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Supervision Requirements

Clinical Supervision Requirements

CRPO considers clinical supervision key to the development of a competent professional. See this page for all the information on supervision requirements.


Clinical Supervision Information
Supervision Requirements

Clinical Supervision Requirements

CRPO considers clinical supervision key to the development of a competent professional. See this page for all the information on supervision requirements.

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About Clinical Supervision

 

CRPO defines clinical supervision as a contractual relationship in which a clinical supervisor engages with a supervisee to discuss the direction of therapy and the therapeutic relationship; promote the professional growth of the supervisee; enhance the supervisee’s safe and effective use of self in the therapeutic relationship; and safeguard the well-being of the client.

 

Clinical supervision can be individual, dyadic, or group. Group supervision may include structured peer group supervision if the supervision is formal and structured, and includes at least one group member who meets CRPO’s definition of a clinical supervisor.

 

Structured peer group supervision differs from group clinical supervision, in that the latter is led by a clinical supervisor, whereas the former includes at least one member who would qualify as a clinical supervisor but is an equal participant (not the leader). Structured peer group supervision often occurs in an institutional setting but may be formalized outside such settings.

 

Informal “peer supervision”, i.e. unstructured discussion of clients with colleagues, is not considered an acceptable form of supervision for registration purposes.
CRPO considers clinical supervision key to the development of a competent professional.

Clinical Supervisor Self-Assessment

See if you meet the supervisor requirements with this assessment

  • Clinical Supervisor Self-Assessment

    You can use the questions to assess whether someone meets CRPO’s definition of a clinical supervisor who is eligible to provide clinical supervision for the purposes of registration with CRPO. While the questions refer to the potential supervisor as “you”, supervisees can also use this tool in assessing a potential clinical supervisor.

    Take the assessment here
Clinical Supervisor Attestation Form

Download the fillable Clinical Supervisor Attestation Form

  • Clinical Supervisor Attestation Form

    When a registrant or applicant wants to report hours of supervision, they can point their supervisors to this form. On the form, supervisors must:

     

    • Attest to the supervision provided
    • Attest to their qualifications to provide clinical supervision

     

    Clinical supervisors are asked to email the form to their supervisee once completed. The supervisee will upload the form to their CRPO account and notify staff.

    Download the fillable form here
Direct Client Contact Confirmation Form

Download the fillable Direct Client Contact Confirmation Form

  • Direct Client Contact Confirmation Form

    When a registrant or applicant wants to report direct client contact hours, they can point their employer/supervisor to this form. For additional instructions, visit the Updating Clinical Experience Hours page.

    Download the fillable form here
Clinical Supervision Records Checklist

Download the Clinical Supervision Records Checklist

  • Clinical Supervision Records Checklist

    If you are providing or receiving clinical supervision, consider reviewing your clinical supervision record-keeping practices with this checklist. The items in the checklist come from Professional Practice Standards 4.1 and 4.2 on providing and receiving clinical supervision.

    Download the checklist here
Supervision Requirements

Supervision Requirements

Individuals in the following list will rely on clinical supervision for registration purposes:

Non-Registrants

Those in the process of fulfilling their requirements to become a registrant with CRPO – this includes students and others who are not yet registrants with CRPO.

RP (Qualifying) Registrants

Qualifying registrants, as a condition of their Certificate of Registration, must receive ongoing clinical supervision while they are a Qualifying registrant. These registrants will need to complete a total of 100 hours of clinical supervision as part of requirements to enter the Registered Psychotherapist category. Qualifying registrants must continue to receive ongoing clinical supervision once they have completed the 100 hours required to complete the Registered Psychotherapist category requirements.

 

Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) registrants shall receive clinical supervision regarding all clinical experience positions. That is, none of the clinical experience positions shall be unsupervised.  Clinical supervisors and supervisees have a shared responsibility of applying professional judgment to determine the appropriate frequency of clinical supervision. A relatively new practitioner such as an RP (Qualifying) registrant, should receive a recommended minimum of approximately one hour of clinical supervision per week. See Standard 4.2: Practising with Clinical Supervision for factors to consider in determining the appropriate frequency for your situation.

 

A total of 100 clinical supervision hours and 450 DCC hours are required to transfer from the Qualifying to RP category.

Registered Psychotherapists

Registrants in the Registered Psychotherapist category must receive ongoing clinical supervision until they have completed a total of 1,000 direct client contact hours and 150 hours of clinical supervision. Should a registrant acquire 150 clinical supervision hours prior to completing 1000 direct client contact hours, they are still required to receive ongoing clinical supervision until both requirements are met for “independent practice.”

 

Registered Psychotherapist Registrants without independent practice shall receive clinical supervision regarding all clinical experience positions. That is, none of the clinical experience positions shall be unsupervised. Clinical supervisors and supervisees have a shared responsibility of applying professional judgment to determine the appropriate frequency of clinical supervision. A more experienced practitioner such as an RP working toward independent practice should receive a recommended minimum of approximately one hour every two weeks. See Standard 4.2: Practising with Clinical Supervision for factors to consider in determining the appropriate frequency for your situation.

Independent Practice

Registered Psychotherapists will not be permitted to practice independently, i.e. without clinical supervision, until they have completed 1,000 direct client contact (DCC) hours and 150 hours of clinical supervision over the course of their professional careers. For supervision, at least half of the required hours must be completed in an individual/dyadic format.

 

This limitation applies to all registrants and will remain in effect until the registrant satisfies the College that they have completed the required hours. An RP’s eligibility for independent practice can be confirmed by looking at their status on the Public Register. Registrants who do not meet the independent practice requirements must ensure that they continue to practise with ongoing clinical supervision as this is a Term, Condition and Limitation (TCL) on their Certificate of Registration. Registrants must adhere to all TCLs associated with their Certificate of Registration. A breach of TCLs could result in disciplinary action by the College.

 

The number of accepted clinical experience hours on file can be found on the “Practice information” page of your user account. You will find tables for DCC hours and clinical supervision hours. At the bottom of the page, you will find an Hours Summary table outlining the total number of submitted hours, countable hours, and accepted hours.
Supervisor Requirements

Supervisor Requirements

The current criteria for clinical supervisors are listed below.

Supervisors Located in Ontario

The requirements for serving as a clinical supervisor have changed over time. When CRPO reviews clinical supervision hours reported in an application, we are assessing whether the clinical supervisor has met the criteria that were relevant at the time the supervision was provided.

 

Current Clinical Supervision Criteria

 

  1. The supervisor must be a member in good standing of a regulatory college whose registrants may practise psychotherapy.*
  2. The supervisor must have five years’ extensive clinical experience.
  3. The supervisor must meet CRPO’s “independent practice” requirement (completion of 1000 direct client contact hours and 150 hours of clinical supervision).
  4. The supervisor must have completed 30 hours of directed learning in providing clinical supervision. Directed learning can include course work, supervised practice as a clinical supervisor, individual/peer/group learning, and independent study that includes structured readings.
  5. The supervisor must provide a signed declaration that they understand CRPO’s definitions of clinical supervision, clinical supervisor, and the scope of practice of psychotherapy.

 

*College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, College of Nurses of Ontario, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, College of Psychologists of Ontario, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.

 

CRPO staff may request evidence of the 30 hours of directed learning in providing clinical supervision and may also request a letter of verification and a statement describing the supervisor’s approach to providing supervision.

 

Upon request, a clinical supervisor should be able to provide their supervisee with a letter attesting to their competency, as set out in items 1 through 5 above. It is not necessary to submit this to the CRPO unless it is specifically requested by staff.

Located Outside of Ontario

Outside Ontario, a clinical supervisor is an experienced practitioner of psychotherapy qualified to provide clinical supervision in their jurisdiction.
Supervision Requirements

Group Supervision

Group supervision may include structured peer group supervision if it is formal and structured, and includes at least one group member who meets CRPO’s definition of a clinical supervisor.

Applicants

At least 50 per cent of clinical supervision hours required to transfer to the Registered Psychotherapist category and to achieve independent practice must be completed in an individual or dyadic format. The remaining 50 per cent may be group supervision, including structured peer group supervision.

 

Previously, up to 20 percent of supervision hours (i.e. a maximum of 30 hours, out of 150 total hours) could be completed in groups of nine to 12 supervisees. All remaining group supervision hours could include up to eight supervisees.

 

Effective April 1, 2022, CRPO will only accept reported clinical group supervision hours that occurred in a group size of eight or fewer supervisees. The public is better protected by practitioners receiving high-quality supervision through smaller group sizes. This was communicated to all system partners in CRPO communiqués from May 2020 and December 2021.

Grandparenting Registrants

At application, a grandparenting applicant may have submitted all of their clinical supervision hours that were completed in a group format. Once registered, a grandparented registrant requiring additional clinical supervision to meet the independent practice requirements must complete half of the outstanding clinical supervision hours in an individual or dyadic format.

 

Practitioners who applied through grandparenting could include group clinical supervision that included up to 12 supervisees.

Directed Learning Activities in Providing Clinical Supervision

 

Registrants who provide supervision are encouraged to develop their own competence in providing clinical supervision in order to provide supervisees with the richest possible learning experience.

 

Registrants are encouraged to use the clinical supervisor criteria as baseline guideposts in cultivating their practice as a supervisor.

 

To improve their range and competence in providing effective clinical supervision, registrants should draw from a variety of activities that comprise directed learning (i.e. course work, supervised practice as a clinical supervisor, individual/peer/group learning, and independent study that includes structured readings) as a way to become exposed to and incorporate emerging best practices.

 

Beginning in April 2026, new supervisors are expected to have taken a 30-hour course on providing clinical supervision, and all supervisors are strongly recommended to complete such a course if they haven’t already. This guideline explains what the supervision course should cover. The guideline may be of interest to supervisors, course providers, and anyone else interested in clinical supervision.

 

Clinical supervision is a key aspect in the establishment of competent professionals. You have a responsibility to provide competent clinical supervision which includes assessing the knowledge, skill and judgment of supervisees, evaluating their needs and responding to those needs with appropriate and timely clinical supervision, which may include feedback and consultation, among other things, as negotiated between you and the supervisee.

 

Direct Client Contact (DCC) Hours

 

Direct client contact is any activity in which the client and the therapist are directly and formally engaged in the psychotherapeutic process. Ordinarily, this process occurs face-to-face, but other forms of direct contact, for example, using telephone, video call, or even email (with appropriate considerations for privacy and confidentiality) are relevant. The client may be an individual, couple, family or group.

 

Also included in direct client contact are:

 

  • interviewing for intake, as long as this activity is clinical in nature and then used to determine the nature and course of the therapy;
  • interviewing, administering a test or conducting a formal assessment as part of a clinical interaction with the client; and
  • facilitating or actively co-facilitating therapeutic sessions.

 

The following are not considered direct client contact:

 

  • observing therapy without actively participating or providing follow-up to the client immediately after the observed session;
  • record-keeping;
  • administrative activities, including report-writing;
  • conducting a psychometric assessment that primarily involves administering, scoring and report-writing, with little or no clinical interaction with the client; and
  • providing or receiving clinical or other forms of supervision.

 

Note: A standard 45 or 50 minute session qualifies as one hour of DCC.

Supervision Requirements

Who Can Supervise Who?

See below for information on who can provide clinical supervision to students, qualifying registrants and others.

Students

Only registrants of six Ontario colleges* are authorized to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy. Students intending to join CRPO need to be supervised by an RP in order to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy as part of their education. The RP supervisor must meet CRPO’s requirements of a clinical supervisor.

 

Students may still receive clinical supervision from another psychotherapy-practising professional* (as long as the supervisor meets the requirements of a clinical supervisor). However, that supervision does not enable the student to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy.

 

As a reminder, the controlled act of psychotherapy is a subset of the broader scope of practice of psychotherapy. All of this supervision (from an RP or another psychotherapy-practising professional) can be counted towards meeting CRPO’s registration requirements, as long as it meets CRPO’s requirements and is supported by documentation.

 

* The other professions who are permitted to provide psychotherapy services in Ontario are members of College of Psychologists of Ontario, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, College of Nurses of Ontario, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

RP (Qualifying) Registrants

RP (Qualifying) registrants of CRPO can receive supervision from anyone who is a member of a psychotherapy-practising profession* who meets CRPO’s clinical supervisor requirements.

 

* The other professions who are permitted to provide psychotherapy services in Ontario are members of College of Psychologists of Ontario, Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, College of Nurses of Ontario, College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

RP (without independent practice)

Registered Psychotherapists who do not qualify for independent practice must receive ongoing clinical supervision until they have completed a total of 1,000 direct client contact hours and 150 hours of clinical supervision. These registrants can receive supervision from anyone who is a member of a psychotherapy-practising profession who meets CRPO’s clinical supervisor definition.

RP (with independent practice)

Registrants with independent practice may engage in voluntary clinical supervision or may find it is necessary to do so in order to meet Professional Practice Standard 2.0: Competence.

 

Registrants in this category who obtain clinical supervision for professional growth or due to self-identified needs do not need to receive the supervision from someone who meets the criteria set out in CRPO’s definition of clinical supervisor. Registrants who rely on such supervision to meet QA or currency requirements must ensure the supervisory relationship aligns with the Professional Practices Standards, particularly those set out in Section 4: Clinical Supervision.

 

CRPO recommends that registrants in this category take a common sense approach to clinical supervision, ensuring that the clinical supervisor has the knowledge, skill and judgement necessary to meet the needs/goals of the supervision.

A Registrant who is in a proceeding

A registrant who is involved in a proceeding before a panel of a committee may be required to engage in clinical supervision as part of an undertaking, a program of specified continuing education and remediation (SCERP), or as a term, condition or limitation placed on the member’s certificate of registration. In such cases, the panel would have the authority to determine the requirements for the clinical supervisor and the parameters of the clinical supervision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Section 29 (b) of the Regulated Health Professions Act says that a person who is in the process of fulfilling the requirements to become a member of a profession may perform a controlled act when it is under the supervision of a member of that same profession. Because of this provision, from January 1, 2020 onward, individuals in training to practise psychotherapy who perform the controlled act prior to registration with CRPO need to assure they are receiving clinical supervision from an appropriately qualified registrant with CRPO.

Yes. See the Who Can Supervise Who section of this page and learn more about what College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) has to say about clinical supervision by reviewing their standards and FAQ regarding the controlled act of psychotherapy.

 

As a CRPO registrant, if you are required to receive clinical supervision for registration purposes, you must ensure that your clinical supervisor meets the criteria set out in the definition of clinical supervisor. In addition, your relationship with any clinical supervisor must not interfere with your ability to abide by the Professional Practice Standards for RPs.

 

Understand that you and your clinical supervisor would be operating within the regulatory frameworks of two distinct professions. Registrants of the CPO have a duty to maintain the standards of the psychology profession.

 

It is important to note that RPs can perform the controlled act of psychotherapy on their own authority, i.e. as CRPO registrants. They do not require supervision to perform the controlled act of psychotherapy.

 

Finally, CPO has standards related to supervision which prohibit supervision for the sole purpose of third-party billing. Likewise, CRPO requires RPs to participate meaningfully in clinical supervision. If meaningful supervision does not take place, and the arrangement is merely a guise to access third party billing, a registrant may be subject to investigation or discipline by CRPO.

Registrants who require clinical supervision for registration purposes must:

 

  • Ensure the clinical supervisor meets CRPO’s definition of a clinical supervisor.
  • Assure that the relationship has the following purposes: 1. to promote the professional growth of the RP; 2. to enhance the RP’s safe and effective use of self in the therapeutic relationship; 3. to discuss the direction of therapy; and 4. to safeguard the well-being of the client. This is demonstrated when the RP’s knowledge, skill and judgment are assessed; when RP’s learning needs are assessed; when the RP is provided with formative feedback; and when actions are taken to ensure client safety.
  • Ensure that the relationship will not impede their ability to meet the Professional Practice Standards for RPs, particularly those that relate to competence, clinical supervision, informed consent, issuing accurate documents and financial record-keeping.

The answer to this question depends on your registration status. If you require clinical supervision for registration purposes (e.g. because you are a student, a Qualifying registrant, or a registrant who does not yet qualify for independent practice), you need to receive supervision from someone who meets CRPO’s clinical supervisor criteria. If you’re someone who requires clinical supervision for registration purposes and you wish to continue working with a supervisor who does not meet the criteria, it’s important for you to know that the College will not recognize this as fulfilling the requirement to practise with clinical supervision. Learn more by reading the Who Can Supervise Who section of this page.

CRPO registrants may provide clinical supervision to regulated and unregulated professionals provided they have the competence to do so, and providing they adhere to the Professional Practice Standards for RPs, in particular those that relate to clinical supervision.

 

CRPO registrants who provide clinical supervision to a supervisee who is a member of another profession must recognize that they would be operating within two regulatory frameworks. The supervisee will have a duty to adhere to the standards of their own profession, just as the RP will have a duty to uphold the standards of the psychotherapy profession.

Please consult with the college that the supervisee expects to join in order to determine whether that college will accept clinical supervision provided by a member of another profession.

CRPO does not pre-approve clinical supervisor training activities, nor does CRPO maintain a list of approved or qualified clinical supervisors. Registrants who provide supervision are encouraged to develop their own competence in providing clinical supervision in order to provide supervisees with the richest possible learning experience. Registrants are encouraged to rely on their professional judgment to identify appropriate training activities, using the clinical supervisor criteria and standards on supervision as baseline guideposts in cultivating their practice as a supervisor – see, in particular, section 4 of the Professional Practice Standards for RPs.

 

To improve their range and competence in providing effective clinical supervision, we encourage registrants to draw from a variety of activities that comprise directed learning (i.e. course work, supervised practice as a clinical supervisor, individual/peer/group learning, and independent study that includes structured readings) as a way to become exposed to and incorporate emerging best practices.

 

In general, training should be demonstrably intended to train current or prospective clinical supervisors in providing supervision of psychotherapy. Taking into account the general framework offered in section 4 of the Standards and the clinical supervisor criteria established by CRPO, registrants may identify specific learning content and training formats that best meets their needs.

 

Considerations in Clinical Supervision

 

In our ongoing discussions with clinical supervisors, we have found that the topic areas listed below routinely stimulate discussion. In addition to engaging in courses that address interests and specific learning needs, consider whether there is merit to engaging in training offerings that address some of these topics:

 

  • Effective evaluation of supervisees’ learning needs.
  • Supporting the growth and development of the supervisee.
  • Defining/managing responsibilities of the supervisee and supervisor.
  • Supervisor’s role in preventing harm to clients.
  • Disclosure of client personal health information in supervisory relationships.
  • Record-keeping.
  • Conflict of interest.
  • Ethical issues in clinical supervision.

 

When supervisees submit supervision hours in their application to CRPO, the supervisor must indicate on the Clinical Supervisor Attestation Form how they have met the training requirement. This information is reviewed by staff, who will contact a supervisor if further information is required.

 

As such, supervisors should maintain records of their learning activities in case confirmation of the training is requested (e.g. letter from supervisor, reading list, course outline and completion letter).

Registrants are required to set out the details of their supervisory arrangements in a written agreement. Among other things, the agreement should address responsibility for client well-being. The sharing of responsibilities should take into account a variety of factors including: the experience and competence of the supervisee, whether the supervisee is a student or registrant, and the practice arrangement.

 

In the event CRPO ever received a complaint and a supervisory relationship was involved, the matter would be addressed by closely reviewing the situation and understanding the roles and conduct of the parties involved in the complaint. All of this information (and any other relevant details) would inform the degree and manner in which the parties involved would be held responsible. Note if a complaint involves cross-professional supervisory relationships, each party would be subject to the processes of their respective regulator.

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