The Canadian Psychological Association states that a psychologist studies how we think, feel, and behave from a scientific viewpoint and applies this knowledge to help people understand, explain, and change their behaviour.
This section will provide a brief overview on how to become a Psychologist. To become a Registered Psychologist in Alberta, an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in psychology (or a related field) and a master’s degree is required. You may also go on to complete a doctoral degree, such as a PhD. After you complete your education, you can apply for evaluation of your credentials with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), and apply for registration as a Registered Provisional Psychologist. As a provisional psychologist, you will complete the required hours under the supervision of a fully registered psychologist. Before you can register as a fully registered psychologist, you will need to write the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) and the Law and Ethics for Alberta Psychologists (LEAP) examination. A practice permit will be issued for independent practice after the final registration review. For more information, see the links below:
There are various subfields within psychology that address a wide range of areas
Check out PAA’s resource for more information on each field. Careers in Psychology – Psychologists’ Association of Alberta
A degree in Psychology can lead to diverse careers as students have a strong knowledge base and gain transferable skills while completing their degree. Some of these options include, but are not limited to:
Check out the following resources:
A Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology will focus more on the influence of social, developmental and interpersonal factors on behaviour and include art-based electives or minors such as sociology, anthropology, and history. The admission requirements often require students to have completed English 30-1 and Math 30-1 or Math 30-2. There may be differences in admission and graduation requirements for Bachelor’s of Arts and Bachelor’s of Science degrees, but the major for both will be psychology, covering a wide range of courses. Look at each university’s website for more information about the differing admission requirements.
Concordia University of Edmonton
Northwestern Polytechnic – provides foundational knowledge to transfer to Bachelor of Arts degree
A Bachelor’s of Science will focus more on the influence of biological factors on behaviour, including learning, cognition and memory, and include science-based electives or minors such as biology, chemistry, and physics. The admission requirements often require students to have completed one or more senior level sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) and Math 30-1 or Math 30-2. Look at each university’s website for more information about the differing admission requirements.
Give yourself enough time to research programs and decide if you would like to pursue the Bachelor of Science route or Bachelor of Arts route. Starting the research for the programs and post-secondary institutions early also gives you enough time to see if you meet the admission requirements and if you have the required courses.
Start the application process through Apply Alberta in January or February.
Apply Alberta is the portal you use to apply to undergraduate degree programs at post-secondary institutions. Starting off, you will make your account and fill in your personal information. With Apply Alberta, you need your Alberta Student Number (ASN) which will be provided by Apply Alberta or you can look it up on the ASN lookup service if you’ve attended a school or post-secondary in Alberta. You can authorize post-secondary institutions to request transcripts directly, therefore you will not have to order them and do the process yourself. You will fill out all personal and academic history information, such as the name of your high school(s), highest grade level achieved, courses and grades, and post-secondary academic history (if applicable). After filling out your information, select the post-secondary institution(s) you want to apply to, and all information will go directly to them. Finally, you will pay the application fees and submit the application!
Application deadlines for most post-secondary institutions are March 1st. If you are still completing high school classes, you may be offered conditional acceptance. Conditional acceptance means that you are admitted into the post-secondary institution on the condition that you meet the remaining requirements. This could be because you might be completing some of the required courses for admission at the time of applications. If you receive conditional acceptance, the institution will give you a final offer once you have fulfilled the conditions.
If you are an out-of-province or international student, you can still apply to Alberta post-secondary institutions using ApplyAlberta. There are some transcripts that post-secondary institutions cannot order for you – you will need to order transcripts from post-secondary institutions in Alberta that do not use ApplyAlberta and transcripts for secondary or post-secondary studies outside of Alberta. ApplyAlberta will also assign an Alberta Student Number (ASN) to you if you do not already have one.
Post-secondary institutions that use ApplyAlberta: Participating Institutions | ApplyAlberta
Frequently asked questions on ApplyAlberta’s website: Frequently-Asked Questions | ApplyAlbertaApplyAlberta’s International Students page which provides direct links to their international student’s page for each institution: International Students | ApplyAlberta
Research experience is not required for undergraduate programs. However, gaining research experience during your time as an undergraduate student is incredibly valuable if you are interested in continuing your education with a graduate degree and becoming registered as a psychologist. There are differences in graduate programs, such as a course-based masters and a thesis-based masters. A thesis-based masters will require research experience, and for course-based, it may not be required but is still considered an asset. Research experience is required if you would like to go on to pursue a PhD.
Another way to obtain research experience is by enrolling in an honour’s degree. Honours degrees require a thesis and research that you will complete with a faculty member of the university supervising your research project. At the end of your honours program, you will present your findings and research, usually at a conference – this may look different for each school and program. An honours degree is usually completed in the last two years of your degree and may require specific prerequisite courses to be completed. An honours degree can be an asset in your application towards graduate school, especially if the graduate program you are applying to is heavily research focused, or you wish to pursue a career in research. Not only that, but it can also help build connections with your professors and other faculty members that will come in handy during graduate school applications as potential references. An honours degree can also provide you with the necessary skills to conduct research, which will be valuable if you choose to complete a thesis based Master’s program. To ensure success with your honours application, start contacting faculty members early on. Ensure you gather all application materials required and complete them in a timely manner. Schools that currently provide options for an honours degree in Psychology are:
University of Alberta
Grant MacEwan University
Mount Royal University
University of Calgary
University of Lethbridge (undergraduate thesis course)
Certain schools may also offer independent study courses, where a student can work with an instructor to explore a specific topic of interest through research. These courses are for credit, are usually a semester long, and the professor plays a supervisory role in your research. However, these are not courses you can simply enroll in online like how it is usually done for other courses. You must find and contact a faculty member who is willing to supervise your research and then depending on the process, you may need to submit an outline or research proposal and wait for approval, or you may also need consent of the department and then you will be able to enroll in the course. However, this is dependent on the school – some may require a proposal outline, some may not. Below are some schools that offer this option:
The College of Alberta Psychologists has undergraduate prerequisites that an individual must take before registering as a psychologist. Each of these courses need to be worth three credits and must be at the senior undergraduate level to qualify. These undergraduate requisites are a requirement to complete as part of the substantive content areas. The substantive content areas are:
College of Alberta Psychologists – Criteria for Evaluating Academic Credentials (pages 9-12)
In the senior year of your undergraduate degree, you will become eligible to start applying for many graduate programs. To learn more about different programs in Alberta and view a step-by-step guide to the graduate school application process, checkout PAA’s “Graduate School Application Timeline.”
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