There are mainly 2 stages to become a registered physiotherapist in Canada.
Stage 1: Apply for credentialing:
Stage 2: Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE)
Stage 1:
Credentialing process:
Criterion 1: Documents you provide must be valid and authentic
Required Documents List
Identity Documents
Information – upload a PDF of an official document with the following:
- your full legal name, your date of birth, your signature, your photograph
If all four are provided in one document, upload only the one document.
You may upload a copy of a second or third document as needed.
Document type – you must make sure that your identity document:
- is official (i.e., issued by the government / agency authorized by the government to issue official documents and is valid (it is not expired)
Documents you can submit to support your identity:
- Birth Certificate
- Passport – provide only the pages with the required information
- Canadian Citizenship Card / Canadian Citizenship Certificate
- Health Card from a Canadian province or territory
- Driving Permit or Licence – must be from a Canadian province or territory
- Identification Card – from a Canadian province or territory
- Canadian Permanent Resident Card
Proof of legal name change
You need to send this only if you have changed your legal name. Use the Name Change Form to upload a copy of the legal document showing your name change (e.g. a marriage certificate).
2. Official marks sheet /Transcript:
- Documents must come directly from your university or authorized authority (i.e. Digitary, HEC). See the country specific documents list under physiotherapy school.
- Also called mark sheets, academic records, or diploma supplement
- You may need to contact the records department or registrar at your university to request this document.
3. Degree certificate:
You, or your school, or an authorized authority (i.e. Digitary, HEC, etc.) must provide a copy of your diploma, degree or certificate for your university-level, entry-to-practice physiotherapy education.
- If you are sending the document to us, you can upload a PDF copy of your diploma, degree or certificate in the Client Portal.
- If your school or authorized authority is providing the document, it must come directly from them. The document must be attested by the awarding institution and have the appropriate seals/stamps/signatures.
- Graduation Verification- If you are applying for credentialling after you have completed all your degree requirements but before your graduation ceremony (therefore cannot send a copy of the certificate), send the Graduation Verification Form to your school.
- This lets your school confirm that you completed the program. We will also accept an official letter from the school showing your graduation status instead of the Graduation Verification Form, if the letter supplies all the information required.
4. Physiotherapy school related documents:
Documents the school must send directly to CAPR
You must supply a Document Request Form to your school or authority that provided your credentials:
- Download this form: Document Request Form
- You must send the ‘Document Request Form’ to the school you attended for physiotherapy.
- We will keep all school documents for two years while waiting for the rest of your application.
- If we do not receive your application within two years, we will destroy the school documents.
- We will not accept the form or the documents if we receive them from anyone other than your physiotherapy school (unless noted in Country Specific Documents list)
Documents required from your school include:
- Official Transcripts – Also called mark sheets, academic records, or diploma supplement
- Transcripts comes from the institution where you received your physiotherapy credential, unless otherwise noted in Country Specific Documents list.
- You may need to contact the records department or registrar at your university to request this document.
B. Graduation Verification
- Are you applying for credentialling after you have completed all your degree requirements, but before your graduation ceremony?
- In this case, you may not yet have a copy of your certificate.
- You can instead send the Graduation Verification Form to your school along with the Document Request Form.
- This lets your school confirm that you completed the program.
- We will also accept an official letter from the school showing your graduation status (this would replace the Graduation Verification Form if the letter includes all the information required on the Form)
5. Knowledge of Physiotherapy Practice Within Canada
When you complete one of the pre-approved courses, you must request that the school send us confirmation that you have successfully completed the course.
- The school can send the confirmation to [email protected]
- They must include your full name and CAPR Client ID number.
Criterion 3: You must have competed at least 1025 hours of supervised clinical practice
These hours must include at least:
- 100 hours in musculoskeletal conditions
- 100 hours in neurological conditions
- 40 hours in cardiorespiratory conditions
Note that clinical education is sometimes called:
- supervised clinical practice
- clinical internship
- clinical placement
- practicum
Criterion 4: You must be fluent in English or French
- All scores must meet the minimum requirements in one sitting. Scores from multiples sittings cannot be combined to meet the language requirement.
- The language testing agency must submit the official language scores directly to CAPR within two years of the test date. If CAPR receives an official language test result before an application, the test results must still be valid (i.e. less than two years old) at the time the application is received.
- CAPR can begin credentialling assessments before receiving proof of language proficiency in English or French but cannot complete the assessment or distribute the Final Results Letter until proof of language proficiency has been provided.
Criterion 5: You must have knowledge of Physiotherapy practice within Canada
As part of the credentialling process, you will need to complete one of the pre-approved course about the Canadian health care system and the role of physiotherapists.
- Online course options are available from Canadian universities.
- You can begin your course before you apply for the credentialling process.
- Pre-approved courses are subject to change from time to time. Only courses that have been approved at the time of application will fulfill this requirement.
Pre-approved Canadian Health Courses:
- Physiotherapy Practice within the Canadian Health Care Context, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto
- Physiotherapy Practice in the Canadian Healthcare System, Continuing Professional Education, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta
- Health Care Systems and Professionalism for Internationally-Trained Physiotherapists, Affiliated with Ordre professionnel de la physiothérapie du Québec (OPPQ).
Stage 2: Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE)
When you pass the PCE, it:
- Helps us ensure you meet the minimum standard to practice in Canada.
- Helps ensure patients receiving treatment will be safe.
- Fairly and accurately evaluates the competencies you need.
- Is required before you can apply for a license to practice physiotherapy in Canada (except for in the province of Quebec).
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