How to Start a Canadian Group Practice

Stage 1: Planning Your Group Practice Foundation

Before hiring therapists or choosing office space, the foundation begins with intention. This stage is about creating clarity, so your group practice grows from a solid, values-driven core.

Define Your Vision and Mission

A group practice is not just “more therapists under one roof.” It’s a shared philosophy. Your vision and mission help you shape a culture that feels grounded, ethical, and connected. This becomes your anchor as your practice grows.

To create a relevant vision and mission, you’ll need to think through the following intentionally:

Your practice purpose: The core reason your group practice exists, such as expanding access, reducing waitlists, or offering specialized services in your community.
Who you serve: A picture of your ideal clients by age, needs, background, or specialization, helping guide hiring and service decisions.
Values you want your team to embody: Examples include compassion, trauma sensitivity, cultural humility, and evidence-informed care.

Create Your Group Practice Business Plan

A business plan is a practical roadmap. It helps you organize your thoughts and make decisions without guessing. You can use mood boards, financial projections, or whatever other format that feels clear for you.

A simple business plan can include the following:

Executive summary: What your future practice will be and why it matters.
Services: Details what you will offer, which may include individual counselling, assessments, family support, or something more specialized.
Market awareness: Outlineswho you are serving and what supports already exist in your region
Marketing plan: You’ll need to detail how your target market will find you.
Financial planning: Startup costs, rental, salaries or contractor fees, software, and long-term growth projections.

Stage 2: Navigating Legal and Financial Requirements in Canada

Starting a Canadian group practice involves a few regulatory steps. Understanding the basics goes a long way, you don’t need to become a legal expert. What matters is knowing what to ask and who to ask for help when you need it.

Choose Your Business Structure

Your business structure affects things like taxes, liability, administration, and ownership. In Canada, mental health professionals commonly choose the following:

Sole proprietorship: Simple structure where the owner and business are legally connected.
Partnership: Shared ownership between two or more practitioners.
Incorporated or professional corporation: Creates a separate legal entity.

Consulting both a lawyer and an accountant helps provide the clarity you need to make an informed decision.

Register Your Business and Understand Taxes

With your structure chosen, registration comes next and may include the following:

Register your business name provincially or federally.
Obtain a Business Number (BN) through the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Review the CRA guidance for clarity on tax obligations.

Prioritize Compliance

A group practice is responsible for every clinician within it, which means that privacy, safety, and compliance become integral to your leadership role.

Important areas of responsibility for practice owners include privacy legislation. Understanding the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) in Ontario, the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) in British Columbia, the PIPA in Alberta, and similar provincial frameworks that govern the secure storage and transfer of client information is essential to staying compliant.

Stage 3: Building Your Team and Infrastructure

This is where your practice shifts from “me” to “we.” You’re inviting others into something you’ve built with care. A thoughtful approach can make this transition feel grounded instead of rushed.

Develop Your Therapist Hiring Model

In Canada, group practice owners typically choose between two models — independent contractors and employees. For the independent contractors model, therapists work under your practice umbrella but maintain professional independence. This model offers flexibility, but clarity in contracts is essential.

On the other hand, for the employees model, therapists become part of your staff, allowing for more oversight and cohesion. This may be beneficial for long-term culture building. Choosing a model depends on your goals, values, and financial planning. Whichever you choose, focus on fit and not just credentials.

Hiring steps can include the following:

Values-aligned job postings: Create postings that highlight mission, client focus, and the culture you are building.
Thoughtful interviewing: Explore therapeutic approach, communication style, ethics, and compatibility rather than credentials alone.
Gentle onboarding structure: Offer guidance, resources, and clarity to help therapists feel welcomed and supported from day one.

Set up Your Physical or Virtual Office

Your space, online or in person, sets the tone for how clients feel when they arrive. For physical offices, consider soundproofing for confidentiality, accessibility around entrances and exits, and whether you will have group rooms and individual therapy rooms.

For virtual practices, you’ll need to secure a video platform, adhere to PHIPA note-taking guidelines for client notes, and implement digital intake forms and consent processes. The goal is comfort, safety, and simplicity.

Implement Your Practice Management System

This is where operations start to expand. With multiple therapists, calendars, invoices, and intake forms, manual workflows can become heavy quickly. A practice management system centralizes work, allowing you to stay present with clients rather than focusing on paperwork.

Key functions that support group practice flow may include:

Multi-therapist calendars: View schedules for all clinicians in one place and manage room availability without the need for back-and-forth communication.
Secure digital records: Keep notes, forms, and client information stored safely in compliance with Canadian privacy standards.
Billing and invoicing inside one system: Reduce admin time with unified payments, receipts, and financial records.

Stage 4: Launching and Marketing Your Group Practice

Your practice is now built. The next step is helping people find you.

Create a Professional Online Presence

Your online presence needs to be clear and concise. Clients should quickly understand who you help, how you assist them, and how to contact you.

Your website can include the following:

Service descriptions written in a warm, human tone.
Therapist bios with personal connection, not just credentials.
Contact page with booking access.
Location details or virtual availability.
An area to share resources or articles.

Market Your Practice in Canada

Marketing for therapists isn’t about selling. It’s about letting people know support exists. In Canada, community connection goes a long way.

Helpful marketing tactics can include the following:

Content and blog writing: Sharing guidance and reflections can help build credibility and foster meaningful connections.
Community relationships: Collaboration with physicians, schools, and local organizations may strengthen referral pathways, enhancing client care.
Workshops and community involvement: Presenting talks or hosting support groups helps establish a presence and can build trust within the community.

Let Owl Practice Help You Build Something Important

From coordinating calendars to safely storing client information, building a group practice requires a strong platform to stay organized and be fully present with clients. Owl Practice was designed for exactly this stage of your journey. Built for Canadian mental health professionals, our group practice solutions bring scheduling, billing, secure client notes, intake forms, messaging, and multi-therapist management into a single platform.