Education counsellors provide both social/personal counselling and vocational/academic counselling.

To be a counsellor in a school setting, you need a bachelor's degree in social sciences or education as well as some teaching experience and a teacher's certificate in the province/territory where you'll work. In Québec, teaching experience and/or a teaching degree are not necessary but a Master's degree in counselling is compulsory.

You usually need a master's degree in counselling, educational or developmental psychology, or social work and in Québec, you must be a member of the Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d'orientation et des psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec.

To be an academic counsellor in post-secondary institutions, you need an undergraduate degree and you may also need a graduate degree with a particular academic specialization.

You may need a licence with a provincial/territorial regulatory body governing psychologists, guidance counsellors or social workers.

In order to obtain certification and/or professional liability insurance through a professional association such as the Canadian Counselling Association, the minimum requirement is a Master's degree.

Most recent entrants have an undergraduate university degree, and almost 1 in 4 has a graduate degree.