Rural Canadians face mental health concerns to the same degree as their urban counterparts, but rural communities have less access to psychologists, and that access may be eroding. Psychologists can be found in the public system (for example, schools, hospitals, public health offices), but increasingly are choosing to work in private practice, in fee-for-service clinics.
Despite increasing discussion about investment into accessing mental health services, as trainers of psychologists, we are observing fewer psychologist positions and reduced focus on retaining psychologists within the public mental health system in Canada.
