CAOT strives to support occupational therapist assistants (OTAs) as health care professionals, while helping strengthen occupational therapist (OT) and OTA intra-professional collaborations, providing educational opportunities, and fostering strong connections within the profession.


Competencies for Occupational Therapist Assistants- February 2024

This document was initiated in response to calls to update the occupational therapist assistant (OTA) documents to better align with the Competencies for Occupational Therapists (2021).  The project was spearheaded by CAOT and generated by a Task Force with OTAs, OTA educators, a regulator, and an occupational therapist (OT)/OTA employer.  
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OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast explores building capacity in occupational therapy service delivery with OTAs 

For episode 21 host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapist assistant, Debra Cooper, and occupational therapist, Teresa Avvampato, to explore intra-professional collaboration and its links to building capacity in OT service delivery.

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OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast: OT & OTA partnerships - the future is now!

For episode 25 host Justine Jecker is joined by occupational therapists Dianna Fong-Lee and Heather Gillespie. Their discussion centers around OTAs and their vital roles within the profession. This episode continues the exploration initiated in, episode 21, shedding light on the variety of ways OTAs are trained in Canada. Dianna and Heather, known for their work on OT and OTA collaboration, also contributed to the 2019 OTA/PTA Vision Project, advocating for enhancing the roles of OTAs and PTAs in the profession.

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The Practice Profile for Occupational Therapist Assistants (2018) aims to support OTAs and the occupational therapy community through:   

  • OTA career planning;  

  • Appropriate assignment of occupational therapy service components;  

  • Performance appraisals for managers and supervisors;  

  • Workforce planning for employers and managers;   

  • Assessing qualification requirements for practice settings;  

  • Promoting quality OTA education   
 

Practice Support

CAOT strives to support OTAs in their day-to-day work alongside OTs. As CAOT members, OTAs have access to several programs such as the Occupational Therapy Networks, the Find an Occupational Therapy Mentor program, OT Conversations that Matter: The Podcast, OT Now practice magazine, and the Practice Resource Hub. 

Do you have any practice-related questions? Reach out to our Professional Practice team at practice@caot.ca.

Practice Resources

OTA/PTA practice network 

This practice network strives to connect OTs and OTAs/PTAs, while advocating and educating about the OTA role to allow for further collaboration between the professions. Please come to join the discussion or to have any OTA practice questions answered. New members are welcome.
Looking for a mentor? Thinking of becoming a mentor yourself? OTA/PTAs and OTA students that hold a CAOT membership can take advantage of our Find an Occupational Therapy Mentor program. 

Occupational Therapy Now special issue    

 

March 2015  

 

CAOT Professional Issue Forum on Supporting the Contribution of Occupational Therapist Assistants.    

Charlottetown, PEI – CAOT Conference 2017 
The Practice Resource Hub offers relevant, reliable, and diverse resources developed by CAOT and several external sources and related to dozens of different areas of practice.  

 

We are always looking to share and promote resources to support OTAs/PTAs. Send us resources that you would like to share with the profession! Contact practice@caot.ca.  

We are grateful for the OTs and OTAs/PTAs who participate in our programs and project as volunteers. You can find current volunteer opportunities listed on our Volunteer Program webpage.  

We invite you to see our list of current Free Webinars for tools and resources that will support your professional development.  

Visit our Upcoming Events listings and look for “occupational therapists assistants" in the target audience section of the event webpages.  

Thinking of becoming a CAOT member? 

 

OTAs/PTAs are encouraged to obtain professional liability insurance to help protect their practice.  

 

 

Looking to become an OTA?  

Learn more about becoming an OTA/PTA by visiting our “ Become an OT/OTA ” webpage. Additional resources can be found through the Canadian Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physical Therapist Assistant Educators Council (COPEC) website. To find a listing of accredited programs, see the Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant Education Accreditation Program .