Renewal Reminders
ACOT staff take pride in replying promptly to phone calls, emails and approving profile updates. However, as call/email volumes increase during the renewal period, delays may ensue. You can help by renewing your permit well before the February 28, 2025, deadline and by giving staff 2-5 days to respond rather than calling or emailing again. Registrant questions will be responded to as soon as possible in the order they are received.
Important!! – remember to:
- login in to cancel your practice permit if you are not planning to renew,
- renew before 11:59 pm on Friday February 14, 2025, to get the $550 early-bird renewal rate. Those renewing between February 15-28, 2025, will be invoiced for the full renewal fee of $650.
You can check out our handy renewal resources here:
What’s New with Renewal 2025?
Updating your Profile information
When registrants login to renew their registration for 2025-2026, they might notice a few changes. ACOT recently refreshed their registrant platform software to align with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)’s updated 2022 health human resource dataset. All occupational therapy (OT) regulators, including ACOT, share health workforce data with CIHI to support health workforce planning and policy development in Canada. ACOT collects this type of data from registrants when they apply to ACOT and when they renew their practice permit. ACOT shares some of this data with the Government of Alberta via the Provincial Provider Registry as required by legislation. ACOT also shares some of this data in aggregate with CIHI to support their health human workforce planning and policy initiatives.
When updating their profile information online during renewal, registrants will notice:
- More specific options to choose from when describing their employment information.
- Expanded dropdown lists will be noticeable for categories such as title/position, status, main area of practice, employment category, and employment status.
- New fields have been added to indicate their primary mode of care (e.g., in person, videoconference etc.) as well as % of time providing virtual care.
Race-Based and Indigenous Identity data
With the 2025-2026 permit renewal, registrants will also notice that ACOT has started collecting data about occupational therapists’ “Racial Background” and “Indigenous Identity”. Collection of this data is voluntary, and OTs can select “prefer not to answer” if they do not want to provide their data.
Why is ACOT collecting this data? CIHI added the race-based and Indigenous identity data to the 2022 health human resource data set for the purpose of using the data to inform actions and interventions to improve health equity among racialized groups. Specific to ACOT and their mandate to protect the public, collection of this data increases ACOT Council’s awareness of registrants’ race-based and Indigenous identities, helping Council to determine if our registrant population is representative of the public and the communities served by ACOT registrants. When considering whether to move forward with the collection of race-based and Indigenous Identity data, ACOT consulted with its Acting Against Racism and Intolerance (ARRI) Committee, which is comprised of OTs with living experiences of racism and intolerance, for the Committee’s guidance on whether and how to move forward.
How is a registrant’s race-based and Indigenous identity data protected? Only staff that are responsible for processing the data will have access to this data. As well, race-based and Indigenous identity data will only be shared with CIHI, in aggregate.
Renewal & CCP Support Series
Do you need a refresher on why you must complete the Continuing Competence Program (CCP)? Do you want a review of Reflective Practice and how to incorporate it throughout your CCP? Do you want guidance on what content to include in each component of the CCP? Do you want an ACOT staff member to review a CCP from the first component through to the last? Would you like the opportunity to get support from an ACOT staff member while you login and add content to your own CCP?
If so, join ACOT for our 15-Minute CCP Meets Ups. All sessions include opportunities to have your questions answered. No need to pre-register, just click on the link for the session date/time below:
Meeting ID: 963 9438 6939 Passcode: 401592
All sessions run from 12:15 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Zoom. All links will be available HERE.