We all know how crappy life can be, with its ups and downs like an emotional rollercoaster ride. Many of us don’t know how to survive life daily, and some others are totally clueless on how to tread the scary waters of life. It can be extra challenging if we really don’t know what to do in several aspects of life. Luckily, we have life coaches who can help us.
Life coaches help their clients navigate the choppy waters of life to help them achieve their personal goals. Life coaches are not only for retirees and the disadvantaged.
They provide much-needed support and advice to many different kinds of people, including students, young professionals, parents, and even trauma survivors. People need life coaches because these people have the adequate knowledge and skills that can help you make the best and the most significant decisions in your life.
Here is everything you need to know on how to become a life coach in Canada.
Education Requirements for Life Coaches in Canada
There are no specific degrees that are required for life coaches to fulfill before practicing in Canada. It is good that life coaches can come from every possible bachelor’s degree because it will help them provide targeted support and advice for their clients. However, they must be certified and trained before practising as life coaches in Canada.
Life Coach Licensing, Training, and Other Professional Requirements
Before practising as a life coach, you must undergo training and other certification programs accredited by institutions in Canada. There are many life coach training companies in Canada and beyond.
The costs may vary per training company, but it usually won’t go higher than $10,000. One life coach training company called Certified Coaches Federation offers Certified Coach Practitioner courses in seven locations from $980 to $1,180.
Most training programs cover different topics that are very important for life coaches during their time in the profession. Some of these include communication skills, coaching methods, achieving goals, acquiring referrals, preparing reports, interpersonal skills, group coaching, life skills, public speaking, business practices, marketing, business strategies, and other relevant and needed skills.
Canadian life coaches are classified under unregulated professions. However, the life coaches working in the country obtain different kinds of certification from several training institutes. You can get certified by attending any available life coach training sessions near you.
If you have certifications, it will add weight to your resume and credentials to your practice. This helps you get a lot of clients independently or even land a job in the future.
Skills, Knowledge, and Other Relevant Requirements
There are several skills and knowledge that life coaches must have to succeed in their profession and to be able to help their clients better. They must have above-average communication skills, good listening skills, and patience to work with demanding clients due to trauma, anxiety, and other emotional factors.
Having good interpersonal skills is also essential for life coaches. This is because they must know how to sympathize and advise their clients who need guidance and support with whatever plight they have in life. They must also have a calm demeanour and a trustworthy personality for their clients to feel at ease with them when sharing their problems.
They should also be good with decision making to help their clients decide on their most significant turning points in life. That includes planning for the future and having additional plans. Lastly, they should also have empathy towards their clients and their issues.
If you’re one to roll your eyes when a person tells you about their problems over and over again, this job is probably not for you.
Life coaches must inculcate good organizational and prioritization skills and good business and marketing skills to manage their respective businesses and gain more clients.
Salary, Wages, and Demand for Life Coaches in Canada
Government agencies do not track the salary data figures for life coaches. However, there are figures from other data agencies with conflicting degrees of accuracy. According to Indeed, Canadian life coaches earn around CA$46,530 yearly. Career coaches earn up to CA$54,540 a year, according to the same source.
This is only the basic yearly salary, excluding the annual bonuses and other financial incentives life coaches get throughout their careers. This is not the exact annual earnings for all life coaches.
This is the estimated amount considering several factors such as tenure, skills, knowledge, network, additional certifications, and other qualifications that might increase the salary increase.
The demands for life coaches depend from area to area, with highly urbanized cities and towns having more needs for life coaches due to the complexity of the people’s lives compared to the people in the more rural areas of the country.
