Have we created barriers to inter-provincial mobility?

Abstract

The practice of occupational therapy is regulated in all regions of Canada with the exception of British Columbia where regulation is pending, and in the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Most B.C., Northwest Territories and Yukon employees use eligibility for membership in the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) as eligibility to work. Regulation is intended to ensure minimum standards of practice to safeguard the public from incompetent practitioners (Health Professions Legislation Review, 1989). As part of ensuring competence, each regulatory body has established eligibility requirements for practice. Since occupational therapy regulation occurred over a 20 year period in Canada (Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO), 1992), the philosophy and state of the profession were quite different when requirements vvere developed in each province, leading to different requirements in each province. It could be questioned whether these different requirements raise barriers to inter-provincial mobility or reciprocity, and whether it is easier, in some cases, to travel across the national border to the United States. This article will discuss this issue by presenting aspects considered in determining eligibility to practise, an implication raised by the North American Free Trade Agreement, barriers to reciprocity and possible solutions.