Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne, Vol 67(1), Feb 2026, 5-20; doi:10.1037/cap0000438
The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (or CPA Code), first published in 1986, has established itself as one of the most comprehensive and influential professional codes of ethics. Over the past four decades, a broad body of scholarly literature has focused on the development, structure, and practical applications of the CPA Code. Despite this, there are no existing scoping reviews that have focused on the CPA Code. Our goal was to conduct a scoping review summarizing the existing literature on the CPA Code. This review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodological guidelines, and findings are reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. APA PsycInfo, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically searched from inception to February 2024 for English or French language peer-reviewed articles that analyzed or applied the CPA Code in any context and with any population. Of the 139 search results screened, 97 articles met inclusion criteria. Narrative reviews constituted the majority of articles, followed by commentaries, empirical studies, and theoretical analyses. Overall, the CPA Code literature focuses on a wide range of ethical issues related to psychological practice. Many studies cursorily mentioned ethical principles or standards and their applicability without an in-depth analysis. There is a need for additional empirically supported and cross-cultural studies to validate the CPA Code’s structure and applicability across diverse populations. Future research should also focus on identifying areas for potential CPA Code improvements to reflect the evolving nature of our discipline. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)