There is a lack of literature devoted to the Canadian genetic counseling workforce. Current and prospective genetic counseling students, graduates, employers, programs, and funding agencies remain largely uninformed of trends in the job market. The purpose of this study was to investigate the employment experiences of recent Canadian genetic counseling graduates and employers of genetic counselors (GCs) in Canada. An online survey was distributed to Canadians who had graduated from North American genetic counseling programs from 2014 to 2018 and to employers with experience hiring patient‐facing genetic counselors from 2016 to 2018. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and, where appropriate, logistic regression. Qualitative data were reviewed to illustrate and support the quantitative data. Half of the employer responders (11/22) reported hiring more or many more genetic counselors compared to 3 years ago (2016), and a majority (n = 19, 86%) reported a desire to hire at least one more genetic counselor if funding were available. Most graduates (45/70, 64%) reported securing employment before graduation, 33% (n = 23) within 6 months of graduation, and no one taking longer than 1 year. For recent graduates, location was the most important factor when looking for work, and those who chose to work in Canada experienced significantly more challenges gaining employment as opposed to those who worked internationally (p = 0.03). The specialties in highest demand for genetic counselors and the most common areas of practice for recent graduates included adult general genetics, prenatal genetics, and cancer genetics. Overall, our findings suggest that there is a growth of employment opportunities in Canada and more employer‐reported need for clinical genetic counselors; however, there is a lack of funding to support this expansion.

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加拿大遗传咨询劳动力：雇主和应届毕业生的观点

缺乏专门针对加拿大遗传咨询劳动力的文献。当前和未来的遗传咨询学生、毕业生、雇主、项目和资助机构在很大程度上仍不了解就业市场的趋势。本研究的目的是调查最近加拿大遗传咨询毕业生和加拿大遗传咨询师 (GC) 雇主的就业经历。一项在线调查分发给了 2014 年至 2018 年毕业于北美遗传咨询计划的加拿大人以及在 2016 年至 2018 年期间有招聘面向患者的遗传咨询师的经验的雇主。通过描述性统计并在适当情况下进行逻辑回归分析了定量数据. 审查定性数据以说明和支持定量数据。n  = 19, 86%) 报告说，如果有资金，他们希望至少再聘请一名遗传顾问。大多数毕业生 (45/70, 64%) 报告在毕业前找到工作，33% ( n  = 23) 在毕业后 6 个月内找到工作，没有人超过 1 年。对于应届毕业生来说，地点是找工作的最重要因素，与那些在国际工作的人相比，那些选择在加拿大工作的人在获得就业方面遇到了更多的挑战（p = 0.03）。对遗传咨询师需求最高的专业和应届毕业生最常见的实践领域包括成人一般遗传学、产前遗传学和癌症遗传学。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，加拿大的就业机会增加，雇主报告对临床遗传咨询师的需求增加；然而，缺乏资金来支持这种扩张。