Eligibility

Membership Types

Counsellors and Therapists are invited to become members of the CPCA which is a nationally recognized, independent, self-regulated, non-profit counselling association.

The requirements for each designation are listed below in the following documents. You can click any of the buttons below to read the full requirements for the designation.

Student

Requirements for student membership.

Must be enrolled in a college or university program which provides the minimum education criteria that facilitates the development of entry-level core competencies required for registration OR is enrolled in a course(s) which, in addition to previously acquired education, meets the minimum education requirements. Upon completion of the approved education with the developed core competencies and subsequent qualifying exam, a student member is eligible to apply for Candidate membership with the CPCA.

Upgrading of designation requires successful completion of CPCA Qualifying Exam.

RPC Provisional

Registered Professional Counsellor Provisional requirements

The RPC Provisional Designation - Application Form

The CPCA has two Counselling Scopes of Practice - (1) the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice and (2) the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice. In the application form, you will be asked to choose your counselling scope of practice. As such, the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice is aligned with the Registered Professional Counsellor (RPC) designation.

The Provisional status to the RPC designation means that the counsellor is in the process of obtaining 600 hours of supervised counselling practice which involves:

150 Hours of Supervision
250 Direct Client Contact Hours and
200 Professional Practice or Currency Hours

Please refer to the CPCA Provisional Guide for Counsellors to answer questions about the Provisional status of your counselling designation. The provisional designation is a full practicing designation. The Provisional status of the designation is to support members in the early stages of their counselling practice. Once the 600 hours are complete a member can complete a Qualifying Application to become a RPC full designation without the "provisional" status.

After review of your RPC Provisional application, there is a CPCA Qualifying Exam (QE) for the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice. Successful completion of the CPCA Qualifying Exam is required to obtain an RPC Provisional designation.

RPC

Registered Professional Counsellor (full designation) requirements

The RPC Full Designation - Application Form

To obtain the full RPC designation requires that the applicant has obtained 600 hours of supervised counselling practice which involves:

150 Hours of Supervision
250 Direct Client Contact Hours and
200 Professional Practice or Currency Hours

To verify these practice hours, please use the Substantiation Form signed off by your Supervisor(s) to confirm the above hours. If you do not have these hours, please apply for the designation with a provisional status.

After review of your RPC application, there is a CPCA Qualifying Exam (QE) for the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice. Successful completion of the CPCA Qualifying Exam is required to obtain an RPC designation.

MPCC Provisional

Master Practitioner of Clinical Counselling Provisional requirements

The MPCC Provisional Designation - Application Form

The CPCA has two Counselling Scopes of Practice - (1) the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice and (2) the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice. In the application form, you will be asked to choose your counselling scope of practice. As such, the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice is aligned with the Master Practitioner in Clinical Counselling (MPCC) designation.

The Provisional status to the MPCC designation means that the counsellor is in the process of obtaining 600 hours of supervised counselling practice which involves:

150 Hours of Supervision
250 Direct Client Contact Hours and
200 Professional Practice or Currency Hours

Please refer to the CPCA Provisional Guide for Counsellors to answer questions about the Provisional status of your counselling designation. The provisional designation is a full practicing designation. The Provisional status of the designation is to support members in the early stages of their counselling practice. Once the 600 hours are complete a member can complete a Qualifying Application to obtain an MPCC full designation without the "provisional" status.

After review of your RPC Provisional application, there is a CPCA Qualifying Exam (QE) for the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice. Successful completion of the CPCA Qualifying Exam is required to obtain an MPCC Provisional designation.

MPCC

Master Practitioner of Clinical Counsellor requirements

The MPCC Full Designation - Application Form

The CPCA has two Counselling Scopes of Practice - (1) the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice and (2) the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice. In the application form, you will be asked to choose your counselling scope of practice. As such, the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice is aligned with the Master Practitioner in Clinical Counselling (MPCC) designation.

To obtain the full Master Practitioner in Clinical Counselling (MPCC) designation requires that the applicant has obtained 600 hours of supervised counselling practice which involves:

150 Hours of Supervision
250 Direct Client Contact Hours and
200 Professional Practice or Currency Hours

After review of your MPCC application, there is a CPCA Qualifying Exam (QE) for the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice. Successful completion of the CPCA Qualifying Exam is required to obtain an MPCC designation.

RQS Provisional

Registered Qualified Supervisor Provisional requirements

RQS

Registered Qualified Supervisor requirements

Members who have held an RPC or MPCC designation for more than 8 years (out of the last 10 years) are eligible to become a CPCA Registered Qualified Supervisor (RQS). Becoming a Counselling Supervisor does not change your current designation, but rather adds a second designation allowing the member to provide counselling supervision within their scope of practice.

The RQS Designation - Registered Qualified Supervisor

[Application Form] [RQS Recommendation Form] [Supervision Verification Form]

This application is only open to members who hold an RPC or MPCC designation from the CPCA and have been in clinical practice for a minimum of 8 of the last 10 years.
This designation requires 30 hours of specific training in clinical supervision. You can get this training from a variety of sources. [List of Supervision Training Options]
The process to receive an RQS designation is a 2-Step process:

Step 1: Become an RQS Provisional by completing the following:

Complete the RQS Application Form
Gather all documentation needed (see page 1 of application)
Send to qualifying@thecpca.ca with "RQS Application" in the subject line with all attachments.
Send RQS Application fee of $75 (plus applicable fees and taxes)
Once approved, the difference in your membership dues will be required.
Send RQS Recommendation Form to those who are recommending you (see details in the application form) and have them forward it to qualifying@thecpca.ca

Step 2: Complete Supervision Hours as an RQS Provisional

Complete 100 hours of documented counselling supervision as a provisional RQS
Provide verification that you received clinical supervision for these supervision hours
Submit the RQS Supervision Hours Verification Form to qualifying@thecpca.ca

Note: An RQS applicant who has already completed 100 hours of supervised clinical supervision hours may be eligible to submit these hours if they were completed after 30 hours of required supervision education.

All Designations

Requirements for all CPCA designations

Scopes of Practice

The CPCA is a unique counselling association because the CPCA is the only counselling association that adheres to a Competency Based Model. In short, you can have a varied educational background and still be eligible to become a CPCA Member, as long as you have successfully completed the educational core competencies to become any of the following designations:

RPC or RPC Provisional in the Mental Health Counselling Scope of Practice
MPCC or MPCC Provisional in the Clinical Counselling Scope of Practice

If you are enrolled in or have graduated from any of these approved programs you are eligible to apply. Please choose option #3 and submit your application.

If you are not sure if your education is eligible for membership, you have 3 options:

1. Use the CPCA Education Self-Assessment Tool

You can use this tool (at no cost) and you should have a clear sense of whether you meet the educational core competencies to apply to the CPCA. Please note that completing this document is not a guaranteed membership with the CPCA, but it will give you clarity as to whether you may or may not need further education or specific courses to be eligible for membership. This tool also helps for educational planning.

2. Submit a CPCA Education Substantiation Form

You can request that the CPCA do an educational review for you at a cost of $75 (plus $5 admin fee + taxes, non-refundable). This is done by submitting the CPCA substantiating education form. It needs to be filled out completely, and saved to your computer. Then submit it along with all course outlines to registrar@thecpca.ca requesting a CPCA Educational Review. Payment is sent to payment@thecpca.ca with password: education

3. Submit an Application

You can submit a CPCA membership application (linked above) and learn more about the application process by going to the CPCA membership application page. Applications have a $150 (+ $5 admin fee + taxes) non-refundable application processing fee. As a part of your application, it is possible that an educational review may still need to be submitted, but it will be done as a part of your application process without additional fees.

Membership Eligibility is based on the CPCA Education Core Competencies. As part of our regulatory framework of certification, all professional counsellors of the CPCA must have these minimum core competencies for best practice and the protection of the public.

Once membership eligibility is determined, successful completion of the CPCA Qualifying Exam (QE) is required.

International Education

If an applicant is unsure of whether their international degree or education meets the requirements outlined above because it has been completed internationally, the applicant must have an Education Equivalency Evaluation completed by World Education Services (WES) and include the WES documentation with their application for membership.