While the legislation sets out prohibitions with respect to sexual conduct with clients, the College also sets out similar prohibitions with respect to professional services that involve others, including those associated with clients, e.g., family members of clients, students, supervisees and research subjects. While the legislation does not specifically address inappropriate conduct with respect to those who are not clients, the College’s Standards of Professional Conduct, 2024 do, as follows:
14.1 Relationships with Current or Former Clients
Registrants must not enter, or make plans to enter, into an intimate or sexual relationship with a current or past service recipient or a close relative of the service recipient, unless at least five years has passed since the last professional contact, and it can be demonstrated that the individual is not vulnerable and will not be reasonably expected to require additional services from the registrant. This does not apply to relationships with employees of an organizational client unless the service provided to the individual was either intended to be therapeutic or the individual is vulnerable to exploitation.
14.2 Sexual Relationships with Students, Trainees, and Supervisees
Registrants must not enter, or make plans to enter, into an intimate or sexual relationship with a current research participant, student, employee, or supervisee, or with any person the registrant could reasonably expect to be in a position to evaluate.
14.3 Sexual Harassment
In addition to the adhering to the legislated prohibition of sexual abuse of clients, which is an act of Professional Misconduct, registrants must not engage in sexual harassment in any professional context. Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, any or all of the following:
- The use of power or authority in an attempt to coerce another person to engage in or tolerate sexual activity including, but not limited to, explicit or implicit threats of reprisal for noncompliance or promises of reward for compliance;
- Engaging in deliberate and/or repeated unsolicited sexually oriented comments, anecdotes, gestures, or touching, where the registrant knows or ought to know that such behaviours are offensive and unwelcome, or create an offensive, hostile, or intimidating professional environment; and
- Engaging in physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature when such conduct might reasonably be expected to cause harm, insecurity, discomfort, offence, or humiliation to another person or group.
14.4 Other Forms of Abuse and Harassment
Registrants must not engage in any verbal or physical behaviour of a demeaning, harassing or abusive nature in any professional context.