Music Therapist

What music therapists make

Job Bank's national median is $34 an hour, about $71,000 a year full time, with a spread of $23 to $50 an hour. Job Bank pools music therapists with all counselling and specialized therapists, and many music therapists piece together part-time contracts, so a real first-year income is often below the low end here. Hourly contract rates of $50 to $90 are common, but with no benefits and travel between sites.

Starting pay

Full-time salaried jobs exist in hospitals, children's treatment centres and some long-term care chains. Most new grads start with two or three part-time contracts instead.

Top of the range

A private practice that bills $80 or more an hour and stays booked can reach this. Few do in their first five years.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor of music therapy (4 years)

$7,000 to $12,000 a year

Graduate program after a music degree (2 years)

$8,000 to $15,000 a year

Instruments

A decent guitar and keyboard, $1,000 to $3,000

Certification exam and annual membership

A few hundred dollars each

Roughly, all in

$30,000 to $82,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is a four year bachelor of music therapy at the cheaper rate, a guitar and keyboard, and the certification exam with a first year of membership. The high end is a music degree followed by a separate two year graduate program in music therapy, which is the route most people take when they come to this later. The 1,000 hour internship is unpaid or pays a small stipend, so plan for roughly six months of very low income after graduation. Instruments and annual membership keep costing money once you are working.

The 1,000-hour internship is usually unpaid or paid a small stipend. Plan for roughly six months of low income after graduation.

How music therapists get paid

• Salary

  Hospitals, children's rehab centres, school boards and some long-term care operators. The minority of jobs, but the stable ones.

• Contract

  Long-term care homes and community agencies often buy a few hours a week. Most therapists stack several.

• Private practice

  Families pay directly, sometimes through provincial autism or disability funding.

• Grants

  Hospices and non-profits often fund music therapy through donations, so positions can come and go.

The path

You need to be a solid musician first. The therapy training builds on that.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Music at a strong level on at least one instrument, plus voice, plus piano or guitar. Programs audition you.

2. 2

   Music therapy degree

   2 to 4 years

   Six programs are recognized by the CAMT (Canadian Association of Music Therapists): Acadia, Canadian Mennonite University, Capilano, Wilfrid Laurier, Concordia and the University of Toronto. Some are 4-year bachelor's degrees, others are graduate programs for people who already have a music degree.

3. 3

   Clinical internship

   About 6 to 12 months

   1,000 supervised hours under an approved MTA (Music Therapist Accredited) supervisor, usually after coursework ends.

4. 4

   Certification exam

   After the internship

   Canadian graduates write the exam of the CBMT (Certification Board for Music Therapists), a US board, then apply to CAMT for the MTA credential.

High school courses that help

• Music

  Instrumental, vocal and theory. Private lessons and ensembles matter as much as the class.

• Psychology

  Half the degree is psychology and human development.

• Biology

  Anatomy, the brain and how people age.

• English

  Clinical notes and reports.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

4 to 6, including the internship

Admission

Audition plus grades; graduate programs need a music degree

Total tuition

$30,000 to $60,000

Paid while training?

Rarely; internships are mostly unpaid

Not licensed, but the credential matters

No province licenses music therapists, and anyone can call themselves one. The MTA (Music Therapist Accredited) credential from the CAMT (Canadian Association of Music Therapists) is what hospitals and agencies look for. In Ontario, music therapists who do psychotherapy must also register with the CRPO (College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario), because psychotherapy is a controlled act there.

Training that opens doors

• Registered Psychotherapist status in Ontario

  Lets you offer psychotherapy and bill under that title. Needed for many mental health jobs.

• Neurologic music therapy

  A specialized certification for stroke, brain injury and Parkinson's rehab. Hospitals like it.

• Palliative and hospice care training

  Hospices are among the steadiest employers of music therapists.

• Master's degree

  Concordia and Laurier offer graduate music therapy degrees. Needed for research and teaching.

Nice-to-haves

• Guitar and voice

  The two instruments you will use every day, whatever your main one is.

• A driver's licence and a car

  Contract work means driving between care homes.

• Volunteer time in a long-term care home

  Shows you can be with people who are confused, sick or dying.

• Business basics

  Invoicing, contracts and marketing, because you will likely be self-employed for part of your career.

A typical day

A morning group in a dementia unit: familiar songs, drumming, watching for who joins in. A one-on-one session with a palliative patient, playing what they ask for. Drive to a children's centre for sessions with autistic kids working on communication through songs. Notes after each session. Contract therapists might visit three sites in a day. Salaried hospital therapists spend more time in team meetings and charting.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

Varies; many therapists work 25 to 40 hours across several sites

Remote work

A little virtual work

Physical demand

Low to moderate; carrying instruments

Unionized

Only in hospital and school board jobs

Similar paths

• PsychotherapistTalk therapy as a career. A master's degree, supervised hours, then a caseload that is often mostly your own private clients.
• Recreation TherapistUse games, sport, art and outings as treatment for people recovering from illness, injury or living with disability. A diploma or degree, mostly in hospitals and care homes.
• Music TeacherTeach piano, guitar, voice or strings one student at a time. Most music teachers work for themselves.

The exam is American

Canadian music therapists earn the MTA (Music Therapist Accredited) credential from the Canadian association, but the exam they write belongs to the CBMT (Certification Board for Music Therapists) in the US. Canada has never built its own.

Only six schools

Just six Canadian universities run recognized music therapy programs, from Capilano in BC to Acadia in Nova Scotia. Most provinces have none, so many students move away to train.

Music survives dementia

People with advanced dementia who no longer recognize family can often still sing every word of songs from their youth. That is the everyday reason music therapists are hired in long-term care.

1,000 hours before the title

After the degree, every music therapist completes a 1,000-hour supervised clinical internship before they can write the certification exam. That is about six months of full-time work, usually unpaid.