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Call for Consultation

The Alberta College of Paramedics is inviting you to participate in the consultation on proposed changes to the Standard of Practice (1.5), Protected Professional Titles and Endorsements. This Standard is being amended to include the use of the Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) title by Advanced Care Paramedics when meeting all the requirements as outlined by the College.

In 2023, the Canadian Organization of Paramedic Regulators (COPR) released the Canadian Paramedic Competence Framework (CPCF) as the new national competency profiles. In 2024, the College began a project working with our educators to redesign the existing curriculum to meet these new national competencies. Currently, work is being completed to align education programs with the newly designed curriculum, and these programs will begin their roll out over the next year.

An important part of the national competency profiles and the curriculum redesign was recognizing the Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) scope of practice in Alberta.

Recently, Council reviewed a proposal from STARS in partnership with the University of Calgary for a new CCP certificate program. This proposal was approved and the program will begin in the fall. This is an important and significant first step towards formally recognizing Critical Care Paramedics in Alberta.

What this means is that any Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) who completes this CCP program may work using the title Critical Care Paramedic in Alberta.

In order to allow for the use of the Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) title to be used, we must amend our Standard of Practice 1.5 to include this title.

Please take some time to review the information below and complete the feedback survey prior to May 12.

Message from the Registrar

Proposed Amended Standard of Practice (1.5), Protected Professional Titles and Endorsements

Please click here to read the proposed Standard of Practice (1.5), Protected Professional Titles and Endorsements.

Feedback Survey

To provide the College with your feedback, please follow this link to the Consultation Survey.

FAQs

No. There are very specific competencies that must be taught to align with the CCP National Competency profile. Only those members who have recently completed the STARS CCMTA program (graduated in 2024 or later) will have been educated on the latest national competencies.

STARS has been the approved CCP education provider in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba and was best positioned to make a submission at this time. Their partnership with University of Calgary and resulting changes to the Academy program were necessary steps required for approval in Alberta.

Even though this is the only approved CCP program at this time, any approved paramedic education provider is welcome to make a submission to have a CCP program reviewed and approved.

No, not at this time. Currently, the Paramedics Profession Regulation (PPR) only authorizes three registers in Alberta: Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), Primary Care Paramedic (PCP) and Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP). The College is pursuing amendments to the PPR to include a CCP register, however the government has informed us this amendment could take years.

The PPR permits ACPs who have successfully completed approved training to use the title of CCP. Until amendments to the regulations can be made, we feel that putting parameters around title usage and approving CCP training is the best course of action to allow practitioners to practice to a fuller scope.

This is an important distinction – title vs register. A register is the College’s official record of paramedics who are permitted to practice. The approved registers are mentioned in the Health Professions Restricted Activity Regulations (HPRAR), where specific health acts are authorized to practitioners on each register. A title is a protected professional label that shows what type/level of paramedic someone is and signals their legal authority to practice.

In this instance, we are authorizing approved ACPs on the ACP register to access the title of CCP. In the future, when the CCP register is recognized in the PPR and HPRAR, we will have four separate registers. We will also be able to consider asking for the authority to include additional restricted activities if there is an identifiable need. Until that happens, we will ensure that ACPs who have completed the approved CCP program and have been authorized to use the title of CCP perform only the health care services that they are trained and authorized to perform.

More information about the STARS/UCalgary CCP program is available here – Call for Expressions of Interest.

Yes. The CCP title may be used across practice settings, provided its use is consistent with your employer’s workplace policies. As a protected professional title, “Critical Care Paramedic (CCP)” reflects an individual’s scope of practice and may be used to accurately represent your credentials.

In practice, this means the title can be appropriately included in professional contexts such as email signature lines, clinical and operational documentation, reports and other formal communications.

Registrants are responsible for ensuring that use of the CCP title complies with applicable legislation, standards of practice and employer expectations, particularly in environments where position designations may differ from regulatory titles.

You may use the title of Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) after you have completed the approved CCP training program and received College approval.