Geographic Locations Survey of Clinical Psychologists in Canada
A publication of the Canadian Psychological Association.
1999
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Copyright © 1999
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Title: GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS SURVEY OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS
IN CANADA
ISBN: 1-896538-53-3
This monograph is one of a series and was prepared for the Canadian Psychological Association by Gordon Bazana.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS SURVEY OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS IN CANADA
Introduction | Definitions of "Urban" and "Rural" | Method | Results | Summary | Reanalysis of the Data | Results | Summary |
Table 1 | Table 2 | Table 3 | Table 4 | Table 5 | Sources and ReferencesThe purpose of the study was to determine the number of psychologists currently providing services in rural Canada. A secondary goal was to compare this distribution with that of psychiatrists in rural settings.
Definitions of "Urban" and "Rural":
The Statistics Canada definitions of urban and rural were used in this study (Bollman, 1996). Urban Canada refers to the population living within Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) and Census Agglomerations (CAs). A CMA is a very large urban area, known as the urban core, together with adjacent urban and rural areas. CMAs have urban core populations greater than 100,000 and include all neighboring municipalities where 50 percent or more of the work force commutes into the urban core. A CA is a large urban area, known as the urban core, together with adjacent urban and rural areas having a high degree of social and economic integration with the urban core. CAs have urban core populations of between 10,000 and 100,000 and include all neighboring municipalities where 50 percent or more of the work force commutes into the urban core.
Rural and small town (RST) Canada refers to the population living outside commuting zones of larger urban centres, specifically, outside CMAs and CAs. Thus, RST Canada represents the non-CMA and non-CA population. Everything outside of urban areas are considered rural (Bollman, 1996).
Using these definitions, data from the most recently available provincial and territorial lists of registered psychologists were tabulated. These data were then compared with that of psychiatrists in urban and rural settings. The psychiatric data was obtained from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Results are presented in tables 1 to 3. (Note that in some cases the numbers do not tally, e.g., there are 79 psychologists in Newfoundland, but the tables list 60 as urban and 16 as rural. This is because the location of some psychologists was not included in the list published by the regulatory body.)
Table 1 shows the province/territory (P/T) total populations, number of psychologists and psychiatrists, and ratios of P/T citizens to the two professions. (Note that the Northwest Territories and Yukon data are combined in the table). Tables 2 and 3 represent the same data by P/T for urban and rural populations, respectively.
Overall, the data shows that there are more psychologists than psychiatrists practising in rural areas of Canada. Prince Edward Island and Quebec, in particular, have ratios of 7,667 and 4,030, respectively. In contrast, Saskatchewan, with its single rural psychologist, has an extremely high ratio (1 psychologist for the entire rural population of 428,565 persons). For the remaining provinces and territories, the average ratio is 17,974. This is substantially lower than the ratio of individuals to psychiatrists. In the combined territories and Prince Edward Island, no psychiatrists are reported serving in rural settings.
For rural Newfoundland, Quebec, and Alberta, the ratio of psychologists to psychiatrists is roughly 15 to 1 (14.67) (see Table 4). For rural Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and the territories, the ratio is approximately 5 to 1 (5.5). For rural Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, the ratio is about 2 to 1 (1.75).
REANALYSIS OF THE DATA
Some authors (e.g., Bollman, 1996) point out the inadequacy of the Statistics Canada definitions. As mentioned above, CAs have urban core populations of between 10,000 and 100,000 and include all neighboring municipalities where 50 percent or more of the work force commutes into the urban core. Can the definition of RST be expanded to include small, relatively isolated communities that fall within Statistics Canada’s definition of CA?
At the lower extreme, there are many locations in Canada where the "urban" core population is in the 10,000 to 25,000 range, and, although people commute from neighboring areas to work in the core, the actual number, as opposed to the proportion, is quite small. One example is North Battleford, Saskatchewan, which has a population of 14,051, and is virtually isolated. The town is 133 kilometers from Saskatoon, and there are only nine small villages within a 50 kilometer radius. Though considered a CA by Statistics Canada, it is reasonable for the purposes of this study to classify it as rural. Pembroke, Ontario, with a population of 14,177, is another example. Pembroke is 150 kilometers from Ottawa, and has three small towns and a small number of villages within a 50 kilometer radius. Powell River, BC, is another small, relatively isolated community that is perhaps better classified as rural. More obvious examples are Whitehorse, YT (population of 19,157, with 1,908 in surrounding environs), and Yellowknife, NT (population 17,275).
In light of these examples, which represent a subset of small Canadian communities, it seems quite reasonable to expand the original definition of RST Canada. For the purposes of this reanalysis, then, a small city, town, or village was considered rural if the population is less than 25,000 individuals and if it is more than 50 kilometers away from a CMA or large CA (population greater than 25,000 and/or within 50 kilometers of a CMA). This is the "Revised Definition".
The retabulated data based on the Revised Definition are shown in Table 5.
Though this reanalysis precludes comparison with psychiatrists, it does present a more accurate picture of the distribution of registered psychologists in rural Canada. The number of psychologists serving rural areas roughly doubles in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and British Columbia. In the combined territories the number increases by a factor of 3.5, clearly a truer representation of psychologists serving in these areas. Small to moderate increases are seen in Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, and Alberta. The ratio of persons to psychologists remains high in Saskatchewan. These ratios decrease by about 30 percent in Quebec and Ontario.
Table 1:
Provincial and Territorial Total (Urban and Rural) Populations, Total Number of Psychologists and Psychiatrists, and Ratio of Population to Health Professional
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Population
Number
Ratio
Number
Ratio
NF 551,792
79
6,985
38
14,521
PE 134,557
16
8,410
6
22,426
NS 909,282
196
4,639
110
8,266
NB 738,133
177
4,170
32
23,067
QC 7,138,795
6,184
1,154
934
7,643
ON 10,753,573
2,005
5,363
1,641
6,553
MB 1,113,898
206
5,407
125
8,911
SK 990,237
70
14,146
38
26,059
AB 2,696,826
1,417
1,903
226
11,933
BC 3,724,500
822
4,531
483
7,711
NT/YK 95,168
14
6,798
2
47,584
CANADA 28,846,761
11,186
2,579
3,635
7,936
Table 2:
Provincial and Territorial Urban Populations, Number of Psychologists and Psychiatrists in Urban Settings, and Ratio of Urban Population to Health Professional
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Population
Number
Ratio
Number
Ratio
NF 244,868
60
4,081
37
6,618
PE 73,225
8
9,153
6
12,204
NS 557,614
170
3,280
98
5,690
NB 380,149
146
2,604
28
13,577
QC 5,543,060
5,555
998
905
6,125
ON 9,157,435
1,895
4,832
1,620
5,563
MB 742,560
193
3,848
117
6,347
SK 561,672
66
8,510
37
15,180
AB 2,002,352
1,355
1,478
222
9,020
BC 3,147,837
772
4,078
468
6,726
NT/YK 39,083
10
3,908
2
19,542
CANADA 22,449,855
10,230
2,195
3,540
6,342
Table 3:
Provincial and Territorial Rural Populations, Number of Psychologists and Psychiatrists in Rural Settings, and Ratio of Rural Population to Health Professional
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Population
Number
Ratio
Number
Ratio
NF 306,924
16
19,183
1
306,924
PE 61,332
8
7,667
0
-----
NS 351,668
25
14,067
12
29,306
NB 357,984
23
15,565
4
89,496
QC 1,595,735
396
4,030
29
55,025
ON 1,596,138
93
17,163
21
76,007
MB 371,338
13
28,565
8
46,417
SK 428,565
1
428,565
1
428,565
AB 694,474
62
11,201
4
173,619
BC 576,663
24
24,028
15
38,444
NT/YK 56,085
4
14,021
0
-----
CANADA 6,396,906
665
9,619
95
67,336
Table 4:
Ratio of Psychologists to Psychiatrists in Rural Settings
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Ratio
NF 16
1
16.0
PE 8
0
-----
NS 25
12
2.1
NB 23
4
5.8
QC 396
29
13.7
ON 93
21
4.4
MB 13
8
1.6
SK 1
1
1.0
AB 62
4
15.5
BC 24
15
1.6
NT/YK 4
0
-----
CANADA 665
95
7.0
Table 5:
Distribution and Ratio of Rural Populations to Psychologists, Statistics Canada and Revised Definitions
Statistics Canada
Revised Def’n
Population
Number
Ratio
Number
Ratio
NF 306,924
16
19,183
34
9,027
PE 61,332
8
7,667
9
6,815
NS 351,668
25
14,067
43
8,178
NB 357,984
23
15,565
50
7,160
QC 1,595,735
396
4,030
512
3,117
ON 1,596,138
93
17,163
129
12,373
MB 371,338
13
28,565
14
26,524
SK 428,565
1
428,565
2
214,283
AB 694,474
62
11,201
70
9,921
BC 576,663
24
24,028
58
9,943
NT/YK 56,085
4
14,021
14
4,006
CANADA 6,396,906
665
9,619
935
6,842
Sources and References:
Bollman, R. D. (1996). Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 1 Statistics
Canada.
Population Data from Statistics Canada, "Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities".
Geographic Location Data from Microsoft Encarta.
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