{"id":4692,"date":"2025-01-24T16:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T21:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/?page_id=4692"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:22:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:22:56","slug":"virtual-services","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/registrants\/practice-support\/virtual-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Providing Remote (Virtual) Services Across Jurisdictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-off-white-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color wp-elements-de7207a0ffccfc23e7398cd602ebb670\"><strong>Information updated May 22, 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to providing remote (virtual) services to clients outside of Ontario, occupational therapists are encouraged to contact the regulatory authority in the other region, because other jurisdictions may have different requirements for providing remote services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, occupational therapists who want to provide remote services while they themselves are located outside of Ontario also need to contact the regulator in that region and comply with any local requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Refer to COTO&#8217;s guidance on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/resources\/virtual-services\/\" data-type=\"resource\" data-id=\"1445\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Remote (Virtual) Services, 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-in-canada\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>In Canada<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>COTO signed and adopted the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ACOTRO-MOU-Cross-Jurisdictional-Remote-Practice-in-Occupational-Therapy-in-Canada-Revised-May-21-2025.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ACOTRO-MOU-Cross-Jurisdictional-Remote-Practice-in-Occupational-Therapy-in-Canada-Revised-May-21-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Memorandum of Understanding on Cross-Jurisdiction Remote Practice<\/a>. Under this agreement, occupational therapists registered in Ontario who want to provide remote services to clients located in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island <\/strong>are permitted to do so under their Ontario registration. Occupational therapists are encouraged to confirm any local requirements with the provincial regulator.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alberta<\/strong>, <strong>Quebec and Saskatchewan<\/strong>: occupational therapists must contact the regulators in these provinces to obtain special authorization to provide remote services and\/or learn about restricted activities that differ from Ontario&#8217;s Controlled Acts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These rules apply whether clients are temporarily or permanently located outside of Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-off-white-background-color has-background\"><strong>Please note:<\/strong> Effective May 22, 2025: Ontario occupational therapists no longer need to be registered in British Columbia to provide remote services to British Columbia residents.<br><br>Current Ontario registrants who are also registered in British Columbia will be contacted by COTO regarding this change.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-occupational-therapists-registered-in-other-provinces\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>Occupational therapists registered in other provinces<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>Occupational therapists who are registered with any province listed above may provide remote services from their province to clients located in Ontario without having to be registered with COTO.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-outside-of-canada\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>Outside of Canada<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To provide remote services to clients outside of Canada, occupational therapists should contact the regulatory authority in that region and determine if registration is required to provide remote occupational therapy services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the occupational therapist is located outside of Canada and wants to provide remote services to their Ontario client, the clinician should contact the regulator in that region and comply with any local requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-when-an-occupational-therapist-does-not-need-to-be-registered-in-the-secondary-jurisdiction\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>When an occupational therapist does not need to be registered in the secondary jurisdiction<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>If an occupational therapist is providing education remotely in the form of an online workshop\/webinar, etc. to an audience in another jurisdiction, the occupational therapist does not need to be registered in the secondary jurisdiction.<br><br>The presenting therapist(s) must introduce themselves as an occupational therapist currently registered\/licensed to practice in their own jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-rules-for-in-person-services\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>Rules for in-person services<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>The rules for in-person services are unchanged. To provide in-person services to a client in Ontario,&nbsp;occupational therapists must obtain temporary or general registration in Ontario.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-what-if-a-client-has-concerns-about-the-occupational-therapy-services-they-received\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>What if a client has concerns about the occupational therapy services they received?<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>Occupational therapists must abide by regulatory Code of Ethics and applicable professional standards and guidance in the province where they are regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a client has concerns about the services they received, they can file a complaint with any regulatory organization where the occupational therapist is registered.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-list-of-provincial-occupational-therapy-regulators\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>List of provincial occupational therapy regulators<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chcpbc.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>College of Health and Care Professionals of BC<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.acot.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Alberta College of Occupational Therapists<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ssot.sk.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Saskatchewan Society of Occupational Therapists<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cotm.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>College of Occupational Therapists of Manitoba<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coto.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oeq.org\/index.fr.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Ordre des ergoth\u00e9rapeutes du Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/cotns.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>College of Occupational Therapists of Nova Scotia<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nbaot.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>New Brunswick Association of Occupational Therapists<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nlotb.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Newfoundland and Labrador Occupational Therapy Board<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.peiot.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Prince Edward Island Occupational Therapists Registration Board<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For questions, please contact the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/registrants\/practice-support\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1290\">Practice Resource Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Information updated May 22, 2025. Prior to providing remote (virtual) services to clients outside of Ontario, occupational therapists are encouraged to contact the regulatory authority in the other region, because other jurisdictions may have different requirements for providing remote services. Similarly, occupational therapists who want to provide remote services while they themselves are located outside [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1290,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"wp-custom-template-sidebar-page","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advanced_seo_description":"Find information about providing remote (virtual) services to clients outside of Ontario. COTO has guidance on Remote (Virtual) Services.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4692","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4692"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7858,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4692\/revisions\/7858"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}