La Psychologie Scolaire au Québec Français-School Psychology in French Quebec

Abstract

Psychology and more importantly, school psychology has undergone many changes in French Quebec since the last special issue was published on the subject matter, close to two decades ago. Quebec is a “breeding ground” for psychologists as more than two thirds of Canada’s psychology professionals practice in this province alone. Since the mid 2000’s, a doctoral degree is now required for licensing and registration to the professional order, the Order of Psychologists of Quebec (OPQ). Although this field has since evolved, other aspects of the profession remain unchanged. For one, professional shortages and recruitment challenges (i.e. unrealistic student to psychologist ratios) represent a major obstacle to service provision. Hence, the primary duty of psychologists working in schools remains to perform psychoeducational assessments for coding purposes. Much work and advocacy is still needed to further the practice of school psychology in Quebec. Professional practice, training and, future perspectives of school psychology are further discussed in the current paper.