Best Canadian graduate programs in Psychology

[Natty]

Survey:

Which Canadian universities do you guys think have the best graduate programs in psychology and why?

More specifically, which schools do you think are best in terms of research?

Which schools do you think have the best clinical programs?

Which Psychology programs (if they are different from the ones you think are the best) have the best reputations?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JockNerd]

Other than Waterloo always being the Social Psych heaven-on-Earth, I think this is the same as with considering US schools; it depends on what you want to do. If you want to research attachment, Simon Fraser is the best. If you want to treat sexual dysfunction, go to the other end of the country to UNB.

If you really want a prestige answer, my perception is that McGill, McMaster, UBC, and Simon Fraser are tops for most things, except physical sciences and engineering (which is Alberta, without peer).

...
Ugh, I just realized that there's going to be wonkiness with using appic match stats to rate sites if they aren't counting cpa accreditation.

 

[Ollie123]

Don't forget Toronto!

Not necessarily for clinical (I don't know much about their program), but they've got some rather prestigious graduate programs there.

But yes, it varies depending on your specific research interests.

 

[MrPsych]

These questions are almost unanswerable, but I'll tell you this: Like the previous post said, McGill, UBC and Simon Frasier are very prestigious schools, but that does not mean, in any way, that they're the best of their kind. I think the quality of grad school education depends almost entirely on your supervisor! So, you can have 2 people graduate from the same program with vastly different levels of preparedness and education. The importance of your supervisor matters a little less if you want to be a clinician, however.

 

[thewesternsky]

First, please note that I'm from Ontario, so my examples will be largely from Ontario-- that doesn't mean that there aren't good examples in other provinces.

It's difficult to assess, especially because we don't know what your interests are. That said, in terms of research, large research universities tend to be better because they have the most funding, equipment, faculty, etc. So think McGill, UBC, and Toronto (Toronto, incidently, does not have a clinical program housed in the psych dept., though, so keep that in mind). To a lesser extent, Western / Waterloo / Queen's / McMaster / etc also qualify.

Smaller universities occasionally have grad programs and often have very good researchers, so I wouldn't rule them out-- the grad programs there are just smaller and often have fewer resources.

In terms of clinical, I can't think of any Canadian programs that aren't CPA approved or don't offer funding, so I think you're okay there. Honestly, it's best to find a place that fits YOUR interests rather than apply to places other people think are prestigious. UToronto is an amazing research university, but if you want to do Adult-Clinical research with, say, social anxiety patients, it's not the place for you.

Good luck!

 

[August2008]

I would say York and Waterloo are also quite prestigious programs.

 

[cmuhooligan]

Although not a Ph.D. program, I'm wondering if the Canadian folks could comment on the reputation of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in Toronto?

 

[quistyliz]

CAMH is one of the city's - and country's - most reputable research and treatment centres.

Seconding August2008's York nomination - they have one of the largest grad programs in the world, and are even in the process of opening a new multi-story building specifically for research purposes. They also have a lot of impressive research affiliations with places like CAMH.

I'll admit, though, that I may have a biased view because I've been looking to attend their Clin-Dev. program since my final year of high school...and will finally have the opportunity this fall But like was mentioned above, a lot depends on the type of research you're looking to get into. My aim was adolescent research, which York's C-D program has special focus in. UofT, on the other hand, had virtually no faculty researching adolescents when I went through their profiles this past fall...so they fail.

 

[JockNerd]

Seconding August2008's York nomination - they have one of the largest grad programs in the world, and are even in the process of opening a new multi-story building specifically for research purposes. They also have a lot of impressive research affiliations with places like CAMH.

I mostly didn't mention York because they mucked me out of admission by way of their weird internals-only-to-doc-all-others-to-masters-but-we-don't-tell-you-that policy.

 

[quistyliz]

I thought that was the norm for all Canadian programs though?

 

[JockNerd]

I thought that was the norm for all Canadian programs though?

Not that I'm aware of (though I only applied to 2 Canadian programs). They didn't make it obvious that that was the policy, though, and didn't automatically transfer my application. Even if it is the norm, how would, say, a US student only looking at York know?

(/rant)

 

[henri107]

I'm not from Canada, so I don't know anything about the reputation at Canadian Schools. What is the general opinion of University of Manitoba?

 

[JockNerd]

I'm not from Canada, so I don't know anything about the reputation at Canadian Schools. What is the general opinion of University of Manitoba?

I'm intimately familiar!

The match rate isn't very good (~70%). There are only two internships in the city that I know of, and one is one of the most sought-after in Canada. Funding hasn't been too hot lately either; most of the grad students I knew there had two or three marker/TA positions each semester. Overall, I can't think of anything big that comes out of U of M.

There are some pretty good neuro people who've been hired relatively recently, though, and you'd have access to the well-equipped Health Sciences Centre, if that's your thing.

 

[quistyliz]

The one complaint I've heard over and over about York is that you basically have to find everything out yourself, so in that sense it's probably not the best option for US applicants :/ I actually found it weird when I learned that in the States, undergrads usually apply straight to PhD programs in Psychology. Though in Canada, most - if not all - masters programs offer at least some funding...in my case, more than enough to pay tuition and rent for my first year. From what I understand, American schools only fund PhDs. So I guess there's more incentive, and it makes more sense, to do a masters degree on the way to a PhD here?

 

[Ollie123]

Count me in the "People who didn't know that about canadian schools until AFTER sending in their app" bunch.

American schools do it as a way to make sure people are committed to going all the way through, since they hate it when people leave after getting master's (for the most part).

If York made that information public I'd have no problem with it, the problem is that they hide it in one line about 5 pages into a graduate school pamphlet and then when you call their admissions office they say "Yes, you should apply for the doctorate" and you make the mistake of assuming their own employees might know something about the admissions process.

York is a short drive from my parents house and I had to fight the temptation to drive up there just to yell at the admissions staff last time I was visiting.

As an aside - some US master's programs actually ARE funded, though the majority are not.