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.

Current practice standards and guidelines:

• *NEW* Practice Standards for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct
• Practice Standard: Recording Keeping
• Practice Standard: Conflict of Interest
• Practice Guideline: Informed Consent
• Practice Guideline: Assigning Service Components to Support Personnel 
• Practice Guideline: Social Media
• Practice Guideline: Scope of Practice
• Practice Guideline:  Virtual Care
• Guide to Supervised Practice

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

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.