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If you’re interested in becoming a guidance counselor in Ontario, there are some steps you need to take.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the steps required to become a guidance counselor in Ontario, Canada.
Step 1: Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree In Guidance Counseling
Your first step is to earn your Bachelor’s degree in Guidance Counseling. To do this, you must complete 120 credits of coursework and pass all required exams. This can take anywhere from four years to eight years depending on whether or not you are working towards a double major or minor along with your major. You can find more information about this process at our university admissions page here:
How To Become A Guidance Counselor In Ontario
Your best bet is to gain a post-secondary education that focuses on social work or human services.
A post-secondary education is any two or more years of schooling after high school. Ideally, you should gain a post-secondary education that focuses on social work or human services. These programs are designed to teach you how to help people through difficult life situations, so they’re very applicable in your career as a guidance counselor.
You’ll also want to look for a program that offers coursework in topics related to your future job, such as:
- Child development
- Human growth and development
- Adolescence and adolescence development
- School counseling
After your schooling, you must complete the equivalent of 2 years full-time (or 4 years part time) supervised counselling experience.
After your schooling, you must complete the equivalent of 2 years full-time (or 4 years part time) supervised counselling experience. For example, if you take two years to complete your Master’s degree, and then work full-time as a counsellor for two years after graduation, that would be considered two years of supervised counselling experience.
To get started on this requirement, you should find a job at an organization or school where you can provide counselling services. You should then find someone who is qualified to supervise your work and make sure everything is done properly. Your supervisor will sign off on your hours when they’re completed so that they can be included in your file submitted to the College (the body responsible for regulating all Ontario professionals).
You need both written documentation from past jobs confirming what types of activities took place during them (for example: “This person provided individual counseling.”) and some way to track how many hours were spent providing those services (such as keeping track in Excel spreadsheets or written logs).
When you have completed your schooling and experience, you will need to write the national certification exam for professional counsellors (NCPC).
After you have completed your coursework, practicum and internship, you will need to write the national certification exam for professional counsellors (NCPC) in order to become a licensed professional counsellor.
The NCPC is a two-hour written test that assesses whether or not you are competent enough to practice as a professional counsellor. The test consists of 100 multiple choice questions and costs $250 CAD per sitting. It can be taken at any Pearson VUE testing centre across Canada with some exceptions: Quebec residents must sit their exams within Quebec; Manitoba residents must sit their exam at Brandon University; Ontario residents must attend classes through one of these designated institutions: McMaster/Carleton University/McGill University or York University/Ryerson University/University of Toronto
After you have passed the NCPC exam, you will need to apply for a license from The Ontario College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists (CRPO) .
The Ontario College of Registered Psychotherapists and Registered Mental Health Therapists (CRPO) is the governing body that oversees all registered counselors in Ontario. This includes their education, licensing and continuing education requirements.
To apply for a license with the CRPO:
- Go to the CRPO website at https://www.crpo.ca/en/home/.
- Click on “Becoming a Member” on the menu bar at the top of their page.
- Scroll down until you see “How Do I Apply?” under REGISTERED CLINICAL COUNSELLORS AND REGISTERED CLINICAL COUNSELLOR ASSISTANTS heading; this will take you to an application form for new clinicians who are applying for membership into this professional organization. Fill out one of these forms depending on your current status (i.e., new applicant vs renewing member).
When applying for membership, there are several things that may disqualify you from becoming licensed as either a registered clinical counsellor or registered clinical counsellor assistant:
You can become a guidance counselor in Ontario by following these steps.
You can become a guidance counselor in Ontario by following these steps:
- You need to have a university degree.
- You need to have experience working with children, youth and their families in school settings (such as teachers or social workers).
- You will also need to pass an exam about the Code of Ethics for the Ontario College of Teachers (OCOT), which is similar to what teachers must take upon graduation from university. This exam tests your knowledge of ethical issues related to being a teacher or other members of the teaching profession, such as guidelines on confidentiality when dealing with students’ personal information or avoiding conflicts of interest when offering advice on educational matters before they happen (e.g., telling parents not to allow their child attend summer camp because he/she always gets sick).
