Registration Categories & Inactive Category Information

Acceptable titles:

• Registered Psychotherapist or the abbreviation RP.
• Psychothérapeute autorisé, Psychothérapeute autorisée or the abbreviation PA.

Those in the Registered Psychotherapist category have successfully met all of the requirements for registration through either the grandparenting (closed March 31, 2017), regular or labour mobility route.

Those in the Registered Psychotherapist category must receive ongoing clinical supervision until they have met the independent practice requirements.

Acceptable titles:

• Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) or the abbreviation RP (Qualifying).
• Psychothérapeute autorisé (stagiaire), Psychothérapeute autorisée (stagiaire) or the abbreviation PA (stagiaire).

No other abbreviations or variations are acceptable. For example, shortening “(Qualifying)” to “(Q)” would not be correct.

Qualifying registrants must practise with clinical supervision and actively pursue meeting the Registered Psychotherapist requirements within specified timelines. More information can be found on the Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) page of our website.

Acceptable titles:

• Registered Psychotherapist (Inactive) or the abbreviation RP (Inactive).
• Psychothérapeute autorisé (inactif), Psychothérapeute autorisée (inactif) or the abbreviation PA (inactif).

Inactive registrants are individuals who, for one reason or another, are not currently engaged in the practice of the profession or are taking an extended leave from active practice. Inactive registrants are prohibited from providing or supervising direct client care, providing supervision and making any claim or representation to having any competence in psychotherapy. Registrants wishing to change to this category are advised to read the information available here.

Note: Qualifying and Temporary registrants are not eligible for the Inactive category.

Registrants wishing to return to active practice may find more information about the process here. Registrants who wish to return to active practice should apply at least eight weeks prior to their anticipated return to practice date. Inactive registrants also need to be mindful of their currency hours. If an Inactive registrant is short of 750 currency hours in the three years prior to requesting to return to active practice, their request may be referred to the Registration Committee.

Information about eligibility, fees, insurance, the review process and how to submit a completed request is available here.

Acceptable titles:

• Registered Psychotherapist (Temporary) or the abbreviation RP (Temporary).
• Psychothérapeute autorisé (temporaire), Psychothérapeute autorisée (temporaire) or the abbreviation PA (temporaire).

Temporary registrants are practitioners from other jurisdictions who wish to be registered for a temporary period, generally due to an offer of temporary employment as a psychotherapist in Ontario, often in an academic or consulting role. For more information about the Temporary category, please see here.

Suspended individuals have forfeited their good standing with the College, are no longer a registrant of CRPO, and are not permitted to use any restricted title, practise or supervise the provision of psychotherapy for the purposes of registration with the College, nor hold themselves out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario. The suspension is reflected on the Public Register.

The Registrar has authority to revoke a suspended certificate two years after the day it was suspended.

Lifting a suspension involves paying all outstanding fees (including the suspension lifting fee), submitting any outstanding forms, holding insurance, and complying with any outstanding orders or requirements issued by CRPO’s statutory committees (i.e. Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee, Discipline, Fitness to Practise or Quality Assurance Committees). For information about suspensions and suspension lifting process, please see the Suspension, Revocation and Reinstatement portion of the renewal page, here.

The individual’s registration was terminated by the College for failure to meet an obligation. The individual may not use a restricted title.  For information about revocation and the reinstatement process, please see the Suspension, Revocation and Reinstatement portion of the renewal page, here.

The registrant has chosen to resign from the College and may not use a restricted title.

A former Qualifying registrant who has not completed the requirements to become a full Registered Psychotherapist within the specified timeframes. The former registrant may not use a restricted title.

Inactive registrants are practitioners who, for one reason or another, are not currently engaged in the practice of the profession or need to take an extended leave from active practice but wish to maintain registration with CRPO.

There are many reasons a registrant may wish to take an extended break from practice. A break might facilitate management of a personal crisis such as illness, bereavement or caretaking of a family member with a serious illness or injury, military deployment, extended travel, relocation out of province or overseas, sabbatical, parental leave, etc. The Inactive category is not recommended for leaves of less than 12 months in duration.

A registrant should carefully weigh their options before applying to transfer into this category since Inactive registrants are prohibited from:

• providing or supervising direct client care;
• providing supervision; and
• making any claim or representation to having any competence in psychotherapy.

Inactive registrants are required to renew their registration annually.

Inactive registrants should also be aware that the process to return to active practice may take several weeks to process, and so Inactive registrants should be mindful of their anticipated return to active practice date (see further below for a full description of the process). Inactive registrants also need to be mindful of their currency hours. If an Inactive registrant is short of 750 currency hours in the three years prior to requesting to return to active practice, their request may be referred to the Registration Committee.

An Inactive registrant who has practised the profession within the previous two years must carry professional liability insurance run off coverage (sometimes called enduring or tail coverage) consistent with CRPO’s By-laws for a minimum of two years after the registrant last practised. Likewise, former registrants who have retired from practice are well-advised to maintain run off coverage for a reasonable period of time.Registrants in the Inactive category must use the appropriate title: Registered Psychotherapist (Inactive) or the acceptable abbreviated form, RP (Inactive).

The annual registration fee for a registrant who transfers into the Inactive category during the renewal period is $295 +HST. The Renewal page indicates the deadline to submit a transfer request form to be invoiced the Inactive registration fee for a given year.

Your transfer date must also take place on or before April 1st, as this is the date that the new registration year begins. If you will be practicing for part of the registration year, you will be required to pay the RP registration fee at renewal.

CRPO does not provide any credit, refund or reimbursement to a registrant who moves from RP status to Inactive at any point through the registration year, which runs from April 1 – March 31.

In order to be eligible to apply for a Certificate of Registration in the Inactive category, a registrant must:

1. Be a current, active registrant holding a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) Certificate of Registration.
2. Provide an undertaking to CRPO, in a form satisfactory to the Registrar, agreeing to comply with the terms, conditions and limitations in section 19 of the Registration Regulation.
3. Have paid all fees owing to CRPO under the By-laws.
4. Have provided CRPO with any information that it has required.
5. Be in compliance with:
   1. any outstanding requirements or orders issued by a panel of the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee;
   2. any requirement to participate in specified continuing education or remediation programs that were issued by the Quality Assurance Committee; and
   3. any terms, conditions or limitations that were placed on the registrant’s Certificate of Registration as a result of a direction of the Quality Assurance Committee.

Qualifying registrants and RP (Temporary) registrants cannot transfer to the RP (Inactive) category.  

To request a transfer to the Inactive category, you must submit a request in the “Category transfer request” page of your user account. You will be required to submit information relating to your request, such as the reason for your request to transfer to the Inactive category and the start date of your leave from the practice of the profession. Once you have submitted your request, it will be reviewed by staff. You may be contacted by email if additional information or clarification is required. If your request is approved, you will be notified by email.

For more information about the Inactive category, please review the Inactive Category FAQ, Registration Regulation and CRPO’s By-laws. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@crpo.ca.

Any registrant registered in the Inactive category wishing to resume practice of the profession must apply to the Registrar for permission to do. Registrants wishing to return to RP status may be required to satisfy a panel of the Registration Committee that they possess the knowledge, skill and judgment required of a current, active registrant. In some cases of lengthy leave, a registrant may be required to complete upgrading activities.

Registrants who wish to return to active practice are asked to consider their anticipated date of return and must apply at least eight weeks before the date they would like to resume to ensure the required steps can be completed in a timely manner. Depending on a registrant’s individual circumstances, the processing time may take longer.

Inactive registrants cannot resume practice until they have received written authorization from the Registrar. Resumption of practice without this authorization may be considered an act of professional misconduct.

When the request to return to active practice is approved, the registrant must pay the registration category transfer fee ($80+HST).

The following rules apply when a registrant who holds an Inactive Certificate of Registration wishes to return to active practice and be re-issued a Certificate of Registration in the Registered Psychotherapist (RP) category:

1. An application must be made to the Registrar.
2. The registrant must pay any outstanding fees owing to CRPO under the By-laws.
3. The registrant must provide CRPO with any information it has required of the member.
4. The registrant must:
   1. satisfy a panel of the Registration Committee that they possess the current knowledge, skill and judgment relating to the practise of psychotherapy that would be expected of a registrant holding a Certificate of Registration in the Registered Psychotherapist category, or
   2. have successfully completed such additional upgrading activities as are determined to be necessary by a panel of the Registration Committee.

Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis; however, Inactive registrants will be deemed to have satisfied requirement 4 above, provided:

• the registrant’s practice will be substantially as it was prior to entering the Inactive category (e.g. similar clientele, practice focus and/or employer, roles and responsibilities);
• the registrant has completed at least 750 currency hours in the three-year period immediately prior to submitting an application to return to active RP status; and
• there are no other factors which would require further review.

Applications for transfer from the Inactive category to the Registered Psychotherapist category may be referred to a panel of the Registration Committee where:

• the registrant has not completed 750 currency hours in the three-year period immediately prior to submitting an application to return to active RP status;
• the registrant expects to significantly change the nature of his or her practice (e.g. clientele, practice focus and/or employer, roles and responsibilities); or
• factors exist that warrant further review.

To request to return to active practice from the Inactive category, you must submit a request in the “Category transfer request” page of your user account. You will be required to submit information relating to your request, such as your currency hours from the past three years, the nature of your practice upon your return to active and affirming that you will have professional liability insurance coverage upon your return to the RP category. Once you have submitted your request, it will be reviewed by staff. If your request is approved, you will be notified of next steps by email.

If your application cannot be approved based on the information provided, staff will contact you and you may be asked to provide additional information, which may then require further consideration by a panel of the Registration Committee. Registrants whose applications are referred to a panel of the Registration Committee may experience longer than average processing times.

Once your application is approved and all fees are paid, you will receive a confirmation email and an updated Certificate of Registration will be available for download in your user account. Your registration category on the Public Register will be changed from Registered Psychotherapist (Inactive) to Registered Psychotherapist.

For more information about returning to active practice, review the Returning to Active Practice policy in full. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@crpo.ca.

If you would like to resign your registration with CRPO, you may do so at any time by submitting a resignation request in the “Category transfer request” page of your user account. No matter when you resign your registration, no refunds will be given for any fees already paid.

Any CRPO registrant who wishes to resign their registration should understand what it means to resign. Resignation means your registration with CRPO ceases. Annual renewal and participation in other College programs, such as the Quality Assurance Program, would no longer be required.A non-registrant may not:

• Use the title “psychotherapist”, “Registered Psychotherapist” or any abbreviation or variation thereof in any language;
• Hold oneself out as qualified to practise as a psychotherapist in Ontario (no matter what title one uses); and
• Perform the controlled act of psychotherapy.

A former registrant wanting to return to practice at any future date must submit a new application for registration and pay all associated fees. The former registrant would also need to demonstrate that they meet all registration requirements at the time of re-application. No refunds of registration or other fees will be made. If any fees are owed by you to CRPO, you will need to be in good standing with the College before re-applying.

Former registrants, who resigned at any point during a Quality Assurance review process, including the Professional Development tool review and Peer and Practice Review, should expect to resume these processes in the event of re-registration with the College.

• If a registrant resigns during, or as a result of a complaint/investigation into their conduct, a notation to this effect will be made on the Public Register.
• If the former registrant then re-applies for registration with the College, the outcome of re-application may be affected by the decision to resign.
• If re-registered as a registrant, the complaint/investigation process may resume.
• If a complaint or report is received after a registrant has resigned, the College can still investigate and prosecute conduct that occurred while the person was a registrant.

Former registrants are advised to maintain run off liability insurance coverage for a reasonable time period after the last date of practise (please consult with your insurance provider for more information).