The Canadian Art Therapy Association or Association Canadienne d’Art Thérapie (CATA-ACAT) was founded in 1977 to unite and promote the emerging profession of art therapy in Canada.

CATA-ACAT works in cooperation with provincial art therapy associations to raise professional standards in the interest of public safety and trust. This includes upholding ethical standards; setting standards and processes for professional and registered designations for art therapists; working with art therapy training programs to ensure that they meet CATA’s educational standards; publishing a tri-annual online magazine and bi-annual academic journal, support and encouraging research about art therapy and raising awareness about of art therapy in Canada.