Counsellor

Careers in School Counselling

Counsellors provide support services to students, parents, and school staff. They advise on educational issues, career planning and personal development. Counsellors may teach regular courses, conflict resolution, social skills, or life skills. In many school districts, counsellors are certified teachers and must be members of the Ministry of Education’s Teacher Regulation Branch. They may also be members of the British Columbia School Counsellors Association.

Qualifications and Certification Requirements

Some positions require that you possess a Master of Counselling Degree, Psychological Counselling Degree or courses in Counselling at the Master’s level as well as a Teacher Regulation Branch Certificate.

Counsellor’s Salary

Counsellors are typically members of the BC Teachers Federation and are represented by the local branch of the union in each district. As such, they are paid an annual salary according to their assigned TQS category/level. This category is determined by the Teacher Qualification Service, an agency responsible for evaluating a teacher’s qualifications and years of education for salary purposes.

Depending on a counsellor’s experience, and their district of employment, their salary may vary. Below are the average minimum and maximum salaries for counsellors working in BC school districts.

Step Cat 4 Cat 5 Cat 6/PA Cat 6/M
1 $59,393.67 $65,176.32 $70,519.24 $71,549.69
2 $62,201.79 $68,264.37 $73,907.06 $74,937.51
3 $65,008.81 $71,354.62 $77,294.87 $78,324.22
4 $67,816.92 $74,442.67 $80,682.69 $81,713.14
5 $70,625.04 $77,530.72 $84,069.40 $85,099.85
6 $73,429.85 $80,620.97 $87,457.22 $88,487.67
7 $76,237.97 $83,709.02 $90,846.13 $91,875.48
8 $79,046.09 $86,798.17 $94,232.85 $95,263.30
9 $85,357.80 $89,887.32 $97,620.66 $98,651.11
10 $96,956.70 $104,825.62 $106,217.04
SD 39 Teacher Salary Grid as of July 1, 2023.
This salary grid is an example from Vancouver School District No. 39 – based on data from July 1, 2023. Because salaries vary from district to district, use our Salary Finder to find the latest salary grid.

Training and Educational Programs

The following is a list of BC post-secondary institutions that offer counselling programs for the BC education sector.

CENTRAL

No programs in this region.

FRASER VALLEY

Trinity Western University – Master of Arts Counselling Psychology

KOOTENAY

No programs in this region.

METRO

University of British Columbia – Master of Education in Counselling Psychology
Simon Fraser University – Counselling Psychology MA, M.Ed

NORTH

No programs in this region.

OKANAGAN

No programs in this region.

VANCOUVER ISLAND / SUNSHINE COAST

University of Victoria – Master of Educational Psychology

Employment Opportunities

Find senior and secondary school teacher jobs on Makeafuture.ca under the ‘teachers and administrators’ position category.

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