Effective October 1, 2021, occupational therapists registered in another Canadian province who are providing virtual services to clients in Alberta can do so based on their existing registration in the province they are providing services from as long as they are not providing a restricted activity.
- Refer to Section 17 of the Occupational Therapists Profession Regulation for the list of restricted activities OTs registered in Alberta can perform if competent to do so. See the Psychosocial Interventions: An Interpretive Guide to the Restricted Activity for a description of which psychosocial interventions are considered restricted.
You are required to inform your Alberta client in which province you are registered to practice. You must also direct your Alberta client to follow-up with the regulatory organization in your province of registration if they have a complaint or concern.
If you are an OT providing services to a client(s) who is physically situated in Alberta, you must still be registered to practice OT in Alberta if you are registered in good-standing in another –
- Canadian province and are providing a restricted activity virtually;
- Country and are providing any OT services virtually; or,
- Province/country and are providing any OT services in-person.
You can apply for registration on either the Courtesy or General Register. If providing services for 90 days or less, see below for the Courtesy Register application and Regulatory History Form. If you will be providing services for more than 90 days, you will need to apply for the General Register (or Provisional Register if you have not yet written the national exam). To avoid practicing without a license in Alberta, the registration application process must be completed prior to the start of any service provision.
If you are an Internationally Educated OT (trained anywhere outside of Canada), you must go through the Substantial Equivalency Assessment System (SEAS) prior to applying for registration with ACOT.
For more information, refer to ACOTs Virtual Practice Guideline and Practice Across Jurisdictions FAQ, accessed from the Practice Resources page of the ACOT website – scroll to the Practice Guidance section.
