31202 Physiotherapists

What this occupation covers

Physiotherapists assess clients and plan and carry out individually designed treatment programs to maintain, improve or restore physical functioning and mobility, alleviate pain and prevent physical dysfunction in clients. They are employed in hospitals, clinics, industry, sports organizations, rehabilitation centres and extended care facilities, or may work in private practice.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 11 main duties for this code.

• Assess clients' physical abilities using assessment procedures such as functional ability tests and make a physiotherapy diagnosis
• Establish treatment goals with clients based on diagnosis
• Develop and implement physiotherapy treatment plans including therapeutic exercise, manipulations, massage, education, electrotherapy hydrotherapy and other modalities
• Evaluate effectiveness of treatment plans and modify accordingly
• Provide advice on exercise and strategies to implement at home to enhance and or maintain treatment
• Communicate with referring physician and other health care professionals regarding clients' problems, needs and progress
• Maintain clinical and statistical records and confer with other health care professionals
• Develop and implement health promotion programs for clients, staff and the community
• May conduct research in physiotherapy
• Provide consulting or education services as required.
• Physiotherapists may focus their practice in particular clinical areas such as neurology, oncology, rheumatology, orthopedics, obstetrics, pediatrics, geriatrics, in the treatment of patients with cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary disorders, burns or sports injuries or in the field of ergonomics.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 11 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 30010 Managers in health care
• 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment

Excluded from this code

• Director of physiotherapy (See 30010 Managers in health care)
• Physical rehabilitation therapist (See 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment)
• Physiotherapy assistant (See 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

clinical physical therapist · clinical physiotherapist · consultant physical therapist · consultant physiotherapist · physical therapist · physical therapy clinical coordinator · physical therapy clinical specialist · physical therapy supervisor · physiotherapist · physiotherapy clinical coordinator · physiotherapy officer - Canadian Armed Forces · physiotherapy supervisor · registered physical therapist · registered physiotherapist · research physical therapist · research physiotherapist

Employment requirements

• A master's degree in physiotherapy and a period of supervised practical training are required.
• A licence or registration with a regulatory body is required in all provinces and territories.
• Completion of a physiotherapist competency examination is required in all provinces and territories.