This is certainly true in the US, although I don't know about Canada. Hardly any therapists here start off in private practice. They generally have to "pay their dues" by working in community mental health or inpatient psych, both of which are high stress, low paying, and definitely don't come with that much time off. Then they progress to working in an agency setting, where there are typically billable marks they have to meet to keep their spot (to pay for overhead) - so a lot of vacation time wouldn't really work. Private practice is typically the ultimate goal for therapists, but it's not something that happens right off the bat.