REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION IN PSYCHOLOGY ACROSS CANADA - A comparison of Acts, Regulations, By-Laws and Guidelines

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Levi

Formal regulatory comparison report summarizing key requirements for psychology registration across Canada under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), prepared for PSWAIT. It analyzes provincial and jurisdictional rules for psychologist and psychological associate registration, including curriculum, supervised experience, and declared competencies for intended practice. The report highlights statutory foundations using quoted clauses from relevant Psychology Acts and Regulations, identifies mobility obstacles for professional licensure while noting factors that may support mutual recognition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages47

Reading Time1 h 58 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

PART I: Registration requirements and related issues

Overview

Psychologist registration requirements

Psychological associate registration requirements

Other relevant issues

PART II: Curriculum, experience and areas of intended practice

Curriculum and experience

Areas of practice and competencies

Parts I and II: Concluding comments

PART III: The Psychology Acts

PART IV: Registration Regulations and By-Laws

REFERENCES

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION IN PSYCHOLOGY ACROSS CANADA: A comparison of Acts, Regulations, By-Laws and Guidelines in view of the AIT prepared by Henry P. Edwards, Ph.D., C.Psych. for PSWAIT Ottawa, January 4, 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 PART I: Registration requirements and related issues 2 Overview 2 Psychologist registration requirements 4 Psychological associate registration requirements 7 Other relevant issues 9 PART II: Curriculum, experience and areas of intended practice 13 Curriculum and experience 13 Areas of practice and competencies 15 Parts I and II: Concluding comments 19 PART III: The Psychology Acts 20 PART IV: Registration Regulations and By-Laws 28 REFERENCES 42 FIGURE AND TABLES Figure 1. Factors pertinent to AIT mobility 3 Table 1. Summary of psychologist registration requirements across Canada 5 Table 2. Summary of psych. associate/assistant registration requirements 8 Table 3. Issues other than registration requirements which may be relevant 10 Table 4. Curriculum and experience requirements across Canada 14 Table 5. Areas of intended practice as stated in the application forms 16 Table 6. Declared competencies 17 i INTRODUCTION This report was prepared atthe request of the Psychology Sectoral Workgroup for the Agreement on Internal Trade (PSWAIT). It is based on the writer’s review of documents submitted by the jurisdictions, and of published Acts or Regulations (see References). Its objective is to provide a summary of the key requirements for registration in psychology across Canada, to highlight their statutory basis where feasible, and to point out the more obvious potential obstacles to the mobility of psychology professionals as intended by the AIT as well as some of the factors that may facilitate mutual recognition for mobility. Any interpretations provided are the writer’s alone. Part I of the report is a concise overview of registration requirements and related issues. Part II summarizes curriculum and experience requirements for registration, as well as areas of intended practice listed in application forms. Parts III and IV provide a jurisdiction by jurisdiction summary, using exact quotes where practical, of the most relevant (with respect to registration, as judged by the writer) clausesofthe Psychology Acts and Regulations respectively. The material found in these two parts provides the statutory basis for the summary presented in Parts I and II. Due to the fact that specific statutory provisions may facilitate or hinder mutual recognition under the AIT, the reader us encouraged to review in detail the necessarily cumbersome material presented in Parts III and IV. Note to the reader: This version (January 4, 2000) of the report should be read as an evolving document, due to the fact that a number of Acts or Regulations are under review or about to be reviewed at the time of writing. Subject to this caveat, the report has been reviewed for accuracy by the regulatory boards and the members of PSWAIT. 1 PART I: REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS & RELATED ISSUES Overview (Figure 1). This report provides an analysis and summary of psychology registration requirements and related issues across Canada, by means of six tables with explanatory comments, followed by a review of the most pertinent sections of the Acts and Regulations. In an effort to provide a “bird’s eye view” for the benefit of the reader, the writer presents a visual comparison of key registration issues across jurisdictions in Figure 1. To interpret the entries in Figure 1, the reader is asked to take the following into account: (a) The information presented in the tables and text is more precise. To create the figure, the writer developed a category system for each factor presented, where 0 means it is not present in a jurisdiction, 1 means it is present, 2 means that it is a relatively stringent requirement, and 3 means that it

FAQs

What is the purpose of the report for PSWAIT and the AIT?

The report summarizes key registration requirements for psychology across Canada, highlights statutory bases where feasible, and identifies obstacles and enabling factors for mobility under the AIT.

Which registration categories does the report cover?

It covers registration requirements for psychologists and for psychological associates, with related issues discussed in Part I.

How does the report support its comparisons?

It uses tables with explanatory comments, a figure comparing key registration issues, and jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction summaries that quote relevant clauses from the Psychology Acts and Regulations.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Levi