A policy statement taken by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is a public stance on a given issue(s) and one that serves to guide the decisions and actions of the association. All policy statements of the CPA must be based on psychological knowledge and expertise that bear directly on the subject of the statement. Further, the statement must be useful in informing public debate and consideration of the issue(s). All CPA policy statements shall be guided by the ethical standards of the science and practice of psychology as defined in the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. CPA remains the sole author and publisher of all policy statements of the association and assumes responsibility for their translation and dissemination. The Board and/or its delegates also assume responsibility for the review and revision of CPA’s policy statements as needed.
The development of a policy statement may be delegated by the CPA Board of Directors to its Executive Officers and/or the CPA’s Public Policy Committee. All policy statements, however, must be reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors before they can become statements of the association.
Policy statements may be developed in response to information or requests from members of the association and/or from individuals and organizations external to CPA.
Recommendations from any individual or group internal to the CPA (e.g. members, sections), as well as those from any individual or group external to the CPA, for the development of a policy statement by the CPA must be in the form of a written request and directed to the CPA Board of Directors through its Executive Officer.
Recommendations that originate from the Board, its Executive Officers or from the Public Policy Committee may be undertaken collaboratively and without a formal written request.
All recommendations must include:
- information about the relevance of the issue to psychology in Canada as a profession and/or science;
- documentation, based on facts and knowledge, in support of the need for the proposed policy statement;
- the relevancy and consistency of the proposed statement with the CPA Code of Ethics.
The Board and its designated officers shall act expeditiously on all requests and recommendations.
(November 1990, Revised November 2007, Revised November 2008)