CAP-APPROVED PROGRAMS

Some programs may be familiar with CAP's academic requirements and know that past graduates from their program have successfully applied to CAP. However, they may not have undergone the process to become a CAP-approved program. Seeking status as a CAP-approved program may not be suitable for a given program for a variety of reasons, including if the program prepares students to seek registration with a range of regulatory bodies (for example: social workers, psychotherapists) rather than the program being specifically intended to train professional psychologists.   

Applicants to CAP who have completed graduate programs that don't appear in the list of CAP-approved programs can still apply to CAP through the regular pathway for course-by-course evaluation of their academic credentials. Please familiarize yourself with the Criteria for Evaluating Academic Credentials to guide you in selecting a graduate program. 

CAP-approved programs are listed in Appendix A of the 2023 Criteria and Appendix B of the 2030 Criteria, and are kept up to date.

CAP is currently reviewing existing CAP-approved programs to determine which will be approved under the 2030 Criteria. Approval under the 2023 Criteria does not automatically mean that a program will remain approved under the 2030 Criteria. Programs which have been approved under the 2030 Criteria appear in Appendix B of the 2030 Criteria.

Starting January 1, 2030, the 2030 Criteria will apply to all applicants applying to have their academic credentials evaluated regardless of program completion date.

CAP approves specific iterations of a graduate program, including their admission criteria and system by which the program ensures that a student has met all of CAP's undergraduate level requirements. Thus, your program likely needed to be CAP-approved at the time you were admitted, in order to place your application on the CAP-approved program pathway.

Eligibility for this pathway also depends on your program's ability to confirm that you have completed the requirements of their program, specific to the CAP-approved program pathway. You may inquire with your program if you are part of the CAP-approved program. 

If you are not, you may apply via Pathway 1 for evaluation of your academic credentials.

Yes. This was a requirement that your program agreed to when they sought CAP approval. However, under the 2023 Criteria, this is not a requirement for applications made through Pathway 1 (the regular psychology pathway). So, while you will not be eligible to apply through the CAP-approved programs pathway if your practicum supervisor was not a registered psychologist, you can apply through the regular pathway for course-by-course evaluation of your academic credentials.

Please speak with your Director of Training regarding this. CAP does not have a set time limit for this, but the Director of Training for your program (or their delegate) must provide your name to CAP confirming your eligibility to apply through the CAP-approved programs pathway.

Not usually. However, CAP may request additional information for specific courses if required to confirm that all application requirements have been met.

Yes. While the review of your application will be expedited by you applying through the CAP-approved programs pathway, CAP will check the courses on the assessment against our Substantive Content Area and total psychology credit requierements.

You can apply to CAP once you have completed all of your degree requirements. If there will be a lag of four months or more between when you have completed all degree requirements and when your degree conferral appears on your official transcript, you can apply and have your academic institution send an official letter, along with your most up-to-date official transcript(s), confirming that you have completed all of the degree requirements in your graduate program (this includes the completion of the thesis/ dissertation, project, and/or practicum) and when conferral will take place.

The letter should come from the Chair of the Department or Head of the Faculty and must be emailed to CAP (documents@cap.ab.ca) by the academic institution. This letter must include your full name, the name of the program, the institution's name, the date all program requirements were completed, the degree conferral (graduation) date, and confirmation that you have successfully met all requirements. This letter is a separate requirement from the letter from your Director of Training confirming your eligibilty for the CAP-approved programs pathway.

Please note that once you graduate officially, you must send CAP an updated transcript showing conferral of your degree. This is to maintain clarity and confirmation in your CAP records.

A degree completed but not conferred means all requirements have been met for the degree.

Please ensure you do not order the transcript for your graduate program before it shows completion of all your courses (i.e. it should not show any courses in progress). Please refrain from having your academic institutions send CAP documents until you have completed and paid for your application. Note that the posted submission deadline dates do not apply for applications made through the CAP-approved program pathway; these applications are evaluated on an ongoing basis, once they are complete.

If your academic credentials are approved by CAP prior to you defending your dissertation, once you have completed all requirements for your doctoral degree, you must submit an Application for Evaluation of Doctoral Credentials (found here) before you will be authorized to use the title "Doctor" in connection with the practice of psychology in Alberta.

Yes, CAP's fee for evaluation of academic credentials applies (please see CAP's fee schedule).

Once CAP has received all of the required documentation to review your Application for Evaluation of Academic Credentials, you can expect to receive a decision letter within two weeks. When your academic credentials are approved, the Application for Registration as a Provisional Psychologist (registration change form) and Hours of Supervised (Evaluated) Practice form will be made available in your MyCAP account.

Please familiarize yourself with the supporting documents required to accompany your Application for Registration as a Provisional Psychologist so that the documents required to be submitted by third parties can be received by CAP by the relevant deadline.

You may find it helpful to review the section at the bottom of this webpage called, "Waiting for Your Academic Credentials Evaluation Decision?".