Ontario’s amended Labour Mobility Act, 2009 legislation aims to accelerate the process for health care workers registered in other Canadian jurisdictions to begin practising in Ontario (“As of Right”). This legislation allows healthcare professionals to start working in Ontario while their application to an Ontario health regulatory college is being processed.
Under this legislation, eligible workers may practise for up to six months while completing their registration process.
Effective June 5, 2025, all healthcare settings are allowed to hire out-of-province health professionals (OPHPs). These changes have been made so employers have additional options to recruit and retain healthcare workers.
To work in Ontario, the OPHPs must be registrants in good standing in either a Canadian province or territory, and must apply for registration in advance of arriving in Ontario.
Read this page to learn about your obligations as an employer.
Background on Pathway to Registration
An OPHP can meet the requirements if they are registered with a regulatory body in a Canadian province other than Ontario, and hold a certificate equivalent to an Ontario general certificate of registration.
Before beginning practice in Ontario, the OPHP must submit to the applicable Ontario regulatory College:
- an application for registration, and
- an attestation form that states they meet the conditions of the “As of Right” exemption.
The OPHP is then allowed to work for up to six months while they are obtaining a certificate of registration in Ontario. This is called the “As of Right” exemption period.
Occupational therapists applying as OPHPs are required to notify COTO as soon as they start working in Ontario, and they must physically live in Ontario to provide occupational therapy services. OPHPs must have professional liability insurance or similar coverage that extends to Ontario.
Learn more about the application process: Applicants Registered in Another Province
How to Manage Complaints and Concerns About an OPHP
OPHPs who have been approved by the College through “As of Right” are entered on the List of Registered Occupational Therapists, as “Authorized to Practice pursuant to the As of Right Legislation” with an end date six months from their application date.
According to the legislation, OPHPs have six months to complete their application to COTO.
Until an occupational therapist applying as an OPHP is registered with COTO with a general certificate, the OPHP’s regulator in their home province continues to have jurisdiction with regards to their practice. Employers are encouraged to maintain a record of occupational therapists they employ under “As of Right” and to ask these employees for updates about the status of their application to COTO during the “As of Right” exemption period.
Complaints or concerns about an OPHP can impact the College’s decision to approve or deny a certificate of registration within the six-month period. Employers are encouraged to contact the College if they have concerns about an OPHP, or if they complain to the OPHP’s home jurisdiction regulatory college.
If an employer believes that an OHPH is incompetent, incapacitated, or engaged in wrongdoing or professional misconduct, they are expected to notify both COTO and the OPHP’s home jurisdiction regulatory college.
Employers, as health information custodians, are expected to promptly notify the regulator in the OHPH’s home jurisdiction when a OPHP resigns or is terminated or suspended due to unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, retention, or disposal of personal health information.
Mandatory Reporting Requirements
It is the employer’s responsibility to file a report with the College and the OPHP’s home jurisdiction regulatory college if there are reasonable grounds to believe that an OPHP has sexually abused a patient.
While OPHPs are not bound by the mandatory reporting requirements set out in Schedule 2 of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (Health Professions Procedural Code), they are encouraged to observe them. Employers can find more information about these requirements here: Mandatory Reporting Requirements & Processes
For more information about employing an occupational therapist to practise under “As of Right”, please contact the College at registration@coto.org or 416-214-1177 or 1-800-890-6570, ext. 230.
To learn about the Ontario government’s “As of Right” legislation, please refer to the Guidance Document.
For questions about employees applying under “As of Right”, see our Frequently Asked Questions.