An 8 month study of the certification practices and procedures for school counsellors throughout Canada and the U. S. has led this investigator to the conclusion that present certification procedures are largely limiting, unimaginative, academically-oriented, bound by fixed course hours--and are set too low. Methods for certification vary from what might be referred to as: (1) the minimum standards route; (2) the skill areas approach; (3) the approved program method; and (4) a performance-based demonstration of competence. Regardless of the method used, problems abound, e.g., most certification requirements guarantee exposure to courses--not competence. Additional problems are noted in the areas of grandfather clauses, the teaching requirement, reciprocity between states, enforcement policies, non-differentiated certificates, accountability of training institutions, provisional certificates, norm writing, and many more. The question of "Who should administer a certification system?" is also examined, as are likely trends in the certification of counsellors. (Author)