Communiqué

July 2024

HST Exemption

As a result of a tremendous amount of work by professional associations representing psychotherapists, the federal government recently passed a bill that provides an exemption from the harmonized sales tax (HST) for psychotherapy services. As noted by our colleagues at the Ontario Association of Mental Health Professionals, this “change marks a crucial step forward in recognizing the essential services provided by RPs and will ease the financial burden on both practitioners and clients.”

Since the Bill received royal assent in June, CRPO has been receiving enquiries from registrants as to the College’s position on the exemption.

It is important to note that the College does not advise on tax laws, which relate to an RP’s business arrangements, income, and whether they must collect and remit taxes based on the kind of goods and services that they provide. Registrants should look to their professional association and / or legal or accounting professionals for specific advice as to their individual circumstances.

Staff have updated the HST article on our Practice Matters page. Registrants are reminded to abide by all CRPO Professional Practice Standards as they consider how they will notify clients and adjust their billing practices.

College staff will update the Practice Matters article once information becomes available. You are encouraged to continue to check CRPO’s website for any additions or clarifications as they become available.

You can also contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) directly at 1-800-959-5525 and

monitor the following websites for a published directive in the coming weeks:

Professional Development: Learning Records & Supporting Documentation

Engaging in professional development (PD) activities (learning activities) is an important part of maintaining competence and keeping abreast of current best practices, issues, trends and system changes. It also helps registrants maintain and enhance their knowledge, skill and judgment with respect to the Professional Practice Standards for Registered Psychotherapists, relevant legislation, and regulations.

Under CRPO’s Quality Assurance Program, registrants are required to complete 40 hours of PD activities every two years, known as the “PD cycle.”

CRPO is required to monitor registrant participation and compliance with the QA Program. At the end of each PD cycle, registrants must complete a form in their CRPO account and attest that they have completed the required activities.

Registrants are also required to keep records of their professional development activities. This includes a learning record log and supporting documentation. Registrants must maintain these records for the current and previous reporting cycles (i.e., four years).

When requested, registrants are required to submit their learning record log and supporting documentation to CRPO.

To help registrants understand this requirement, we have added the following new FAQs on our website:

How do I know what PD activities to complete?
Does CRPO provide templates?
How do I complete a learning record?
When will I be asked to submit a learning record?
My CBA outcome is “self-directed review”. How do I demonstrate that I have addressed potential gaps?

CBA Updates

Most registrants successfully complete the case-based assessment (CBA) in less than four hours. Nevertheless, in the interest of using universal design to make the CBA as accessible as possible and to support registrants in approaching the CBA as a learning opportunity, the Quality Assurance Committee decided to increase the time allotted for completing the CBA to 7 hours. This way, anyone who needs more time will not have to make a separate request.

Read more about this decision in the new FAQs on our website:

Why did CRPO extend the CBA window from 4 to 7 hours? (What is universal design?)
Why are there five answer options on the CBA?
Isn’t it unethical to ask us to rank “wrong” actions?

Public Consultation – Fully Revised By-laws

CRPO is working on its first full by-law review since the original document was approved in 2013. We would appreciate your feedback!

We are circulating a draft to all registrants and system partners as required by legislation. We will make any needed changes based on your input before CRPO Council considers final approval.

While the draft revised by-laws are long, comment bubbles draw attention to significant changes, and a table of proposed changes summarizes them by topic.

Please complete this survey by September 23, 2024.

Public Consultation – Supervision Course Guideline

Please contribute to CRPO’s draft Supervision Course Guideline!

In April 2026, CRPO’s new definition of a clinical supervisor comes into effect. Among other things, the upcoming definition expects new supervisors to have completed a 30-hour course on providing clinical supervision.

While CRPO is not currently planning on approving courses or supervisors, we will provide guidance on what the course should cover.

Please complete this survey by September 23, 2024. The draft will then be presented to CRPO’s Registration Committee and Council for possible revision and approval.

Revised Standards Survey

CRPO’s revised Standards have been in effect for just over six months.

We are asking registrants and system partners to complete this short survey that will assist us in developing additional resources.

June Council Highlights & September Meeting

See the latest Council highlights for the meeting that took place on June 13, 2024. The next Council meeting will be held on September 26th and livestreamed on our YouTube channel. To register as an observer and/or review meeting materials, visit our website. Council Meetings – College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (crpo.ca)

Town Halls

CRPO has been hosting monthly virtual town hall meetings since April to engage with registrants on a variety of topics. If you missed any of the first three town halls, recordings are available via CRPO’s YouTube channel.

Join us for the next town hall on Monday, September 23 (12:00-1:00) where we will present on the topic of Quality Assurance: How is the Case-Based Assessment (CBA) going?. If you have any questions related to this specific topic, you can submit them via SurveyMonkey: CRPO Town Hall #4: QA Case-Based Assessments (CBA) Survey (surveymonkey.com)

A link to join the town hall will be sent to registrants about one week prior to the session. For more information and access to the recordings, visit our website: CRPO Town Halls 2024 – College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario

For CRPO registrants: Please do not unsubscribe. CRPO uses email to communicate with registrants about important College updates. If you choose to unsubscribe, it is then your responsibility to regularly check our website to keep yourself informed about your College obligations. It is the responsibility of each registrant to make sure CRPO has your current contact information, updated within 30 days of a change, and ensure that the organization you work for does not block CRPO emails. CRPO may collect information about whether a recipient has read a message. CRPO may use this information for communication planning and record-keeping.