To provide a forum for communication and exchange of ideas amongst psychiatrists not only with ancestry from the Indian Sub Continent but also any member who shares similar interests. The language of English and French are used in the conduct of the business of the Association.
To establish close working ties with the CPA, CMA, APA, IPS, IAPA (USA), IAPA (AUS), BIPA (UK) and other similar organizations.
To advocate for the specific professional needs of the Psychiatrists and professional working in mental health who hail from South Asian countries.
To establish funds and awards to promote mental health, education, and research in Canada and South Asian countries.
To hold valuable, educational annual meetings with distinguished speakers including Dr. Dilip Jeste, Dr. Salman Akhtar, Dr Dinesh Bhugra, Dr. Matechari Keshavan, Dr BN Gangadhar, and DR Naweed Syed.
The idea of Indo-Canadian Psychiatric Association( ICPA) was initially drawn from IAPA (USA), BIPA (UK) and IAPA (Australia). DR Dhanapal Natarajan of Regina engineered and fine tuned the concept. He worked tirelessly with his colleagues namely Dr Savalai Manohar, Dr. S. Udayasahnkar, Dr. V. Raghuraman , Dr. Ashok Rajan,Dr C. V. Manjunath, Dr Renuka Prasad and Dr. A. Thakur They reached out to Psychiatrists across Canada to discuss the concept and gather signatures in 2004 to get the ICPA formally approved by the Board of CPA as a ‘Section’ of the CPA and named it as’ Indo-Canadian Psychiatry Section’ which formally reports annually to CPA and holds executive meetings at CPA annual meeting venues. The ICPA is federally incorporated as a not for profit organization since 2004.
The ICPA Bylaws models the CPA Bylaw and the Article 2 of the Bylaw describes the goals of the ICPA.