Registrar's Message
Registration renewal has now closed, and the process got me thinking: what does it mean to be a regulated health professional in this province? Choosing to be registered with the College – which requires that you renew and pay your fees every year - makes you an active participant in the regulation of the profession and public protection. Your participation in registration renewal helps to protect the public you serve in two specific and important ways:
1.
You help ensure that everyone holding themselves out as a psychotherapist in this province is registered with the College, and that accurate and up-to-date information is available on the public register. This supports the College’s work in identifying and stopping individuals who are practising or who attempt to practise illegally.
2.
You provide the College and the government with information about psychotherapy practice and the service resources available to people in this province. Having an accurate picture of the number of RPs, their distribution across the province and the settings in which they work supports more effective planning at the system level.
With your active participation as a registrant, CRPO protects the public by ensuring:
- anyone who wishes to be a Registered Psychotherapist meets all the entry-to-practice requirements
- there are standards in place to ensure safe, competent and ethical care
- RPs participate in a Quality Assurance program to support ongoing self-reflection and professional growth
- a fair and thorough process is followed to address concerns about registrants’ conduct, competence or health
- standards and regulations for RPs are aligned with government laws
A key benefit that Registered Psychotherapists receive from registration with CRPO – which requires annual renewal - is the privilege of using the title Registered Psychotherapist. The use of this protected title allows practitioners to identify themselves and be recognized as a regulated professional. That is why p
ractising while your registration is suspended or revoked is illegal and a serious offence and why all registrants need to be mindful of your responsibilities as a regulated provider.
This helps to protect the public and the reputation of the profession, as well as to ensure the public trusts Registered Psychotherapists.
These are the benefits of being registered with CRPO. On the other hand, professional associations exist to protect the interest of providers. This includes advocating for things like HST exemptions and third-party insurance coverage. These kinds of activities are not “services” that the College can or should provide.
Thank you to the 90% of registrants who renewed their registration by the deadline--meaning that their full payment was received by the College and they attested to the accuracy of the information by clicking “submit”– before the deadline. While 90% is not an unreasonable number, it means that there were 688 individuals who did not provide information required by law and / or pay fees in the amount and by the deadline. It’s interesting to note that the same system was in place for 2017 and slightly less than 5% of registrants failed to successfully complete their renewal.
Constructive feedback about the member management system was heard and will be considered by the College. This input will inform:
- ongoing efforts to ensure that we use available technology to its best effect while still working to control the operational costs associated with receiving information and processing payments;
- the ways in which we communicate and the frequency of messaging about renewal;
- how we share online resources.
In turn, I encourage all registrants to ensure adequate time and funds are put aside next spring to allow for a smooth renewal process.
