Ontario Structured Psychotherapy in Northwestern Ontario: Free Therapy and How to Refer Yourself

Ontario Structured Psychotherapy is delivered through regional networks. Here it is Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program (OSP) in Northwestern Ontario, coordinated by St. Joseph's Care Group, which leads a network of organizations delivering the program across the region.

The network gives this as the area it serves:

• Northwestern Ontario (the web page gives no list of cities or districts)

The program's information PDFs say services can be accessed across the Northwest region in person, by phone or virtually. They say in-person services are available at various locations including Kenora, Fort Frances and Thunder Bay, with more to be added over time. The word "including" means that is not stated to be the full list. Ontario Health describes the North West Region as Thunder Bay to Kenora to the Hudson Bay Coast.

If you live somewhere else, the provincial Ontario Structured Psychotherapy guide lists the network for every region.

You can access OSP by completing the program's self-referral or application form, and health care providers can also refer.

The page presents the self-referral form as a way to access the program. It does not say a doctor's referral is required.

The program's FAQ (a PDF) states you do not need a primary care provider or family doctor to be eligible for or to receive OSP services.

1. Complete the self-referral application form on The Access Point Northwest website.
2. If you need help completing it, call 1-807-624-3400 to speak with an OSP staff member.
3. The FAQ says you can expect a call from the program assistant within 5 to 7 business days of submitting the referral, to book an intake assessment.
4. To ask about a referral you have already submitted, the FAQ says to call St. Joseph's Care Group's OSP program at 807-624-3543.

Phone

1-807-624-3400

Referral form

The network's online referral form

Contact details are copied from the network's own pages as of October 7, 2026. Check them on the network's page before you rely on them.

• Aged 18 and over and living in Ontario.
• A primary concern of depression, anxiety or anxiety-related conditions, such as obsessive-compulsive concerns or post-traumatic stress.
• Able to actively engage in OSP treatment.
• Concerns the page lists: depression and low mood; generalized anxiety and worry; health anxiety; obsessive-compulsive concerns; other anxiety and stress-related problems; posttraumatic stress; social anxiety and performance fears; specific fears; and unexpected panic attacks and agoraphobic fears.
• Ages 15 to 17: the page points youth to BounceBack.

The web page gives no list. The program's Provider Handout (a PDF) says these circumstances indicate the program would not be suitable:

• A high risk to yourself or others, or significant risk of self-neglect
• Being actively suicidal with impaired coping skills, or significant suicidal behaviour, including extensive self-harm, in the past 6 months
• Significant symptoms of mania or hypomania, currently or within the past year
• Significant symptoms of a psychotic disorder, currently or within the past year (not counting symptoms induced by medication or substance use)
• A severe or complex personality disorder that would affect your ability to take part in CBT for anxiety or depression, or a personality disorder as the main problem
• Having requested only medication management
• Moderate to severe impairment of cognitive function, such as dementia or an acquired brain injury, or moderate to severe impairment due to a developmental or learning disability
• Problematic substance use now or in the past three months that would affect taking part in CBT, or needing specialized concurrent disorders treatment
• A severe eating disorder that would affect your ability to take part in CBT for anxiety or depression

Being excluded is not the end of the road. See the other routes to covered care, and ask a doctor or nurse practitioner whether a psychiatry referral makes sense for you.

The page describes OSP as free, short-term, evidence-based cognitive-behavioural therapy and related services. The FAQ says your Ontario health card number is collected once you are enrolled, but no page says whether a card is required for eligibility.

• You will likely begin with self-led resources guided by a coach or clinician: the BounceBack program by phone and internet-based CBT (iCBT) online.
• If needed, you may move to individual or group psychotherapy.
• One-to-one therapy is in-person or virtual CBT. You are matched with a therapist for 10 to 12 sessions held weekly for 50 minutes.

The program's PDFs say in-person services are available at various locations including Kenora, Fort Frances and Thunder Bay, and that services can also be accessed by phone or virtually.

Languages and pathways the network states: Psychotherapy services are delivered in English and French, and interpretation for additional languages can also be provided.

The FAQ (a PDF) says to expect a call from the program assistant within 5 to 7 business days of submitting a referral, and that waits for OSP services vary by type of service and can range from a few weeks to a few months.

• The program publishes a full exclusion list, but only in a clinician-facing Provider Handout PDF. The web page itself gives no list.
• The page states one-to-one therapy as 10 to 12 weekly sessions of 50 minutes.
• The FAQ states plainly that no family doctor or primary care provider is needed, and gives a timeframe: a call within 5 to 7 business days, with waits for services ranging from a few weeks to a few months.
• In-person options at Kenora, Fort Frances and Thunder Bay are named only in the PDFs, as "various locations including" them, and not on the web page.
• Intake runs through a Thunder Bay phone line at 1-807-624-3400, with the form hosted at The Access Point Northwest. The program publishes no email address and no hours.

The page says the program does not provide mental health crisis or immediate services. It lists 911, the Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988 (English and French), the nearest emergency department, Crisis Response Thunder Bay at 807-346-8282 and the District of Thunder Bay line at 1-866-888-8988.

For immediate suicide crisis support, call or text 9-8-8 at any hour.