and safe and effective use of self (SEUS).

You can complete more than one self-assessment and are encouraged to refer to your answers as you plan your professional development (learning) activities. You are encouraged to invest your efforts in professional development activities that will allow you to address any opportunities for growth related to your professional obligations.

All registrants are required to engage in at least 40 hours of professional development learning activities during their two-year professional development reporting cycle.

Engaging in learning activities is an important part of maintaining your ongoing competence. Professional development helps you maintain and enhance your knowledge, skill, and judgement with respect to the Professional Practice Standards, relevant legislation, and regulations. It also keeps you abreast of current practices, issues, trends, and new techniques.

What you need to know about the 40-hour learning activity requirement:

• You must engage in a minimum of 40 hours of learning activities during the relevant two-year reporting cycle. Activities which took place before the reporting cycle or are recorded in anticipation of future completion will not be counted towards the minimum requirement.
• The activities must take place while you are registered with CRPO.
• At least one of the activities must be didactic (i.e., an activity intended to instruct or teach).
• At least one of the activities must be experiential (i.e., an activity that provides or involves an experience).
• Learning activities must be documented in a learning record log and maintained in your professional portfolio.
• Learning activities must be credible and require some form of participation, relevant to the practice of the profession, and verifiable.

It is recommended that you record activities in your professional portfolio soon after you complete them. The learning record template can be used  to track your participation.

CRPO may request verification that you participated in the documented learning activities. Retain a record of any materials and notes that could be used to support your participation in a learning activity in your professional portfolio. The table below lists examples of learning activities and acceptable supporting documentation.

If you are engaged in an activity that unfolds over a significant span of time (for example a semester-long course), you are welcome to include that in your Learning Record before it has ended, but only record the hours you’ve completed already (not the hours you expect to complete).

You are required to keep records of your professional development activities in a professional portfolio. Your professional portfolio contains all the information related to your professional development activities.

The professional portfolio must include at minimum a learning record log and documentation to verify your participation in the learning activities.

You must maintain the records in your professional portfolio for the current and previous reporting cycles (i.e., four years). You are not required to submit your professional portfolio to CRPO unless requested to do so by QA staff.

Activities reported in the professional portfolio must be

i. relevant to the practice of the profession;
ii. credible and require some form of participation; and
iii. verifiable where some form of documentation exists that enables a registrant to demonstrate that they have completed the activity.

CRPO does not provide any specific direction on what a portfolio should look like, nor does the College provide a way for you to download documentary evidence. How you organize your professional portfolio is up to you. Some registrants simply keep copies of any evidence of participation in learning activities in a paper folder; others store these materials electronically on their computer. Whatever you choose, be mindful that your professional portfolio must include at minimum a learning record log and documentation to verify your participation in the learning activities. We have developed a learning record template that can be used to help track your participation in your professional development.

CRPO does not provide a list of “pre-approved” courses or learning materials. Registrants are expected to rely on their professional judgment to identify opportunities that will meet their individual learning needs and goals.

At least one of the activities must be didactic (i.e., an activity intended to instruct or teach), and at least one of the activities must be experiential (i.e., an activity that provides or involves an experience).

It is recommended that you engage in a broad range of activities. The type of evidence that would be considered acceptable depends on the activity.

Every two years, you will need to ensure that you have completed the following before the end of your reporting cycle:

1. Submit at least one self-assessment

Self-assessments are available for completion in your CRPO user account. You are expected to complete all sections of the self-assessment and provide responses that are complete, coherent, and related to the subject matter.

To check whether you have completed a self-assessment during your reporting cycle, log in to your CRPO user account. Next, select the “QA Program” tab (located in the left side menu or on your dashboard). If you completed a self-assessment, you should see the date of your “Last submitted Self-Assessment” in the table and you should also see a link just above the table to view your last submitted self-assessment.

2. Engage in a minimum of 40 hours of professional development activities

Professional development activities must take place during the relevant reporting cycle. Any activities before or after the reporting cycle are not counted towards the minimum 40-hour requirement. At least one of the learning activities must be didactic and one experiential.

You must maintain records of your learning activities in your professional portfolio. Your professional portfolio must include at minimum a learning record log and documentation to verify their participation in the learning activities.

3. Report whether you have completed your PD activities during your reporting cycle by completing the online attestation form.

You must report whether you completed your PD by submitting an attestation form every two years by a date specified by CRPO. The attestation form is only available to submit in your CRPO user account during the year when your PD requirements are due (i.e., every other year). See the chart below for your due dates.

If you are unable to complete your professional development requirements, you might be eligible for an extension or deferral. To request an extension or deferrals, you must complete the Deferral/extension Form (PD) and emailing it to qa@crpo.ca before your respective due date. The request must meet the criteria outlined on the form.

Yes, you are expected to participate in and document a minimum of 40 hours of professional development activities in a two-year-long “reporting cycle.”  At the end of each reporting cycle, you must report whether you have completed your PD activities by submitting an attestation form in your CRPO user account. Submission deadlines are based on your initial year of registration.

CRPO expects all registrants to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to professional growth and development so long as they practice the profession and are registered with CRPO.

The professional development component of the QA Program provides a general framework that is designed to help you reflect on your practice and consciously shape the course of your professional growth.

Registrants are encouraged to update their professional portfolio regularly. CRPO expects all registrants to meet the minimum requirements for professional development activities every two years (based on their initial year of registration).

As a new registrant you will begin your participation in the QA program by completing a self-assessment within 60 days of your date of registration. The self-assessment is available to complete in your CRPO user account.

As a new registrant, you are encouraged to use the self-assessment tool to identify any gaps that may exist in your knowledge, skill, or judgement; set professional goals; and consider professional development, or learning, activities to achieve those goals. The self-assessment is meant to be a reflective and thought-provoking exercise. Completing the self-assessment could take an hour or longer.

The new registrant requirement is an introduction to your ongoing reporting obligations for the QA Program. All registrants are responsible for completing their professional development requirements on an ongoing basis and reporting to CRPO every two years.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your requirements, or your capacity to complete them on time, please contact QA staff.

If you are unable to complete a self-assessment within 60 days of your date of registration, you may be eligible for an extension. Requests for extension must submitted in writing by completing the Deferral/extension form (PD) before your respective due date and must meet the criteria outlined on the form.

Yes, the self-assessment you complete within 60 days of your initial date of registration, can be counted towards your PD requirements due every two years. This means that when you complete your first attestation form, you can attest that you completed at least one self-assessment during the reporting cycle. However, you may and are encouraged to complete more than one self-assessment during your cycle. For example,

Your first two-year PD reporting cycle begins on your date of registration and ends December 31, two years after your year of registration.

Example: If your date of registration were January 1, 2023, your self-assessment would be due March 2, 2023. Your two-year PD reporting cycle would begin January 1, 2023 and end December 31, 2025.

Registrants of the College are asked to rely on their professional judgment to select, and then participate in, learning activities that are credible, related to the practice of psychotherapy, and that will meet their individual learning needs. At present, the College does not require that registrant engage in “pre-approved” activities, and so it is expected that registrants would rely on their own prudence and judgment to invest their time and financial resources in learning activities that meet their individual learning needs.

Learning activities reported in your professional portfolio must be:

• Relevant to the practice of psychotherapy.
• Credible and require some form of participation. Examples include: courses where a registrant must attend/participate in lectures, course readings, and evaluation; seminars or workshops, where a registrant  attends/participates in lectures, discussion groups or role playing; reading/study groups, where a registrant  must interact with learning materials and discuss the subject matter with others in the group; and so on. In the case of an independent study, participation may involve the reading of materials and engagement with other kinds of learning resources.
• Verifiable where some form of documentation exists that enables a registrant to demonstrate that they have completed the activity, and the College, if needed, to verify that the activity occurred. Ideally, this would be a letter or certificate of completion which identifies: the activity, the organization’s contact information, the date or period in which the activity occurred, the duration of the activity, and the name of the participant. Where a registrant engages in independent study, s/he should maintain careful records of learning resources that were used.

Here are some examples of learning activities that can be counted towards your 40 hours of learning activities:

You are only required to provide your professional portfolio if such evidence is requested by CRPO.

You must retain your learning record and documentation (e.g., certificates of participation) that can verify your participation in learning activities in your own professional portfolio.

Registrants are expected to retain their professional portfolio in their own records for at least 4 years.

If you do not report or complete your professional development activities on time, you may be asked to submit your professional portfolio for review.

No.

In the same way that providing psychotherapy services to a client for a wage or fee cannot be counted, teaching programs, courses, workshops, seminars, conferences or webinars is also not an activity that may be counted towards your 40-hour PD requirements. Paid work does not qualify as a personal professional development activity. Preparation for teaching programs, courses, workshops, seminars, conferences or webinars can be counted towards your 40-hour PD requirement.

Information shared because of participation in the Quality Assurance (QA) Program is confidential and, with limited exceptions, the information provided can only be used for QA purposes. CRPO will not post QA review results on the public register or share your information with current or future employers.

You, as a registrant, are therefore strongly urged to provide honest responses that are an accurate reflection of your current level of knowledge, skill and judgment.

If the QA Committee believes that a registrant may have committed a serious act of professional misconduct, or may be incompetent or incapacitated, the QA Committee may disclose only the registrant’s name and the allegation against the registrant to the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC). The ICRC may carry out an independent investigation if it elects to do so.  However, in cases where a registrant knowingly gave false information to the QA Committee or a peer assessor, the QA Committee may disclose this information to the relevant College Committee that is dealing with the matter.