This is a joint statement by the Committees of the American and the Canadian Psychiatric Associations.

Purpose of this Statement: Until recently, “transcultural psychiatry” was defined only by the operations of interested investigators. Pioneering journals and research groups used their own definitions fitting their own interests. But institutionalization, in the form of committees, organizations and sections at scientific meetings, makes it desirable that the term be clarified further. Examples of such institutionalization include the formation of the Transcultural Committee of the American Psychiatric Association and of the Canadian Psychiatric Association , and the inclusion of a section on Transcultural Psychiatry at the Congress of the World Psychiatric Association in Madrid in 1966. Several graduate training programs have been defined as preparation for work in