Mental health and substance use professionals

As many mental health and substance use (MHSU) professionals work in a broad spectrum of capacities, duties will vary widely. Examples of care that may be provided by some MHSU professionals include:

• Counselling, talk therapy, and evidence-based therapeutic interventions
• Assessments, care planning, education, and discharge support
• Life-skills training (e.g., physical, cognitive, emotional, social, practical, vocational etc.)
• Support for medication adherence or substance use safety
• Health care system navigation, housing and economic stabilization support
• Rehabilitation support

Qualifications will be specific to the role and profession. Prospective employees are encouraged to check career job descriptions available on health authority websites to learn more about qualifications that may be required. As psychologists and registered social workers are regulated professions, qualifications for their respective professions may be found on their college websites:

• Psychologists – College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia 
• Social Workers – British Columbia College of Social Workers

Associations may support unregulated professions with practice guidelines and standards. Examples of associations representing mental health and substance use professions include: 

• Registered Clinical Counsellors – British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors 
• Art Therapists – British Columbia Art Therapy Association 
• Music Therapists – Music Therapy Association of British Columbia 
• Recreation Therapists – British Columbia Therapeutic Recreation Association 

Areas where we are hiring mental health and substance use (MHSU) professionals include: 

• Hospitals and tertiary institutions providing in-patient and out-patient services  
• Community health centres with an MHSU focus such as Road to Recovery, overdose prevention sites, rapid access addiction clinics, and substance use clinics.  
• Outreach and community MHSU support such as Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams.  
• Rehabilitation, recovery and healing programs such as Red Fish Healing Centre, and Heartwood Centre for Women 
• Mental health and wellness programs and services for youth such as Foundry BC
• Forensic psychiatric hospitals

As mental health and substance use encompasses a variety of professions, prospective employees are encouraged to review job descriptions for compensation information specific to the role they seek. Compensation examples include:

• Psychologists: $52.81 – $65.96 CAD per hour (as of April 1, 2024) plus applicable shift premiums 
• Social workers, clinical counsellors, concurrent disorder counsellors/clinician, art therapists, vocational counsellors: $42.27 – $52.81 CAD per hour (as of April 1, 2024) plus applicable shift premiums 
• Music therapists and recreation therapists: $37.89 – $47.31 CAD per hour (as of April 1, 2024) plus applicable shift premiums 

British Columbia’s publicly funded health authorities offer comprehensive compensation packages for regular-status employees, including employer-paid benefits. Examples of benefits may include: 

• Paid vacation 
• Pension Plan 
• BC Medical Services Plan (MSP) 
• Extended Health Care 
• Dental Coverage 
• Life Insurance 
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability 
• Employee and Family Assistance Plan 
• Other Benefits: such as maternity, paternity and adoption leaves 

For regulated professions such as psychologists and registered social workers, information on how to register in British Columbia may be found on the college websites.

• Psychologists: College of Health and Care Professionals of BC  
• Registered Social Workers*: BC College of Social Workers 

* Professionals seeking information regarding registering as a social worker may find the information here: BC Health Careers – Social Workers