The BC Psychological Association (BCPA) is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists and the College of Psychologists of BC’s Code of Conduct. BCPA will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants.

The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of the Continuing Education Committee Chair in consultation with the members of the Continuing Education Committee and the BCPA Board.

While BCPA goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues which come to the attention of the BCPA staff which require intervention and/or action on the part of the staff or an officer of BCPA. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

When a participant files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken:

1. If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the grievance will be asked to put his/her comments in written format. The CE Chair will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the grieved individual.
2. If the grievance concerns the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the BCPA Executive Director will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the Executive Director will, at his or her discretion:
   • Attempt to move the participant to another workshop or;
   • Provide a partial or full credit for a subsequent year's workshop or;
   • Provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.

   These actions will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record-keeping purposes. The note must be signed by the grieved individual.

No credit or refund will be granted if the grievance concerns:

• A speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of the presentation;
• A registration cancellation that occurred after the cancellation deadline;
• Events or situations that cannot reasonably be forecasted or addressed by the BCPA staff and the BCPA CE Committee.

If the grievance concerns the BCPA CE program in a specific regard, the CE Chair will attempt to arbitrate. This complaint will also have to be filed in writing.

Please contact BCPA at 204 – 1909 West Broadway, Vancouver BC V6J 1Z3 or at info@psychologists.bc.ca to submit a complaint, or if you have additional questions.