Voluntary Professional Registration

The Canadian Horticulture Therapy Association offers a voluntary professional registration process to members in good standing of the CHTA. Two designations are available: Horticultural Therapy Technician (HTT) and Horticultural Therapist Registered (HTR).

Voluntary registration is an active way of establishing credibility among other professions and promoting HT as a therapeutic discipline that is evidence-based and universally adaptable.

In brief, a CHTA member who is interested in voluntary professional registration first reviews the general information on the Sample Registration Form, available from Nancy at admin@chta.ca. If the member decides to proceed, and has been a member in good standing of the CHTA for a minimum of one year, he or she then requests a numbered Professional Registration Package from the CHTA office, for which there is a fee of $25.00. The third step is the filing of the completed application package, for which there is a fee of $150.00.

The process of application involves a significant amount of time to secure and prepare supporting documentation. If voluntary professional registration in horticultural therapy is an option you are considering, it is wise to start building a file of pertinent college and university transcripts; statements of completion and curriculum summaries for certificates in horticultural therapy, horticulture, or related areas; and relevant employment and volunteer records.
The CHTA is presently reviewing its voluntary professional registration procedures and has temporarily suspended review of registration applications. Registration applications will not be accepted again until 2012 and will need to be submitted using the revised and updated Professional Registration Application Form. At present, it is anticipated that the new application form will be available March 1, 2012.

Access to voluntary professional registration is a service dependent on there being sufficient CHTA volunteers with a current HTR or HTM designation, and several years of experience as HT practitioners, to undertake the review of professional registration applications. If the CHTA has sufficient volunteers on its Registration Committee, it hopes to open the registration application process again in March of 2012. 

If you are interested in undertaking this important professional development work and being a member of the CHTA’s Registration Committee, please contact Norman Goodyear at firstvicechair@chta.ca for further information.