How Canadian therapists get a practice phone number
Most therapists start by handing out their own mobile number and regret it later. These are the ways out, what each one does when you cannot pick up, and which one most practices should choose.
The short answer
If all you want is a number that is not your personal one, get a second line from your carrier. It is the cheapest thing that works, it takes about ten minutes, and most therapists are happy with it.
Keep reading if the problem is bigger than the number — if you are missing calls while you are in session, if prospective clients ring once and never call back, or if you want what people say to you to end up somewhere other than your personal phone. A second line does not help with any of that.
The options at a glance
| Option | When you miss the call | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Your own mobile | Voicemail, if they leave one | The first few months, before you commit |
| A second phone | Voicemail on a phone you are not holding | A boundary you can physically leave behind |
| A second line on your phone | Voicemail, same as any line | Most therapists who just need another number |
| A second SIM or eSIM | Voicemail, same as any line | The cheapest separate number, if you like tinkering |
| Google Voice | — | Not available for new Canadian numbers |
| A US virtual phone app | Voicemail, sometimes a transcript | Cheap, if you are satisfied on where data is held |
| An answering service | A person picks up and passes on a message | High call volume and a budget for a person |
| Rivet | The caller gets a text back, and it is in your inbox | Missing calls in session, and wanting them on the record |
Costs vary by carrier and by plan. Check current pricing with the provider before you decide.
Using your own mobile number
Almost every solo practice starts here, because on day one there is nothing to decide. You have a phone, a client needs to reach you, and giving out the number takes no thought at all.
What makes it stop working is not a single moment but an accumulation. Your number is now in the contacts of everyone you have ever seen, including people you stopped seeing years ago, and there is no way to take it back. You cannot be unavailable without switching off the phone your family reaches you on. And when you take a week away, there is nobody you can hand it to.
Therapists describe the same specific discomfort: the number is in their pocket at dinner, and knowing a client could call is enough to keep them half at work even on an evening when nobody does.
The verdict — fine while you are finding out whether the practice is permanent. It is the option everyone leaves, not the one they choose.
A second phone
A separate handset with its own number is the most complete separation available. You finish on Friday, put it in a drawer, and it is genuinely not with you.
The cost is not really the money. It is that you now carry two phones, charge two phones, and remember which one is which — and most people find they check the work one anyway, which was the habit they were trying to break. The drawer only works if you can leave it there.
It is also the only option that survives a scenario worth thinking about: if a personal phone were ever subpoenaed, having client contact on a separate device is a meaningfully different position to be in.
The verdict — the right answer if you want a boundary you can physically see, and you know yourself well enough to know a software setting would not be enough.
A second line on the phone you already have
Your carrier adds a second number to your existing phone. In Canada this is the most common answer, and for a lot of therapists it is the correct one.
It gives you real separation for the least money and nothing extra to carry. Clients get a number that is not your personal one, and if you ever leave the practice, you can leave the number with it.
What it does not do is anything after the call. Both numbers ring the same handset, so you are still reachable whenever the phone is on you. And a missed call is just a missed call — no reply goes out, and if the caller does not leave a message you never learn they rang.
The verdict — the sensible default. If all you need is a different number, get this and stop reading.
A second SIM or eSIM
Functionally close to a second line, usually cheaper, and often from a discount carrier rather than your main one. Two numbers on one device, switched in settings.
The trade-offs are the same as a second line, plus a bit more fiddliness in setup and the possibility that your phone or plan does not support it cleanly.
The verdict — worth it if you want the cheapest separate number and are comfortable with the setup. Otherwise the carrier line is less work for a similar result.
Google Voice
New Google Voice numbers are not available in Canada. It comes up in nearly every discussion of this, almost always from American colleagues, so it is worth knowing before you spend an evening on it.
Even where people have kept older numbers working, they run on US rules, and numbers have been reclaimed for insufficient use — a serious problem when that number is on your directory listings and your business cards.
The verdict — not an option for a Canadian practice starting today.
A US-built virtual phone app
There is a category of app that gives you a second number for a few dollars a month, several of them marketed at healthcare specifically.
They are cheap and quick, and there is no second device. The questions worth asking before you commit are where your client information is actually held, and whose privacy rules the documentation was written for — most of these products answer American questions, which are not the ones your College will ask you.
Reliability is the other recurring theme. Calls that do not ring, texts that fail without telling you. The problem with a communication tool failing quietly is that you usually discover it at a missed appointment.
The verdict — workable if you have read the terms and are satisfied with where your client information sits. Ask that question before the price question.
An answering service
A person answers your calls and passes on messages. For a busy group practice this can make sense.
For a solo practice it is the most expensive option by a distance, and there is a clinical consideration that has nothing to do with cost: a stranger reading from a script is the first voice a distressed person hears. Services that handle that well exist and are not easy to find.
The verdict — worth pricing if your call volume genuinely warrants a human, and you have found one you would trust with a first contact.
Rivet
Rivet is ours, so read this one with that in mind.
Rivet is a practice number for calls, texts and voicemail that lives on the phone you already carry. The part that is different from everything above is what happens when you cannot answer: within seconds the caller gets a text you wrote, so a call you missed while you were with someone becomes a conversation instead of a voicemail nobody listens to. Afterwards, the calls, texts, sessions and notes for one person sit together on that person's record rather than scattered across your phone. Records are held in Canada.
It costs more than a second line, and that difference is only worth paying if the problem you have is bigger than the number.
The verdict — for therapists who are losing calls while in session and want what happens on the number to stay attached to the client.
When Rivet is the wrong answer
If you need a second number and nothing else, we are the wrong purchase. A carrier second line is cheaper, simpler, and does that job completely. Buy that instead.
We are worth paying for when the problem is not the number itself: you are with someone for fifty minutes of every hour, calls arrive during that hour, and right now they land in a voicemail box most people will not use. That is a different problem, and it is the one we built for.
Questions therapists ask about this
Can I use Google Voice for my practice in Canada?
Not for a new number — Google Voice does not issue Canadian numbers. It comes up constantly because it is the standard recommendation in American therapist forums, and that advice does not transfer.
What is the cheapest way to get a separate number?
Usually a second SIM or eSIM on a discount carrier, with a second line from your existing carrier close behind. Both give you a different number and neither does anything once the call is missed.
Is it acceptable to text clients from my personal phone?
That depends on your profession and your province, and it is worth checking with your College rather than assuming. The practical objection therapists raise is rarely about the texting itself — it is that the number cannot be taken back afterwards.
If I call a client back, will they see my personal number?
It depends how you call. Calling from your handset shows your handset's number even if they originally rang a different line. Returning the call from within a practice-number app shows the practice number. This catches people out often enough to be worth checking before you rely on it.
Do I need a business line, or is a second personal line enough?
For a solo practice a second personal line is usually enough, and it is cheaper. Business lines are generally priced for features — receptionists, extensions, multiple handsets — that a single practitioner does not need.
What happens to my number if I switch providers later?
Canadian numbers can normally be ported, but it is worth confirming before you commit, because the number ends up on your directory profile, your website and in every client's phone. Ask any provider directly whether you can take the number with you.
