Requirements for Applying to CRPO

Create a CRPO account.

Pay for and successfully complete the Professional Practice & Jurisprudence eLearning Module.
Review the manual first (linked in Related Resources at the bottom on the page) to familiarize yourself with the contents of the module.

The fee for the Jurisprudence Module is $152 +HST

CRPO’s jurisprudence module, which all applicants must complete, has received a major update. The new version provides an improved user experience, contains up-to-date content, and takes less time to complete. Any applicants who have not completed the previous version will need to complete the new one as of July 5, 2023. Applicants and registrants who completed the previous version will not be required to complete the new one. In the future, CRPO will make the new version available to registrants as optional continuing professional development.

Pick your application type:

• CRPO recognized/accepted program
• Non-recognized program
• Labour mobility
• Indigenous registration pathway
• Temporary

Please ensure you select the correct application type prior to submitting your application. If you submit your application under the wrong application type you will be required to resubmit your application under the correct application type. If you are unsure what application type to select, please review the links above, consult your educational institution, or email info@crpo.ca for more information.

Complete the application.

Complete the application form for the application type you select, including all required documentation. If your application type is a CRPO recognized/accepted program or Non-recognized program, you will not be able to submit your application until CRPO staff have received a transcript/letter/credential assessment directly from your institution. Please check the Supporting Documents section of the application form to verify if a document labelled “Transcript” has been added.

Please retain copies of all documents submitted to CRPO for your records. You are advised to draft and save responses in a document on your computer and copy and paste them into the application form. You are also advised to save screenshots of your application pages.

Pay the required fees.

All applicants are required to pay the application fee. If you completed a non-recognized program, you will also be required to pay the mapping tool fee. Your application is automatically submitted once payment is made.

CRPO’s by-laws set out that fee increases occur every two years for inflation. CRPO’s fees were scheduled to increase in June 2020 and then in June 2022. Due to the pandemic, CRPO did not increase fees on either of these two periods. The fees will increase in June 2024.

Information about fees is available below. All fees paid to CRPO are non-refundable.

Your application has NOT been submitted. Please complete all pages of the application and pay the required fees. Once payment for the application fee and mapping tool fee (if applicable) have been made, your status will change to “Submitted”.

Your application has been submitted successfully and is in the queue for processing; staff review has not yet begun.

Information and/or documentation is required in order for the processing of your application to proceed. Please monitor your email inbox regularly and respond as quickly as possible to prevent delays.

To facilitate the processing of applications:

• If staff has questions or information/documentation is required, staff will send a detailed email.
• If more information/documentation is required after receiving the response to the initial email, staff will follow-up for a second and final time.
• If we do not receive a substantive response and/or required documentation within two months of the date of the initial request, or the two attempts fail to result in satisfactory information, the application may then be referred to a panel of the Registration Committee for further consideration and possible refusal.

Review of your application is now underway. A detailed assessment is conducted to determine whether the application is complete, providing applicants with an opportunity to add further information if required.

First-level review of your application is complete; a second, senior-level review is in process to ensure that your application clearly meets all entry-to-practice requirements.

First-level review and/or second-level review has identified a requirement that may not be met or disclosure that requires further review, such as Professional Conduct disclosures.

You have met the minimum requirements for registration; your application has been approved. You will be notified by email. Payment of the registration fee within 30 days is required prior to a certificate of registration being issued.

Payment of the registration fee was NOT made within 30 days of application approval. Therefore, the approval has expired. You must submit a new application for registration, including paying applicable fees.

Applications that do not clearly meet the registration requirements, for one reason or another, are referred to a panel of the Registration Committee. This review panel includes professional members of Council (that is, practicing Registered Psychotherapists) as well as publicly appointed members. Professional members bring their clinical perspective and experience to the process and work with the other panel members to ensure that registration decisions are fair and appropriate.

The applicant receives a formal notice which identifies what provision(s) of the Registration Regulation staff has doubts that the applicant met. The applicant has 30 days to make written submissions to the panel. Once the submission deadline has passed, the panel meets to consider the application, including any submissions.

The panel may make an order doing any one or more of the following:

• Directing that the applicant be issued a Certificate of Registration;
• Directing that a Certificate of Registration be issued if the applicant successfully completes examinations set or approved by the panel;
• Directing that a Certificate of Registration be issued if the applicant successfully completes additional training specified by the panel;
• Directing that specified terms, conditions or limitations be applied to the applicant’s Certificate of Registration and specifying that a limitation on the applicant’s right to apply under subsection 19 (1) of the Health Professions Procedural Code (application for variation) be imposed; or
• Directing that the applicant’s application be refused.

Once the panel has completed its review, the College will provide the applicant with a copy of the panel’s written decision and reasons for its decision.* An applicant has 30 days from receiving the decision to request a written review or oral hearing from the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

*If the panel directs the Registrar to issue a Certificate of Registration pursuant to s. 18(2) paragraph 1 of the Code, the panel need not provide any reasons.

The submitted application is incomplete in that there is significant information and/or documentation that is indicated as required in the application instructions and was not provided. You must submit a new application for registration, including paying applicable fees.

A panel of the Registration Committee has directed that the application be refused.

Following a decision made by a panel of the Registration Committee, an appeal has been initiated with the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board.

An application has been voluntarily withdrawn or closed due to being incomplete after multiple follow-up requests. No fees are refunded.

Completion of the Professional Practice & Jurisprudence e-Learning (JRP) Module is the first step in the application process: you must successfully complete the module before you can access the application form.

Once you pay the fee for the Jurisprudence module, you must complete the module within two years of the payment date. Once you complete the module, you must submit your application within two years of the completion date. If you do not meet the deadline, your account will be closed. You would need to re-pay the fee and re-complete the module if you wish to move forward with your application.

The module is a series of brief videos followed by a multiple-choice quiz. To complete the course, you must achieve a passing score of at least 15 correct answers out of 20 (75%) on the quiz. You can retake the quiz as many times as needed to pass. Applicants are not required to complete the module in one sitting.

Applicants are strongly urged to read the Professional Practice & Jurisprudence e-Learning document before enrolling in the online module. The document, which includes practice questions, is available as an accessible PDF or an interactive webpage.

An important registration requirement for all regulated health professionals in Ontario is reasonable fluency in English or French (i.e. the ability to speak, read and write proficiently in either English or French). Client records must be maintained in either English or French, and registrants must be able to communicate effectively with other health care practitioners in either English or French.

Language fluency can be demonstrated if English or French is:

• your first language; or
• language of primary, secondary, or post-secondary education; or
• the language you use in delivering services to clients.

Successful completion of a psychotherapy bridging program also indicates English or French language proficiency.

If you have had no education or practice experience in English or French, you will be required to submit evidence of successful completion of a language proficiency test; acceptable tests can be found in the Supporting Documents Checklist.

Registrants are required at all times to maintain professional liability insurance coverage in the amount and in the form required under CRPO’s by-laws, either individually or through an employer/institution. The insurance must be effective from the day on which the Certificate of Registration is issued.

An applicant’s previous conduct must afford reasonable grounds for the belief that they will practise psychotherapy in a safe and professional manner.Applicants are required to disclose a variety of information including:

• findings of guilt for any criminal offence;
• offence resulting in a fine over $1000 or imprisonment;
• outstanding criminal charges;
• current or past proceedings for professional misconduct;
• current and past registration with any regulatory body;
• refusal of registration with any regulatory body;
• anything that may call into question an applicant’s ability to practise psychotherapy safely and professionally; and
• physical or mental conditions that currently impair the applicant’s ability to practise psychotherapy.

Applicants are expected to disclose instances of serious impropriety such as fraud or having sexual contact with clients.

Applicants should also report information about practicum placement withdrawals or failures.

The College will evaluate the significance of such disclosures. It is possible that a past event no longer reflects significantly on an applicant’s suitability to register with CRPO. Alternatively, the College may place a term, condition or limitation on their Certificate of Registration or refuse to issue a Certificate of Registration. If an application for registration is refused, there is a process to allow for an appeal before an independent body.

If applicants misrepresent themselves, their conduct or their qualifications in the registration process, and are found to have done so, their application will be refused or their registration revoked.

All applicants must be “current”, or up-to-date, in the practice of the profession. Currency hours can be accumulated anywhere in the world.

Applicants who apply through the application type CRPO recognized/accepted program, non-recognized program, or Indigenous registration pathway will be required to demonstrate currency in one of the following ways:

• Education and training program completed within the past 12 months from the date of application
• Currently completing education and training program and one or more of the following apply:
  • in final semester;
  • completed 90% of the program; or
  • completed the program with the exception of a thesis.
• Completed 450 direct client contact and 100 clinical supervision hours within the past 12 months from the date of application
• Completed 750 currency hours within the three years immediately prior to the date of application. Currency hours includes any activity related to psychotherapy – see the Updating Your Clinical Experience Hours page for more information. There is no requirement that a certain portion of the 750 currency hours be for client work.

Applicants who apply through the labour mobility application type will be asked to describe the nature of their psychotherapy practice within the three-year period prior to submitting their application.

Applicants who apply through the temporary application type will be required to demonstrate currency in one of the following ways:

• Education and training program completed within the past 12 months from the date of application
• Completed 750 currency hours within the three years immediately prior to the date of application. Currency hours includes any activity related to psychotherapy – see the Updating Your Clinical Experience Hours page linked in Related Resources at the bottom of the page. There is no requirement that a certain portion of the 750 currency hours be for client work.

Applicants who apply through the temporary or labour mobility application type will not be required to provide detailed information about their education and training.

Applicants who apply through the application type CRPO recognized/accepted program, non-recognized program, or Indigenous registration pathway will be required to demonstrate they have either completed or substantially completed:

• a CRPO recognized/accepted program;
• a program that is substantially equivalent to a CRPO recognized/accepted program; or
• other education and training, which must include one or more programs in psychotherapy, together with any further education or training, or combination of education and training, that when taken together is substantially equivalent to a CRPO recognized/accepted program.

Applicants should submit their application for registration once they have substantially completed their education and training in psychotherapy. Substantial completion means that you:

• are in your final semester prior to graduation;
• have completed 90% of your program*; or
• have completed your program with the exception of a thesis.

CRPO will accept applications from students who have substantially completed their coursework (i.e. 90% done classroom courses) even if they have not started or substantially completed clinical placements.

RP (Qualifying) registrants are required to make their first attempt at the Registration Exam within two years of the date they submitted their application. The exam is only offered twice a year – in the spring and fall.

To be eligible to write the exam, CRPO must have received documentation as outlined in the Supporting Documents Checklist confirming successful program completion about 10 weeks prior to the exam date.

Applicants need to be mindful of this requirement and consider how outstanding course, thesis, or practicum requirements at the time they apply to CRPO could impact their ability to meet exam deadlines once registered in the RP (Qualifying) category. If you are uncertain when to apply or the implications of your circumstances, please contact CRPO.

To confirm eligibility for the CRPO recognized/accepted program application type, see Recognized/Non-recognized Program page linked in Related Resources at the bottom of the page. On the application, applicants will be able to select from a drop-down menu the recognized/accepted program completed or substantially completed.

Applicants who are not eligible for the CRPO recognized / accepted program application type will select the non-recognized program application type. On the application, applicants will provide detailed information about their education and training and complete the Mapping Tool. CRPO cannot pre-assess whether an applicant will meet the education requirement prior to an application being submitted.

Applicants who have completed or substantially completed education and training in traditional Indigenous practices should select the Indigenous registration pathway application type. Applicants who have completed a CRPO recognized/accepted program and who also wish to report their training in traditional practices can contact CRPO at info@crpo.ca to bypass the Mapping Tool in the application.

For all application types, zero direct client contact (DCC) and clinical supervision hours will be required to apply. 

There are requirements for DCC and clinical supervision once registered in order to transfer from RP (Qualifying) to RP and for RP independent practice (i.e. practice without clinical supervision) – see Clinical Experience for Registration Policy linked in Related Resources at the bottom of the page.

Applicants should be aware of the documentation requirements to report hours once registered – see Supporting Documents Checklist also linked in Related Resources.

For additional info, see the Updating Your Clinical Experience Hours Page.