I am an undergraduate student finishing up my degree and looking into master’s programs in clinical psychology. I was wondering if there was any way to speak to someone about the clinical psychology licensing process here in NS, who can be licensed and be called a “psychologist” (eg. clinical psych graduates vs something like counselling psych), as well as the future of Master’s programs. I know most things are not in person right now, I would be happy to speak via phone or other platforms. I wasn’t sure who to contact so I thought I’d start here, please feel free to forward this email on to the relevant people.

To answer your question, there are changes for degree requirements actively before the provincial government at this time, though, the NSRP continues to support the position of the Association of Provincial Psychology Regulatory Organizations (ACPRO) which recognizes the doctoral degree as the standard of entry to the profession.

https://acpro-aocrp.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ACPRO-Position-Statement-National-Standard-November-2014.pdf

If there ever were a change in degree requirements in Nova Scotia, anyone enrolled in a master’s psychology program that was acceptable to the NSRP at the time of any change would certainly be grandfathered for registration later. As well, the NSRP would provide an additional grandfathering timeframe, but, as mentioned, there is nothing currently before Government. Any change to educational requirements would have to be approved by Government.