The College remains committed to reviewing its processes related to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) with a view toward incorporating EDI into all aspects of College work and its regulatory processes.
The EDI Working Group has continued to focus on the goals it established. This has included initiating a review of diversity practices across the various College Committees. Direction has been provided to some Committees with a view to assisting all Committees to implement EDI in their work. Suggestions have been made to the Quality Assurance Committee to consider incorporating EDI as a required component in the Continued Professional Development program. The Jurisprudence and Ethics Examination (JEE) Committee will be asked to review the (JEE) test items to ensure they are written with an EDI lens. The Working Group is also reaching out to the Directors of Clinical Training and Internship Directors to ask questions about the representation of cultural and diversity in the graduate school programs. In order to have equity, diversity and inclusion represented across the College membership, attention must be turned to the students in graduate programs who will become the future members of the College.
A diversity training workshop for the College Council, Committee members and senior College staff is scheduled for December 3, 2021. It is recognized that a ‘one-time’ workshop is only a beginning, but we are looking forward to learning as a group and following where this training leads. The Working Group is pleased to note the creation of an EDI webpage (www.cpo.on.ca/about-cpo/equity-diversity-and-inclusion) which contains a variety of regularly updated resources and recommends that members take advantage of these materials.
The next meeting is scheduled for the end of October.
Donna Ferguson, Psy.D., C.Psych.
Chair, EDI Working Group