Train In Canada
Are you a physiotherapist or occupational therapist educated outside Canada and now looking to practice here?
This information will help you get started.
1) Occupational Therapy
The first step is for Internationally Educated Occupational Therapists (IEOT) applicants to have their credentials assessed before they can apply to be registered provincially and receive a license to practice.
The Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO) is the organization that manages this first step in the registration process.
IEOTs apply to ACOTRO’s Substantial Equivalency Assessment System (SEAS). The ACOTRO website provides all the information on the SEAS process.
ACOTRO will grant eligibility for the IEOT to write the National Occupational Therapy Certification Examination (the NOTCE) and will ask IEOTs to contact the provincial regulator in the province in which they wish to practice.
Eligibility must be granted by a regulator before writing the NOTCE.
National Organization
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists - www.caot.ca
Provincial Regulatory Organizations
- Alberta College of Occupational Therapists
- College of Occupational Therapists of British Columbia
- College of Occupational Therapists of Manitoba
- New Brunswick Association of Occupational Therapists/Association des Ergothérapeutes du Nouveau Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador Occupational Therapy Board
- College of Occupational Therapists of Nova Scotia
- College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario
- Prince Edward Island College of Occupational Therapists
- Ordres des Ergothérapeutes du Québec
- Saskatchewan Society of Occupational Therapists
2) Physiotherapy
To work as a physiotherapist, you must register with the regulatory body in the province or territory where you work.
The Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR) evaluates educational credentials and administers exams for competency on behalf of most of the provincial and territorial regulators.
Each provincial and territorial regulator may also have additional requirements before you can practise.
CAPR provides information to the regulators on credentials and qualifications, and the regulators decide who can and who cannot receive a licence to practise.
You need to decide where you want to work. Then, check the requirements you need to meet to work there by contacting the regulator.
For most regulators, you must complete CAPR’s Educational Credentials and Qualifications Assessment. You can begin this before you come to Canada.
You will need to prove your language skills or take a language test.
National Organization
Canadian Physiotherapy Association - physiotherapy.ca
Provincial and Territorial Regulators
- College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia
- Physiotherapy Alberta College + Association
- Saskatchewan College of Physical Therapists
- College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba
- College of Physiotherapists of Ontario
- Ordre professionnel de la physiothérapie du Québec
- College of Physiotherapists of New Brunswick
- Collège des physiothérapeutes du Nouveau-Brunswick
- Nova Scotia College of Physiotherapists
- Prince Edward Island College of Physiotherapists
- Newfoundland & Labrador College of Physiotherapists
- Government of Yukon, Consumer Services
