Access to the massage therapy profession in Ontario

This document was developed in collaboration with the Access to Professions and Trades Unit, Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in April 1998 and updated June 2005. Requirements may have changed by the time you apply. Please contact the College of Massage therapists before completing your application.

Copyright in this career map is held jointly by the Queen's Printer for Ontario and the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, ©, 1998. This career map may be used or reproduced by any third party for non-commercial, not-for-profit purposes, provided that no fee, payment or royalty of any kind shall be charged by the third party for any further use or reproduction of the career map by any person. Any proposed commercial or for-profit use or reproduction of this career map requires a written license from the Queen's Printer for Ontario and the College Massage Therapists of Ontario.

To practise massage therapy in Ontario, you must obtain a Certificate of Registration from the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (the College). The College under the Massage Therapy Act and the Regulated Health Professions Act sets all registration requirements. You cannot practise as a massage therapist unless you are registered with the College. Only the College of Massage Therapists, the provincial regulatory body, can register Massage Therapists.

Massage Therapists in Ontario are mainly self-employed health professionals. They work in a variety of settings, most often in massage therapy clinics and chiropractic offices. Other workplaces include health clinics, private practice, rehabilitation centres, health spas, health and fitness clubs, nursing homes, community health clinics, and hospitals. Clients may make appointments with massage therapists without being referred by a medical doctor.

Massage Therapists assess and treat physical dysfunction and pain of the soft tissue and joints of the body mostly by hands-on manipulation. Assessment and treatment can include orthopaedic and neurological testing, soft tissue manipulation (Swedish massage is the most commonly used technique), hydrotherapy, remedial exercise programmes and client education programmes.

Before You Immigrate to Canada

Before you come to Canada, you should write to the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario for an application to become a Massage Therapist in Ontario or download an application from the College’s web site. The College's address and web site are listed at the end of this information. Information on requirements for registration is available in the “Becoming a Member” section of the site and most required forms are available in the “Downloads” section of the site.

The College suggests that you begin the application process in your country because you will need to contact the educational institution where you obtained your massage therapy training and ask them to provide information on the course of study you completed there. The institution will need to complete the required transcript form and send it with transcripts and detailed course descriptions directly to the College of Massage Therapists.

When You Arrive In Ontario

If you did not start your application process overseas, you must start from Step 1 (see below). The registration process from start to finish takes at least one year. You should apply as soon as you arrive in Canada to help speed up the application process.

REGISTRATION APPLICATION PROCESS

You must complete all of the following steps to be eligible for registration with the College:

1.  Application for Evaluation of Credentials
2. Have an evaluation of your education and complete any additional education required to meet the requirement for education which provides equivalent competencies to the massage therapy programmes in Ontario
3.  
4. Standards and Regulations Course and any other additional study required
5. Certification Examination
6. English or French Language Assessment
7. Provide evidence that you are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada, or are authorized to work in Canada
8. Obtain professional liability insurance in the minimum amount required by the College
9. Application for registration

Step 1 - Application for Evaluation of Credentials

There are two forms to be completed to apply for evaluation by the College. You must complete an Application for Evaluation of Credentials and send it to the College with the C$125.00 fee. You can send the fee as a certified cheque or money order payable to the College of Massage Therapists or you may pay with Visa or MasterCard; the College will not accept cash or a personal cheque.

The Application for Evaluation of Credentials asks for the following:

1. Whether you are a Canadian citizen, landed immigrant or have a Canadian Work Permit.
2. Whether you can speak and write French or English with reasonable fluency.
3. If you have any reason to believe that you would not be eligible to acquire professional liability insurance.
4. If you have been convicted of a criminal offence related to the regulation of the profession. I If you have been found guilty of such an offence, you will be asked to provide details.
5. If there is a current proceeding for professional misconduct, incompetency or incapacity in Ontario or in another jurisdiction in relation to your practice of massage therapy or another health profession, you will be asked to provide details.
6. You must provide any information regarding previous attempts for certification as a massage therapist in Ontario or another jurisdiction.
7. If you have made an attempt to pass a licensing examination in Ontario or another jurisdiction that has not yet resulted in a passing grade.

Step 2 - Transcript Request Form

The second form is the Transcript Request Form. You must send this form to the educational institution where you obtained your massage therapy training. If you attended more than one institution and would like the College to review your credentials from more than one massage therapy programme, photocopy the transcript request form and send it to each institution to complete. Each institution must complete the form and send it together with your transcripts and detailed course descriptions directly to the College of Massage Therapists.

Only original documents or copies of original documents that are certified by a Notary Public or Commissioner for Oaths or Affidavits will be accepted. If your institution sends the College documents that are not in English or French, the College will make a copy of the documents they receive and give them to you. You will then have to get the documents translated and certified at your expense and send them back to the College.

Once the College receives both completed forms, an evaluation of your education will be completed by the College’s evaluator who will submit a report to the College. A copy of the report will be sent to you to determine whether there is any additional information you wish to provide. You will also be asked to provide detailed information about your massage therapy practice since completing your programme. The Registration Committee will will then review your application, the evaluator’s report, your response to the report, and the information concerning your employment. The Registration Committee will determine if you have successfully completed a course of study in massage therapy and if the course and your practice since graduation provide equivalent competencies to those taught in the massage therapy programmes in Ontario. To do so, the Committee looks at all of the documentation provided and compares the competencies taught in Ontario with the competencies taught at your institution and acquired in your practice since graduation. The Committee also reviews your course outlines and compares them with the Standards of Practice of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario.

There are two outcomes of the credentialing process:

1. If your application is assessed "equivalent", your course is considered equivalent to the massage therapy programme currently being taught in Ontario and you are eligible to take the certification examination.
2. If your course is assessed "not equivalent", your course is not considered equivalent to the massage therapy programme in Ontario. In this case, you cannot take the Certification Examination. The Registration Committee will inform you of the additional requirements you will have to complete in order tobecome eligible to take the certification examination. .

If it is not possible for the educational institution to provide the documents and information requested on the Application for Credentialing, you should inquire about the process for completing a statutory declaration. The College is currently in the process of developing a Prior Learning Assessment process but this will not be ready until at least the fall of 2006.

Step 3 - Standards and Regulations or Additional Study Required

If you completed your education programme outside of Ontario more than three years before the date you applied to the College, you will have to complete a refresher course approved by the College or provide evidence that you have practised for at least 500 hours during the previous three years. If you are required to complete a refresher course, you must complete the registration process within 15 months of completing the course. Please contact the College for more information. The address is provided at the end of this information.

Therapists trained outside Ontario are required to complete a course on the Standards of Practice and the Regulations which govern practice in Ontario. This course is available through the College’s web site. The application for the course is available in the Downloads section of the web site.

If you are required to complete other additional study, the College must receive verification from the approved tutor or the school you attend that you have successfully completed the study.

Step 4 - Certification Examination

AFTER you have completed all of the steps above, you can apply for the Certification Examination. Note that the examination consists of two parts: a clinical examination and a written examination. To apply, send the College of Massage Therapists the following documents:

• The examination application form completed in full and signed.
  
• A certified cheque or money order, or a Visa or MasterCard authorization, for the current examination fee payable to the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. The College will not accept cash or a personal cheque.

You must submit your application to take the clinical examination by the deadline date (approximately 6 weeks before the examination date) or you will not be able to take the examination. You will have to wait for the next examination date.

All applicants must take the Certification Examination.

You can take the College of Massage Therapists Certification Examination only after your education and practice have been verified as equivalent to the Ontario Massage Therapy programme. Before you take either part of the examination, the College will give you an Examination Candidate Handbook with detailed information about the examination including sample questions, a list of approved tutors, and a list of study material.

As regulated health professionals, massage therapists are required to have knowledge of the Regulated Health Professions Act, the Massage Therapy Act, and the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. You may contact the College to obtain a copy of the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. The Regulated Health Professions Act and the Massage Therapy Act are available on-line from the Ontario government’s e-laws web site.

If you wish to complete some additional training in Ontario before taking the examination, the College of Massage Therapists can provide you with a list of approved tutors and books used in the Ontario programmes. At this time, the College is not aware of any upgrading courses at any of the massage therapy schools.

The certification examination have two parts:

1. Written Multiple Choice Examination. This examination tests your theoretical knowledge of massage therapy, physiology, anatomy and other related health sciences. It also tests your knowledge of laws and ethical issues necessary to practise massage therapy in Ontario. This examination is a computer-adaptive examination which takes approximately two hours to complete, and is offered at various sites throughout the province. This part may be taken at any time.
   
2. Practical Clinical Examination. This examination requires you to demonstrate your massage therapy skills in a clinical setting. You will encounter scenarios at stations. Each station has a simulated client with a different case history. You will have a short time to review the case history of the client and act accordingly. The clinical examination takes a half day and is held in Toronto at least three times a year. The examination procedure may vary from time to time. Specific details about the examination you will be taking are provided in the Certification Examination Candidate Handbook.

You will have three opportunities to take the examination. If you are fail the written or practical examination you may wish to have help from an approved tutor to ensure success on your next attempt. The examination feedback you receive with your score will indicate if you are weak in a particular area and this will assist the tutor in determining how best to prepare you for your next attempt at the examination.

Step 4 - Language Assessment

If your massage therapy training was not in English or French, you must pass a language proficiency test to prove reasonable language fluency. The College considers proof of English fluency to be a minimum score of 550 on the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a score of 213 on the Computerized Test of English as a Foreign Language (C-TOEFL) and a minimum score of 55 on the Test of Spoken English (TSE-P), or the computer scored equivalent.

These examination may be taken before or after you come to Canada. For information about taking the TOEFL and TSE examination in Canada, contact the TOEFL/TSE Education Testing Service (ETS). The address is listed at the end of this information. The ETS must send your scores directly to the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. The College must receive the scores before you can be registered.

If you require fluency tests in French, please contact the College for information about where to take the tests and the required scores.

REGISTRATION

Once you have met the requirements in steps 1 to 4 the College will send you an application for registration and information about the documentation you must provide regarding your Canadian citizenship status and liability insurance. If you have not yet received your permanent work authorization at the time you meet all other requirements, please contact the College to discuss ways to resolve this issue.

VOLUNTARY PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION

The Ontario Massage Therapist Association (OMTA) is a not-for-profit, voluntary, professional association that represents Registered Massage Therapists in Ontario. The OMTA’s mission is to encourage the development and growth of massage therapy as an art, as an applied science and as a philosophy of health. OMTA members receive a variety of benefits including professional liability insurance, access to educational opportunities, and subscriptions to the OMTA newsletter and the OMTA-sponsored Journal of Soft Tissue Manipulation. You can contact the association for additional information. Their address is listed at the end of this information.

LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION

Massage therapy is a growing profession as more people choose to use preventative approaches to health care and to complement traditional types of medical treatments with alternatives. The demand formassage therapists is expected to increase with the growth in the elderlypopulation and the increased awareness of the existence of this health careprofession and its health benefits.

Most massage therapists work in private practice. Hours of workvary depending on the requirements of the workplace. Earnings also depend on the workplace and the skill and experience of the massage therapist. Earnings can vary widely. Reported gross incomes(which includes overhead expenses of 40-60 %) typically range from below$30,000 per year to $50,000 per year for those practitioners who, onaverage,provide nineteen hours of hands on therapy per week.

If you want more information on income for massage therapists in Ontario you can request a Schedule of Services and Fees from the Ontario MassageTherapistAssociation. Opportunities to work in this field are found in classifiedadvertisements in the Ontario Massage Therapist Association Newsletter,which is published six times per year.

FEES ( in Canadian dollars)

Application for Credentialing ................................... $ 175.00
Application for Registration ........................................ $ 50.00

Initial Registration Fee (added to examination fee to a maximum of) ... $425.00

Annual Registration Fee .......................................... $425.00

You must also get professional liability insurance before you can register as a Massage Therapist. Preferred rates for insurance are available, as part of membership benefits from the Ontario Massage Therapist Association or the College can give you the names of insurance brokers who provide liability insurance for members of the profession.

contacts

For more information on application requirements, examination or fees, contact:

COLLEGE OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS OF ONTARIO
1867 Yonge Street, Suite 810
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA
M4S 1Y5
Telephone (416) 489-2626
Toll-free (in Ontario): 1-800-465-1933
Fax: (416) 489-2625
E-mail: cmto@cmto.com
Website: www.cmto.com

For information on the professional association contact:

ONTARIO MASSAGE THERAPIST ASSOCIATION
2 Carlton Street, Suite 1304
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1J3
Telephone: (416) 979-2010
Toll Free: 1-800-668-2022
Fax: (416) 979-1144
E-mail: info@omta.com
Website: www.omta.com

For information on CPR Certificate courses in Ontario contact:

Sheryl Jackson, Ontario Region Representative
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
Telephone: (416) 719-7920
Toll-free fax: 1-877-779-9222

For inquiries about accessing professions and trades in Ontario contact:

Government of Ontario
Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration
Access to Professions & Trades Unit
Tel: (416) 326-5656
Toll Free: 1-800-387-5656
Fax: (416) 326-6265
E-mail: mailto:aptinfo@mci.gov.on.ca
Website: www.edu.gov.on.ca

For information on where and how to get help with settlement in Ontario contact:

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, OCASI
110 Eglinton Avenue West, 2 nd Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M4R 1A3
Telephone: (416) 322-4950
Fax: (416) 322-8084
E-mail: ocasi@web.net
Website: www.web.net/~ocasi/

For information on English language proficiency testing, contact:

TOEFL/TSE SERVICES
P.O. Box 6151
Princeton, New Jersey
U.S.A.
08541-6151
Telephone: (609) 771-7100
TYY: (609) 734-9362
Fax: (609) 771-7500
E-mail: toefl@ets.com
Website: www.toefl.org

Copyright in this career map is held jointly by the Queen's Printer for Ontario and the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, ©, 2005.