International Applicants

International occupational therapists must meet the following criteria:

1) You must have graduated with a baccalaureate degree or an entry level masters degree in occupational therapy approved by the COTBC. You are required to request an official final transcript confirming occupational therapy education. This transcript must be sent directly from the educational institution to the COTBC (an electronic transcript will NOT be accepted). The College must have a copy of your transcript before your application for registration can be sent to the Registration Committee for approval.

2. Academic Credentialing Assessment Report. You are required to request an Academic Credentialing Assessment Report confirming authentication of the occupational therapy degree and level of education confirming comparability to a baccalaureate degree in the BC education system. This report must be sent directly from a Canadian service (member of The Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada http://www.canalliance.org) to the COTBC. Please check with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) as they have a similar requirement. 

3. Successful completion of the National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam (NOTCE). Please provide verification of successful completion of the exam.

If you have not written the exam, you will need to contact CAOT and apply to write the exam and provide a copy of the Statement of Candidacy letter from CAOT that verifies you are eligible to write the exam. You must also provide verification that you are registered to write the exam at the next available sitting of the exam. Applicants who have not yet written the exam are eligible for provisional registration and may practice under supervision of a full registrant.

4. Demonstrate evidence of oral and written fluency in English. Please email the College regarding the specific English Language Fluency requirements.

Tip! To save you time, make a list of the official documents required by both the CAOT and the COTBC applications. This will help you obtain duplicate copies of all the documentation (e.g. official transcripts, verification of hours of practice, etc.) required by each organization. Official documents will not be shared between the organizations, nor will either accept facsimiles.

National Occupational Therapy Certification Examination

Applicants must successfully complete a national examination administered by the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) to finalize their registration with the COTBC. If you have not completed the examination, you are eligible to apply for registration with the college in the "provisional" category, if you:

1. can provide verification of your eligibility to sit the exam, and
2. are registered for the next available sitting.

The college accepts the letter provided by the CAOT called "Statement of Candidacy to Write the Exam" as proof of eligibility. Please contact the CAOT directly, prior to initiating your application, to arrange to have this letter issued.

Provisional Registration

As a provisional registrant you may legally work as an occupational therapist in BC. Provisional registrants must practice under the general supervision of an occupational therapist registered with COTBC with full registration. General supervision must be in place until the provisional registrant has met all requirements for full registration.

Provisional registrants must ensure that the supervising OT complete the "Employer Acknowledgement Form" and return the signed original to the college. For more information on general supervision, please review the document entitled "Guidelines for General Supervision of Provisional Registrants" and the "Employer Acknowledgement Form - Explanatory letter,” found in the Application Forms section.

Once you have successfully completed the national examination, you must submit verification of successful completion to the college. Upon providing this documentation to the college, your registration status will be changed to full registration with no conditions.

Application Approval

The Registration Committee must meet to approve all applications for registration. The committee meets once a month (generally the first Tuesday) to approve applications. Be sure your application is complete, including all signatures, forms, and required documentation. This will ensure the timely processing of your application.