Occupational therapist in Canada: your Express Entry path, step by step

Your way into the Express Entry pool

Every invitation needs a profile in the Express Entry pool. You would usually qualify through:

• Federal Skilled Worker. Experience must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job; this one is TEER 1.
• Canadian Experience Class. For skilled work experience already gained in Canada.

The healthcare draws

These draws rank only people with recent experience in one of the 37 listed health and social services jobs. The panel above shows the latest one and its cut-off. You need at least 12 months of full-time work (or the same part-time) in this occupation within the last 3 years. The months do not have to be in a row, and the work must match the NOC description of the job.

Getting licensed: SEAS

A licence and a certification exam are required in Canada. Registration is with the provincial regulator; the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO) runs the assessment that comes first.

• SEAS: the first step for anyone educated abroad who wants to work outside Quebec, which has its own process. You need at least a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy. The steps begin with an academic credential assessment through a WES ICAP Course-by-Course Report, then a language readiness assessment, a profession-specific credential assessment, a jurisprudence knowledge test and a competency assessment.
• Remote: SEAS assessments are currently done remotely, so you do not need to be in Canada.
• Then the exam: after SEAS, the provincial regulator decides whether you can write the National Occupational Therapy Certification Exam (NOTCE).
• Changes: since 1 June 2026, new SEAS applications are online only, and ACOTRO is improving SEAS in a project running from 2025 to 2028.

What occupational therapists earn

The panel above shows Job Bank's median hourly wage for occupational therapists across Canada, with pay by province and region on Job Bank.