Occupational Therapist

Description and Responsibilities

Occupational therapists plan and supervise programs for people with temporary or permanent physical, psychological or mental disabilities. They help them adapt to everyday life, integrate into their surroundings and achieve optimal development of their abilities while adapting to their limits.

To achieve this, occupational therapists analyze the physical and mental conditions of patients, evaluate their potential, interests and limits, help them set personal objectives and encourage them to participate in specific activities to improve their functional abilities and skills (such as manual work, chores, artistic expression, physical exercises, sports and educational and recreational activities). Occupational therapists also help people adapt to their environment and functional limits, suggest ways for them to achieve activities more easily and recommend, when needed, the use of orthoses or prostheses.

Occupational therapists specialize in stimulating the desire for autonomy in individuals and implement the conditions necessary for their progressive independence, the full development of their potential and their social integration.

To practise, an occupational therapist must be a member of the Ordre professionnel des ergothérapeutes du Québec.

Education and Training Requirements

To practise, occupational therapists must hold a master’s degree. In Québec, 5 universities offer this degree. Some of them also offer a continuum of professional education at undergraduate and graduate levels. 

• Université de Montréal (in French only)
• Université de Sherbrooke (in French only)
• Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) (in French only)
• Université Laval (in French only)
• McGill University 

Scholarships for certain regional jobs in the field of health and social services are offered to students under the scholarship program of the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux. For more information, see Bourses pour favoriser le recrutement de certains professionnels et techniciens de la santé et des services sociaux en région éloignée page (in French only).

Required Interests, Skills and Personality Type

• Must be a good communicator and listener
• Must be responsible and organized
• Must enjoy physical work and handling (medical) instruments
• Must have excellent initiative and be able to work autonomously
• Must know how to observe and analyze situations and people
• Must love contact with the public

Personality Type (RIASEC)

SRE

• S - Prefers to be in contact with people and to help them
• R - Prefers practical work and handling tools
• E - Prefers supervising, making decisions and managing, influencing and persuading others

Work Environment

Occupational therapists mainly practice in: 

• Hospitals (in French only)
• Rehabilitation centres (in French only)
• Residential and long-term care centres (CHSLD) (in French only)
• Local community services centres (CLSCs) (in French only)

Useful Links

• Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists 
• Ève-Marie Laroche, ergothérapeute au CHUL en pédiatrie – Video testimony of a paediatric occupational therapist – Université Laval  (in French only)
• Marie-Ève Livernois – Ergothérapeute – Video testimony of an occupational therapist – Santé Outaouais  (in French only)
• Occupational Therapists – Emploi-Québec 
• Ordre des ergothérapeutes du Québec  (in French only)
• Une diplômée en ergothérapie de l'Université Laval qui travaille en soutien à domicile – Video testimony of a occupational therapy graduate working in home care – Université Laval  (in French only)