Psychology

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i chatbots may be stealing headlines for functioning as ad-hoc therapists, but human counsellors aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. A growing awareness about the importance of mental health has reduced the stigma around seeking help, and the demand for services is growing. The Canadian Job Bank, a national, government-run platform that tracks job listings and labour market information, predicts that 14,200 psychologist jobs will become available before 2033. 

A psychology degree has applications far beyond the therapy room. The tools of the trade generalize well and the skills psychology students acquire—like how to review and synthesize literature and how to perform research—translate well to positions in management and leadership. Psychology grads go on to work in sales, finance, human resources and academia, and are highly sought after for jobs as community service workers and police officers. 

In Canada, students can obtain a psychology degree as a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science, often at the same school. Getting into a psychology B.A. usually requires Grade 12 English, while students vying for a spot in a B.Sc. program typically also need a Grade 12 math and biology. Students in both programs take required psychology courses. Bachelor of arts students typically round out their schedule with electives in the humanities and social sciences, providing a good basis for work in marketing, human resources or law. Bachelor of science students, meanwhile, take courses in math, science and computer science and have more research opportunities, which can be good preparation for further science-based education, like medical school. Both options allow students to go onto graduate studies in psychology.

The field of psychology is as varied as the minds it studies. Of high interest these days is industrial-organizational psychology—I-O for short—which studies how people behave in the workplace. It’s applicable to any business looking to increase efficiency, understand their consumers and hire the best talent. For those with an interest in AI and tech, cognitive science digs deeply into the inner workings of the mind and brain, incorporating concepts from philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience and computer science. It’s no surprise that psychology grads often go on to work in tech, leading cutting-edge work on neural networks and facial recognition software.

While a psychology undergrad provides a good basis for many careers, those who want to work as a mental-health professional in educational or medical settings will need more training in the form of a master’s degree. To become a licensed psychologist, equipped to conduct assessments and work with clients with more severe mental disorders, students will need a Ph.D.  

In the field, there’s growing recognition that care must be culturally cognizant and trauma-informed, particularly for Indigenous, racialized, immigrant and transgender and queer communities, and steps are being taken to get more people from these groups into the profession. York University has an initiative, for example, to connect BIPOC students with research opportunities. 

With a plethora of opportunities awaiting them, several fields of study to choose from and a desperate need for their skills, students studying the mind will have plenty to think about.

Standout Psychology Programs

Our standout programs are based on research by our team of journalists who speak to industry experts, educational consultants and others to develop a selection of programs worth considering. This is not a ranked list.

York University

Degree: Bachelor of arts and bachelor of science
Co-op: No

York is known as one of Canada’s best schools for clinical psychology, the branch that deals with diagnosing and treating mental-health issues, and its professors are leaders in health psychology and visual-motor neuroscience. Students can choose to earn digital badges in two of the following concentrations: aging and late-life development, psychology and law, global mental health and psychology, applied methods and analysis, child and youth development, counselling and mental health, neuropsychology, our social world and social minds, and psychological humanities, contexts and communities.

University of Toronto

Degree: Bachelor of science
Co-op: Yes

U of T has a broad range of psychology courses and research areas available to its students. Those with a strong research interest can apply for one of 15 spots in the research specialist program; others who want a more hands-on experience should consider the Scarborough campus, which offers co-op in the general psychology program as well as the mental-health studies program.

McMaster University

Degree: Bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of applied science
Co-op: No

Students in McMaster’s department of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour focus on the medical side of the field. The applied psychology in human behaviour program relates psychological theories to everyday life. Psychology, neuroscience and behaviour, or PNB, includes experimental studies of humans and animals, while BioPNB adds a biology major to the PNB program. The neuroscience program, which includes biology, chemistry, computer science, math and physics, is geared towards students who want to pursue neuroscience research.

University of British Columbia

Degree: Bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of arts and science
Co-op: Yes

UBC has one of the world’s top programs in experimental psychology, with 55 different laboratories, research centres and interdisciplinary hubs. Third-year students can major in a specific area, such as cognitive science, developmental psychology or psychometrics—the branch of psychology devoted to the nitty-gritty of measuring the mind through instruments, like IQ tests.

McGill University

Degree: Bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of arts and science
Co-op: No

McGill is well regarded for its strength in neuroscience and psychology. Students in both the B.A. and B.Sc. programs take courses in statistics, behavioural neuroscience, perception, cognition and social psychology. The school offers a combined bachelor of arts and science where students can take courses across both faculties; students also have the opportunity to enrol in lab courses, where they design their own experiments and test them on each other.