Which rules apply to your website?
Your website is advertising, so your College's advertising standards apply to every page on it. The exact wording varies by province and profession, but Canadian Colleges converge on the same principles. Ontario's CRPO Standard 6.2, for example, requires advertising to be truthful, accurate, verifiable, and not misleading, and prohibits client testimonials. Similar expectations apply to registered social workers, psychologists, and counsellors across provinces.
What is generally not allowed?
- Client testimonials. Colleges including CRPO prohibit using testimonials from clients or former clients in your advertising, even reposting reviews clients left independently. The concern is reliability, privacy, and the risk of pressure on clients.
- Promises of results. "You will feel better in six sessions" is a guarantee you cannot make. Describe your approach and what clients can expect from the process, not outcomes.
- Superlatives you cannot verify. "The best therapist in Calgary" and "top-rated" claims are not verifiable. Credentials, modalities, years in practice, and areas of focus are.
- Misleading titles or credentials. Use your registered title exactly as your College licenses it, and list only credentials you hold.
What is allowed, and works well?
Almost everything that makes a website genuinely persuasive is fully compliant: a clear description of who you help, your registered credentials and registration number, your approach and modalities, fees and insurance information, a warm and honest bio, photos of you and your space, plain-language answers to common questions, and endorsements from professional peers where your College permits them. Honesty is not a limitation; it is the tone anxious clients are looking for.
A quick compliance checklist for your site
- Registered title and registration number appear accurately.
- No client testimonials or reposted client reviews anywhere.
- No outcome guarantees or unverifiable superlatives.
- Fees stated clearly, with no hidden conditions.
- Claims about experience and training are verifiable.
- Privacy: the site collects no health information without proper safeguards, and your contact form is not an intake form.
When in doubt, check your own College's current standards directly. CRPO publishes its advertising standard and practice guidance at crpo.ca, and each provincial College maintains equivalents. Standards get updated, so verify before you publish.