Alberta · College of Alberta Psychologists

What happens during a CAP investigation?

When the Complaints Director directs an investigation under section 55(2)(d) of the Health Professions Act, the matter moves from a paper exchange to a fact-finding exercise led by an appointed investigator. Understanding what the investigator can do, and what the possible endpoints are, is what lets you engage from a position of information rather than fear.

When and why an investigation starts

Not every complaint is investigated. Under section 55(2) of the Health Professions Act the Complaints Director may resolve a matter by consent, dismiss it where there is insufficient evidence, or — where the concern is serious enough or the paper record leaves questions unanswered — appoint an investigator under section 55(2)(d). The College itself can also initiate an investigation without an external complainant where information suggests unprofessional conduct.

The trigger is not that you are presumed to have done something wrong. It is that the Director needs facts the written response alone cannot settle. That framing matters: the investigation exists to establish what happened, and a psychologist who engages openly is not disadvantaged by it.

What the investigator can do

The investigator has broad statutory powers to collect records and information relevant to the complaint. In practice that means requesting the full client file, related correspondence, appointment and billing records, and your account of specific events. You are expected to cooperate; obstructing or misleading an investigator is treated as a serious matter in its own right, distinct from the original allegation.

The investigator may interview you, the complainant, and witnesses such as colleagues or supervisors. Where the concern turns on clinical or professional judgement — the conduct of an assessment, the standard of a report, the handling of a boundary — the Complaints Director may also commission an independent expert report under section 66(2)(b) from another registered psychologist. That expert opinion frequently becomes a central document in the file.

Your obligations, and your rights, while it runs

You must respond to reasonable requests for records and information, and you must be truthful. You are entitled to know the substance of what is being investigated, to take advice, and to be represented. This is the stage at which your professional liability insurer and a regulatory lawyer earn their place: they help you respond to requests accurately, frame your account, and avoid the unforced errors — over-explaining, speculating, or contradicting your own records — that lengthen matters.

Continue to keep the client file intact and unaltered. If you locate additional relevant material as the investigation proceeds, provide it; do not curate. And keep your own dated log of every request received and every response sent, so that your cooperation is itself on the record.

How long it takes

There is no fixed statutory clock. A concern that is plainly trivial, vexatious, or without factual merit may be dealt with quickly. A matter needing document review, interviews, and an expert report can run for several months, and complex cases can extend beyond a year. Silence for a stretch does not mean the file has stalled; investigations move in phases, and quiet periods are normal.

You can help the timeline by responding promptly and completely to each request. Chasing the College for updates rarely accelerates matters, but a single, courteous status enquiry through your representative is reasonable if a long period passes with no contact.

Where an investigation can end

On completion, the Complaints Director considers the evidence and the investigation report. Broadly, the matter can: be dismissed, where there is insufficient or no evidence of unprofessional conduct; be resolved by agreement, including a ratified settlement under section 60 that may carry agreed undertakings or conditions; or be referred to a hearing before the Hearing Tribunal where there is sufficient evidence of unprofessional conduct that warrants adjudication.

If your matter is dismissed, that is ordinarily the end of it for you. Note that a complainant who is dissatisfied with a dismissal has a separate right, under section 68, to ask a Complaint Review Committee to review whether the dismissal was reasonable — so a dismissal is not always immediately final.

If it is referred to a Hearing Tribunal

A referral moves the matter into a formal, quasi-judicial hearing. The Hearing Tribunal is composed of at least fifty percent public members appointed by Alberta Health together with at least one psychologist; it sits with its own independent legal counsel, and the College is represented by counsel presenting the case. You have a statutory right to be represented, and you should exercise it.

A hearing is normally scheduled within about ninety days of referral to the Hearings Director, though the particulars, date, and location can arrive on as little as thirty days' notice. Hearings are generally open to the public unless a private hearing is ordered. The Tribunal decides on the balance of probabilities and, if it finds unprofessional conduct, moves to orders under section 82 — the subject of our remediation guide.

This guide explains the process of the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) under the Health Professions Act and is provided for general information for registered psychologists and registered provisional psychologists. It is not legal advice. If you are the subject of a complaint or investigation, contact your professional liability insurer and, where the matter is serious, a lawyer who practises regulatory defence under the Health Professions Act. Last updated July 14, 2026.