Occupational Therapists

Achieving Canadian Licensure

Occupational therapists are regulated health professionals in all ten provinces in Canada. Each province in Canada has a provincial regulatory organization  that is responsible for the regulation of the practice of occupational therapy. When you apply to become registered to work as an occupational therapist in a specific province, it is important to note the following:

• Each of the provincial regulatory organizations has their own set of regulatory requirements.
• These requirements may be different from province to province.
• You must contact the provincial regulatory organization for the province in which you wish to work in order to obtain their specific requirements.
• Some provincial regulatory organizations require that you successfully complete the CAOT Certification Exam as one of their requirements.
• In order to find out whether or not you need to complete the exam for provincial regulatory purposes, you should contact the appropriate provincial organization directly.
• If you do not pass the examination, it is the provincial regulatory organization that will determine the conditions under which you may be employed as an occupational therapist and may specify how many times you may attempt the examination for their registration purposes.