Moving to Canada post-US Internship

[whtisit2016]

Hey everyone,

I'm about to go to internship, but I'm thinking about moving to Canada afterwards. As an American doctoral candidate and future Counseling psychologist, I'm curious to know what the experience might be like. Has anybody recently made the move to Canada (specifically Ontario or Quebec)? What considerations did you have to make? What resources exist that detail this experience? What does the job market look like? How is the Counseling psychology degree looked at compared to clinical?

Thanks for your help!

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[madeincanada]

Your biggest initial hurdle will be licensure. Spend some time reading up on the specific licensure requirements for both Ontario and Quebec, if that is where your interests are.

 

[temppsych123]

I have not had your exact experience, but as a US citizen who did my grad training in Canada, I can hopefully be a bit helpful!

1) CPA and APA have a joint accreditation document (the First Street Accord) that states that both agencies view their accreditation as equivalent (so, for your purposes, CPA has said they view APA accreditation as equivalent to their own). That means that, if you completed an APA-accredited graduate program and internship in the US, that should be considered equivalent for purposes of licensure in Canada. Of course, the specific requirements for post-doctoral training hours, etc. will vary province to province, but you should be ok on the education side if you're APA accredited.

2) For Quebec, you need to prove fluency in French to be licensed there: https://www.ordrepsy.qc.ca/exigences1, so that may be a minor, major, or no hurdle for you depending on your current fluency!

3) I imagine the job market question varies city by city; like in the US, major metro areas (Toronto, Montreal) are going to have a higher saturation of psychologists already compared to more rural areas. This also depends on whether you are planning to go the primarily clinical route or if you want to do any kind of research or teaching.

I can't really speak to the other questions, sorry!

 

[awishingstar]

Hey everyone,

I'm about to go to internship, but I'm thinking about moving to Canada afterwards. As an American doctoral candidate and future Counseling psychologist, I'm curious to know what the experience might be like. Has anybody recently made the move to Canada (specifically Ontario or Quebec)? What considerations did you have to make? What resources exist that detail this experience? What does the job market look like? How is the Counseling psychology degree looked at compared to clinical?

Thanks for your help!

Ontario requires a supervised year of practice AFTER the residency year, so that coupled with the high percentage of people who want to live in Ontario means it can be a little tough to find a position if you don't have connections or a pinch of luck. I would also suspect many positions would give preference to Canadian residents, which would set you at a disadvantage. I would recommend registering in the US before starting the moving process to Canada, if that's feasible! Or you may wish to consider other provinces than Ontario or Quebec as your initial landing points. It's all possible with time and patience and potentially a few more hoops, but those two provinces will have the most hoops.

 

[foreigndoctor]

Ontario requires a supervised year of practice AFTER the residency year, so that coupled with the high percentage of people who want to live in Ontario means it can be a little tough to find a position if you don't have connections or a pinch of luck. I would also suspect many positions would give preference to Canadian residents, which would set you at a disadvantage. I would recommend registering in the US before starting the moving process to Canada, if that's feasible! Or you may wish to consider other provinces than Ontario or Quebec as your initial landing points. It's all possible with time and patience and potentially a few more hoops, but those two provinces will have the most hoops.

@awishingstar Can I begin applying for a job if I haven't completed the eligibility process for licensure? Also, which job sites do you recommend for someone who is currently living outside of Canada, in spite of being a Canadian citizen.

 

[awishingstar]

@awishingstar Can I begin applying for a job if I haven't completed the eligibility process for licensure? Also, which job sites do you recommend for someone who is currently living outside of Canada, in spite of being a Canadian citizen.

It probably depends on what jobs you mean! I don't live in Ontario, but as an example, in Alberta you can't apply for hospital jobs until you have a provisional license number. Ontario might be different. (Provisional registration typically involves a lot of paperwork proving you meet education requirements for registration, and some provinces allow you to begin that process even if you're living out-of-province.) Whereas with private practice, you can start cold-calling any old time.

I'm not sure what you mean with your second question. I recommend applying for jobs you want to have as jobs. Can you clarify?