Registration - In-house Organization

Subject Matters

• Aboriginal Affairs
• Budget
• Climate
• Defence
• Education
• Employment and Training
• Health
• Internal Trade
• Justice and Law Enforcement
• Research and Development
• Science and Technology
• Taxation and Finance

Subject Matter Details

Grant, Contribution or Other Financial Benefit

• Continued investments in students through graduate scholarships, internships, and fellowships.
• Continued, increased, and balanced funding for psychological research via base funding for the granting councils, as well as stabilized funding for operating and infrastructure support.
• Ensure core research funding for granting councils and funding for students that recognizes the role of psychological factors in research, particularly in health and the neurosciences
• Obtain Federal support of the infrastructures and mechanisms necessary to collecting information on Canada's Health Human Resource (HHR) upon which HHR planning can rely
• Obtain contributions for the training of Canada's mental health human resources.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution

• Overall support for Bill C-211: An Act respecting a federal framework on post-traumatic stress disorder. Concerns were expressed about federal guidelines with respect to diagnosis, treatment and management of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Legislative Proposal, Bill or Resolution, Policies or Program

• Improve access to psychological services with respect to the new mental health funding in the Canada Health transfer

Policies or Program

• Create a Chief Science Officer mandated to ensure that government science is fully available to the public, that scientists are able to speak freely about their work, and that scientific analyses are considered when the government makes decisions.
• Create federal residency placements for psychologists within federal departments
• Disability Management Initiative in the Public Service with respect to mental health conditions to identify prevention programs and longer term needs.
• Enhancing access to mental health care through primary care and create parity of funding for mental and physical health services for persons with mental health, substance use and physical health conditions
• Establish a chief clinical psychologist position at the Department of National Defence within the Mental Health Directorate.
• Expand the CanLearn program to include psychologists
• Help to address mental health needs within the military through mechanisms which could enhance recruitment and retention of psychologists in the military such as the development of federal residency training programs for psychologists and putting psychologists in uniform.
• Improve access to mental health and psychological services for veterans
• Improve access to mental health and psychological services through private and public health insurance plans in Canada.
• Improve access to mental health and psychological services with respect to all Canadians
• Improve access to psychological services with respect to the new mental health funding in the Canada Health transfer
• Leadership in the development, innovation and delivery of evidence-based in respect of needed and accessible mental health and health service
• Pharmacare and its impact on other privately insured health services such as psychological services
• Policies and programs to better address the health care needs of seniors - National Dementia Strategy, Canada Health Transfers that include a demographic top up transfer, expand innovative homecare best practices, pan-Canadian caregiver strategy
• Proposed changes to the HST/GST attached to reports and services for non-health care purposes. CPA is concerned that this change will lead to unintended consequences for Canadians seeking mental health treatment and that Canadians will now have to pay taxes on some psychological services that were once exempt.
• Psychological services provided through the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations and Inuit persons
• Remove the requirement that employees of the federal public service must get a referral from a medical doctor before qualifying for reimbursement for psychological services
• Revisit the extended health care insurance plans for federal public employees and all other beneficiaries. Make sure that coverage provided for psychological services affords the employee meaningful levels of service. Those Federal government departments that enter into contracts for service from registered psychologists pay at least the recommended rate set by provincial and territorial associations of psychology across Canada.
• Role of behavioural science in addressing climate change and impact of climate change, and its response, on mental health
• Statistics Canada to re-instate numerous discontinued surveys that are critical to the development and maintenance of good programming and policy.
• Taxation - Tax Programs in respect of persons with disability related to mental functions
• The CPA's previous CEO was asked to co-Chair the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC), reinstated by the Minister of National Revenue. The mandate of the Committee was to advise the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on its interpretation and administration of tax measures for persons with disabilities. Improved interpretation and administration can help to enhance access to tax measures for those living with disability.
• The Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program's Mental Health Counselling (MHC) benefit with respect to improving access to psychological services.
• The formulation of a national dementia strategy and action plan
• The role of psychologists in legislated policies and programs related to the Criminal Code of Canada: Medical Assistance in Dying, Assessing Fitness to Stand Trial and Criminal Responsibility

Policies or Program, Regulation

• Chapter 7 of Agreement on Internal Trade and its impact on the regulation and mobility of psychologists

Communication Techniques

• Written communication
• Oral communication
• Grass-roots communication

Government Institutions

• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)
• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)
• Finance Canada (FIN)
• Health Canada (HC)
• House of Commons
• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
• Justice Canada (JC)
• National Defence (DND)
• National Research Council (NRC)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
• Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
• Public Safety Canada (PS)
• Senate of Canada
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
• Treasury Board Of Canada Secretariat (TBS)
• Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)

Address:
141 Laurier Avenue West, suite 702
Ottawa, ON  K1P 5J3
Canada

Telephone number: 613-237-2144  Ext. 322
Fax number: 613-237-1674