There is a planned system outage from 8 p.m. on May 1 until 4 a.m. on May 4. The Physician Directory and CPSA Portal (including OATS) will be unavailable during this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Council Elections

Getting involved means making a difference — to patients and to other regulated members.

Competency & AttributesCouncil Election Timeline

CPSA Council elections

The Health Professions Act (HPA) specifies that half of CPSA’s councillors are public members appointed by Alberta’s Lieutenant-Governor in Council. The other half is made up of regulated members who are elected by CPSA’s regulated members (physicians and physician assistants).

Nominations for the 2025 Council election are now closed.

Nomination process

The CPSA Council election process involves these steps:

  • CPSA issues a call for nominations to our regulated members each May.
  • Interested regulated members:
    • Demonstrate adherence to eligibility criteria
    • Include endorsement by 2 regulated members
    • Acknowledge that they understand the time and commitment required of a Councillor.
    • Provide a brief description of relevant experience such as:
      • Years of experience in the medical field
      • Medical specializations/areas of interest
      • Other professional designations and pursuits

CPSA will conduct the preliminary recruitment and screening of candidates. The Nominations Committee will review selected applications, and final candidates will be announced in the summer.

If there are more candidates than vacancies, an election is held in October.

Eligibility requirements

A regulated member on the General Register, the Provisional Register or the Limited Practice Register may be eligible for nomination for election to a regulated member vacancy on Council if:

  • They do not hold a current role/position that could present as a conflict of interest,
  • They are a regulated member in good standing with CPSA,
  • The member is in compliance with the Health Professions Act (HPA), and
  • Their primary residence is Alberta.

For more details on eligibility, please review section 12 of CPSA bylaws.

Support health care in Alberta by bringing key competencies and attributes to the Council table

In addition to basic eligibility, regulated members should possess the following core competencies and attributes if they wish to submit a nomination. We would also like to learn about prospective candidates’ proficiency in technical competencies, which help to ensure Council is well balanced and equipped to support CPSA’s mandate.

Core Competencies and Attributes:

Integrity

  • Always keeps the greater good of the organization and the people it represents in mind
  • Makes principle-centered decisions based on the governance principles of the organization
  • Appropriately manages sensitive and confidential information

Accountability

  • Assumes responsibility, accountability and follows through when making commitments to Council and committees

Humility

  • Demonstrates empathy, sincerity, honesty and respect
  • Adheres to the values of the organization

Resiliency

  • Maintains composure and perspective in difficult or volatile situations
  • Is not threatened by ambiguity and conflict

Effective Communication

  • Actively listens to messages being communicated by others
  • Is transparent but constructive about opinions
  • Articulates complex ideas in a clear understandable way
  • Effectively participates in meetings and discussions to assist participants in reaching shared decisions, and fostering positive relationships

Strategic and Inclusionary leadership

  • Has broad knowledge and perspectives
  • Understands the trends in the environment and the impact it may have on the organization
  • Adopts a long-term view of organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks in a changing operational environment
  • Demonstrates awareness and ongoing personal and professional learning on a variety of topics including diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism, Truth and Reconciliation
  • Clearly articulates a practical and common vision for the future and builds a credible case for change or improvement

Political Acumen

  • Understands the mandate of CPSA and its ‘arms-length’ relationship from government
  • Understands and respects the role, responsibilities and authorities of the Council/Board, governments, leadership and staff
  • Demonstrates diplomacy and good judgement in sensitive situations
  • Understands structure and decision-making at senior and political levels

Excellent Judgment

  • Efficiently and effectively perceives and assesses situations related to Council/ Board deliberations
  • Asks the right questions to get the information needed by the team
  • Draws sound conclusions and makes good decisions based on the information available

Understanding of the Canadian and Alberta Healthcare Ecosystem

  • Knowledge of various groups and their role in the system
  • Understanding of patient rights
  • Awareness of the social determinants of health
  • Awareness of success indicators for the health care system

Technical Competencies:

Financial Acumen

  • Understands the basic revenue/expense model of the organization
  • Basic knowledge of accounting, budgeting, financial reporting and monitoring processes
  • Understands financial statements and balance sheets

Technology and Data Management Acumen

  • Working knowledge of the applications/programs used in conducting the work of the Council – email, portals, social media, data storage
  • Awareness of the advances in technology and how they could be used to advance the organization’s capabilities
  • Awareness of the importance of investment balanced with the cost/benefit of implementation

Human Resource Management

  • Basic understanding of the importance of culture and its impact on the performance of the organization
  • Basic knowledge of the elements of human resource management- recruitment and selection, compensation, performance management, training and professional development, succession management

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

  • Basic understanding of diversity, inequity, exclusion and racism effect experiences in healthcare
  • Awareness of how the lived experience of some Albertans impacts their interactions with the healthcare system

Legal Acumen

  • Basic understanding of all relevant legislation and regulation

Election for 2026 Councillor(s)

Council election timeline

May 4, 2026 Nominations open
May 29, 2026 Nominations close
October 1, 2026 Voting opens
October 30, 2026 Voting closes
November 12, 2026 New Councillors officially announced in Messenger
January 1, 2027 New Councillors start their term

Questions about CPSA Council Elections?

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Role of a CPSA Councillor

Council members are responsible for governing CPSA and fulfilling its legislative mandate, making policy decisions that help CPSA meet its obligations to Albertans.