Standards of Practice

The Regulator develops Standards and Guidelines to set the minimum expectations for how occupational therapists should practice. The Standards and Guidelines support professional practice by:

• Increasing therapists’ knowledge of their responsibilities,
• Describing expectations for practice,
• Defining safe, ethical, competent practice, and
• Guiding critical thinking for everyday practice.

Practice Standards and Guidelines:

Advertising – *New*	Standard	Issued December 2025
Assigning Service Components to Support Personnel	Guideline	Issued March 2013
Conflict of Interest	Standard	Issued June 2021
Informed Consent	Guideline	Issued December 2014
Prevention of Sexual Misconduct	Standard	Issued January 2025
Record Keeping	Standard	Issued September 2017
Sale of Appliances and Equipment – *New*	Standard	Issued December 2025
Scope of Practice	Guideline	Issued October 2018
Social Media	Guideline	Issued September 2017
Virtual Care	Guideline	Issued May 2020

Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics establishes the values and principles to which the Regulator expects occupational therapists to adhere.

Occupational therapists in Nova Scotia are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the values and principles established by The Code of Ethics in their day-to-day practice. 

• Code of Ethics
• Guide to the Code of Ethics

Supervised Practice Guides:

NSOTR also publishes guides for Supervised Practice and Re-Entry to Practice. These guides include the minimum expectations for supervised occupational therapists and supervisors.

• Guide to Supervised Practice
• Re-Entry Program Guide

Competencies for Occupational Therapists

Competency documents describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are required for an occupational therapist to practice safely, effectively, and ethically. They set the professional standards for developing entry to practice requirements and continuing competency requirements. These are developed nationally by the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO) and are considered the standards for occupational therapists in any province in Canada.

Competencies for Occupational Therapists (Implemented in 2023)

A comprehensive online eLearning module on the new Competencies was released by ACOTRO in 2022. Completion of this module was a requirement for license renewal in 2023 and is strongly encouraged for all Occupational Therapists, either as an introduction or a refresher. The module is available as a free resource HERE.