To start a private practice in Ontario, you need three things in place before your first paid session. You need to be registered with the right regulatory college and be competent to practise on your own. You need a legal business setup, which means a registered name, a structure, and professional liability insurance. And you need privacy and record-keeping systems that meet Ontario health privacy law. Everything else, from your website to your fee, can be built around those foundations.
We have been in private practice for more than 20 years, so this guide comes from the practical side: what clinicians ask us, where new practices stumble, and what we wish someone had laid out plainly at the start.
TL;DR
- Check your college's rules first. The College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) lets Qualifying registrants open a practice if they are competent to practise safely, and supervision continues until the independent practice requirement is met.
- Protected titles matter. Only CRPO members may call themselves a psychotherapist or Registered Psychotherapist in Ontario.
- Register your business name (a sole proprietorship registration is $60 through the Ontario Business Registry), carry liability insurance, and update the Public Register with your practice site.
- As a health information custodian you must follow PHIPA for every client record.
- Advertise accurately, avoid client testimonials, and issue receipts that carry the details the College expects.
Start with your college, not your business plan
Most therapists think about logos and office space first. The more useful first question is what your regulator expects of you, because the answer decides your title, your timeline and how much support you need around you.
In Ontario, psychotherapy is practised by members of several colleges. The CRPO explains that only registrants of six regulatory colleges may call themselves psychotherapists, including its own members and those of the colleges for psychologists, social workers, nurses, physicians and occupational therapists. Which college you belong to shapes everything that follows.
If you are a CRPO registrant
The CRPO's guidance for its members says that Qualifying category registrants can open a private practice if they are competent to practise safely and effectively, and that they must continue appropriate supervision until they meet the independent practice requirement. In other words, "allowed" does not mean "ready." If you are newly qualified, plan for a supervisor, ideally someone you can call when a case worries you.
The same CRPO document encourages you to talk through your set-up with legal, financial and clinical advisors. That is good advice, and we will come back to it when we reach incorporation.
If you are a social worker or social service worker
The Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers does not set specific requirements for opening a private practice. It does, however, strongly advise extensive field experience, because private practice is not an entry-to-practice competency. It also points to the particular risks of working alone, such as professional isolation and a lack of informal support, and expects registrants to actively reduce them.
That last point deserves more weight than it usually gets. Many new practitioners underestimate how quiet a solo practice can feel when you are carrying a client's trauma home with you. Build in peer consultation, a supervision arrangement or a regular case group before you need it.
If you belong to another college
Psychologists, nurses, physicians and occupational therapists each have their own college and their own expectations about practice settings. Read your college's practice guidance before anything else. If you are in the psychology or applied behaviour analysis professions, for example, the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario has its own rules on professional corporations, covered below.
Protect your title and your wording
Titles are one of the most common places for honest mistakes. Under the Psychotherapy Act, 2007, no one other than a CRPO member may use the titles "psychotherapist," "registered psychotherapist," or "registered mental health therapist", or hold themselves out as qualified to practise in Ontario under those titles. The protected titles Registered Psychotherapist and RP, and their variations, are reserved for members.
What this means in practice:
- If you are still completing your registration, do not put a protected title on your website, business card, directory profile or email signature.
- If you are a member of a different college, describe yourself with the title that college grants you.
- Check your business name too. A name like "Harbour Psychotherapy" suggests a service rather than a person, so make sure the people delivering it are entitled to that description.
Business naming and authorized titles are tied together more closely than most people expect, and practical advice on growing a wellness business can help you think through a brand that is memorable without overreaching.
Choose and register your business structure
If you practise under any name other than your own, such as a brand or clinic name, you are generally required to register that business name with the Ontario government, according to CRPO guidance. Registration runs through the Ontario Business Registry, where a sole proprietorship or general partnership registration costs $60. Searching the registry to see whether a name is taken is free, so do that before you print anything.
Sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation
Most new therapists begin as sole proprietors. It is simple, inexpensive and easy to close if the practice is not right for you. A partnership suits two or more clinicians who want to share rent, admin and risk. A professional corporation can offer tax and liability advantages, but it is not automatically the better choice.
The CRPO notes that setting up a psychotherapy professional corporation involves additional government, legal, accounting and CRPO fees, and that it is mainly intended for RPs whose income is high enough for the advantages to outweigh those costs. In the psychology and behaviour analysis professions, a corporation must obtain a Certificate of Authorization from CPBAO before practising, and the college describes incorporating as a significant business decision that affects administrative, financial and tax obligations. It recommends speaking with a lawyer or accountant who specializes in health professions corporations.
One ethical point is worth keeping in mind whichever structure you choose. The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) clarifies that you remain personally responsible for your clinical and ethical actions, even when you work through an incorporated business. A corporation changes your finances, not your duty to clients.
GST/HST and tax basics
Tax treatment depends on your profession and the services you deliver. Ontario's own tax guidance explains that some health care services are exempt from GST/HST, including services by certain practitioners whose profession is regulated in at least five provinces, and that small suppliers with taxable supplies of $30,000 or less in the preceding year are generally not required to register. Whether your sessions are exempt is a question for an accountant who knows regulated health professionals, because the answer turns on your college and the exact service.
Open a separate business bank account from day one, even as a sole proprietor. Mixing personal and practice money is the fastest route to a stressful tax season.
Plan what it will cost
New clinicians tend to ask about rent and forget about everything around it: insurance, registration fees, software, supervision, marketing, and the months when your caseload is still building. Our own breakdown of what private practice costs in Ontario walks through realistic start-up ranges line by line, and it is worth reading before you sign a lease.
Two principles help:
- Start lean. A single room rented by the hour, or a secure online practice, lets you test demand before you commit to a long lease.
- Keep a runway. Plan for several months of slow growth. Referrals and word of mouth take time, and clinicians who give the process a few months of focused effort tend to feel less pressure to underprice or take clients outside their competence.
Insurance, the Public Register and your workspace
Before you see a paying client, confirm the following.
Professional liability insurance
CRPO registrants must carry professional liability insurance. Check your own college's requirement and confirm that your policy covers the way you actually work: in person, by video, and for any group or couples work you plan to offer. Ask the insurer directly whether working from a rented room or from a home office changes the cover.
Update the Public Register
Registered Psychotherapists are expected to update their practice site information in the CRPO Public Register when they begin private practice. It takes minutes and it is easy to forget. Clients and colleagues use the register to verify you, so a missing or outdated address looks careless.
Display your credentials
The CCPA's standards say that therapists in private practice should display professional credentials such as registration or certification in a prominent place at their work site. Frame them and hang them where clients will see them in the waiting area or the therapy room. If you work online, put your registration details on your website.
The room itself
A therapy room has quiet requirements that clients rarely mention but always feel: soundproofing so voices do not carry, a waiting area where clients will not meet each other, comfortable seating at a similar height for both people, and a locked cabinet for any paper files. If you are not ready to lease, renting a room by the hour is a reasonable way to begin. We offer hourly rental of therapy rooms for exactly this reason, and you can see our details on our services page.
Privacy, consent and clinical records
This is the part of practice set-up that carries real legal weight. Therapists providing health care are generally considered health information custodians under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario explains that custodians must follow rules for collecting, using, disclosing and safeguarding personal health information. That includes the notes you write after a session and the emails you exchange with clients.
A workable minimum for a new practice:
- A written consent and confidentiality form that clients read and sign before the first session, explaining limits to confidentiality.
- A records system with access controls, whether paper in a locked cabinet or software with encryption and an audit trail.
- A plan for what happens to your files if you become ill, move or retire.
- A telehealth set-up that uses a secure platform, not a free consumer video app, and a clear instruction to clients about where they should sit during a session.
- A rule for email and text: use them for scheduling only, and tell clients that these channels are not private in the same way a session is.
If you plan to build a website that books appointments or collects intake information, the same obligations follow the data. Marketing practices that respect client records and consent are worth reviewing before you add a contact form or an online scheduler, so that nothing sensitive travels through a channel you cannot protect.
For a client's view of the same moment, see how we describe starting therapy for the first time in Ontario. Your intake process should feel as clear to them as that article tries to make it.
Fees, receipts and billing
Pricing is where new practitioners feel the most doubt. Set a fee that reflects your training, your costs and your market, then decide in advance how you will handle clients who cannot afford it. A sliding scale, applied transparently and to a limited number of spots, lets you stay accessible without discounting your whole caseload.
Receipts deserve care because clients use them for insurance and tax claims. The CRPO says that a receipt for psychotherapy should include the practitioner's name as shown in the Public Register, their title and registration number, the amount paid, the date, the type and duration of service, and the client's full name and address. Build a template that includes every one of those fields before your first session, not after a client's claim is rejected.
It helps to understand the client side of the process too. We have written about what makes a therapy receipt tax deductible in Canada and what to check to avoid rejected claims. Knowing how clients and insurers read your paperwork will make you a more confident biller.
Also be ready to explain the landscape of public and private funding. Many people ask new therapists what OHIP covers, and our overview of OHIP psychotherapy coverage is a useful frame for that conversation.
Promoting your practice without crossing a line
Getting your name in front of people is the part most clinicians find uncomfortable. The professional standards are clear, though. The CCPA says that when you promote your practice you must be accurate, honest and professional, represent your qualifications and services clearly, avoid testimonials from clients or their families, and comply with the advertising rules of your own regulatory college.
That shapes your marketing in practical ways:
- Say what you do and with whom. "Couples therapy for communication and conflict" is useful. "Guaranteed results" is not, and promises no honest clinician can keep.
- Skip client reviews on your own site. Good outcomes can be described in general terms, such as the kinds of concerns you work with and your approach, without quoting individuals.
- Use a clear, professional website. Your qualifications, registration number, fees, location, and how to book should be easy to find.
- Build referral relationships. Family physicians, employee assistance programs, lawyers who handle separation, and other therapists whose caseloads do not match yours are all valuable sources of steady work.
- Be findable locally. A complete online business profile with accurate hours and address helps people near you find you.
Narrowing your focus helps, too. People searching for help usually search for a concern, such as anxiety, a relationship rupture or an addiction, rather than a modality. If you have training in a specific area, say so plainly.
Our perspective: what we would tell a new colleague
We have worked with individuals, couples and families for more than 20 years, and we have learned that a practice is built on two kinds of trust. The first is the trust clients place in you in the room. The second is the trust your systems earn: the receipt that is correct, the consent form that is clear, the record that is safe.
New practitioners often put all their energy into the first and treat the second as paperwork. We would reverse that order for the first few months. When your administration is steady, you can be fully present with a couple who have just come through an affair, or with someone for whom coming through the door took weeks of courage.
We would also say this: do not go it alone. We offer both in-person sessions at two locations and online sessions, and we have found that the clinicians who last are those with a colleague to call. Whether that is a supervisor, a peer group or a shared office, build it deliberately. Isolation is the quiet risk of private practice, and a relational wound in a client's life is easier to hold when you are not holding your own stress alone.
Finally, keep your fee structure honest. We use sliding scale pricing because we believe access matters, and we have found that deciding on it in advance, rather than negotiating case by case, protects both the client and the clinician.
— Wayne Dewhurst
Try a room before you commit to a lease
If you are weighing a lease against a lower-risk start, we rent therapy rooms by the hour, and you can find our current offerings on our services page. If you want to understand how we work with clients before you design your own practice, you can read more about our approach to psychotherapy. For anything else, our main site has the latest details and ways to get in touch.
A realistic first-90-days checklist
- Confirm your college's rules on private practice and supervision.
- Check that every title you plan to use is one you are entitled to.
- Search and register your business name, and open a business bank account.
- Speak to an accountant and, if you are considering incorporation, a lawyer, before you decide on a structure.
- Buy professional liability insurance that fits how you will work.
- Update the Public Register with your practice site.
- Write your consent form, privacy practices and records plan under PHIPA.
- Create a receipt template with every required field.
- Set your fee and your sliding scale policy.
- Launch an accurate, testimonial-free website and tell your referral network.
The order matters less than the completeness. Do not take your first client until the legal and privacy items are done.
FAQ
Do I need a licence to open a private practice in Ontario?
Ontario regulates psychotherapy through its colleges, so what you need is registration with the appropriate college, not a general business licence. Your college sets the conditions for private practice, and the CRPO requires Qualifying registrants to be competent to practise safely and to continue supervision until the independent practice requirement is met. You will still need to register a business name if you do not practise under your own name.
Can I call myself a psychotherapist if I am still training?
Not unless you are entitled to the title through a recognized college. In Ontario the titles psychotherapist, registered psychotherapist and registered mental health therapist are protected by the Psychotherapy Act, 2007. If you are unsure, describe yourself by your current status and check with your college before publishing anything.
Should I incorporate right away?
Usually not. A professional corporation adds government, legal and accounting costs, and the CRPO describes it as mainly worthwhile for those whose income is high enough to offset them. Start by speaking with an accountant and lawyer who work with health professionals, then decide based on your expected income.
Can I use client testimonials on my website?
Professional standards from the CCPA advise against using testimonials from clients or their families. Describe your services, your qualifications and the concerns you work with instead, and check your own college's advertising rules.
Sources
- CRPO: Private Practice FAQ (Town Hall, 2024)
- CRPO: Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
- CRPO: Opening a private practice, fees and billing
- OCSWSSW: Private Practice
- Psychotherapy Act, 2007, Ontario
- Ontario: Register your business online
- CPBAO: Professional Corporation
- Ontario 2023 Fall Statement: Tax provisions
- IPC Ontario: PHIPA Frequently Asked Questions
- CCPA: Standards of Practice
- Growing successful wellness businesses
- Compliance marketing and patient engagement