Policy, Research, and Implications for School Counseling in Canada

Abstract

This chapter addresses the historical context, services provided, delivery methods, credentialing process, and literature review of school-based counseling in Canada from the time of formal educational delivery in the nineteenth century to the present. School-based counseling in Canada is delivered at the local school level and regulated by provincial governments of the ten provinces and three territories. Having no federal education department in Canada, the way school counseling is delivered and by whom varies according to province and local need. Well-populated provinces such as British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec regulate the credentialing process of school counselors through their departments of education, similar to the way that teachers are licensed. Less-populated provinces and territories have teachers provide the services associated with school-based counseling. Canada has a well-developed counseling and psychotherapy organization with a school counseling chapter that addresses the needs of and advocates for school counselors. Suggestions for future research and advocacy include a national model for school counselors, greater engagement of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association school counseling chapter as a conduit for the regulation and advocacy for school-based counselors, and conducting outcome studies of school counseling services based on local and provincial needs in accord with the national educational delivery system in Canada.