Hi Julia. The place to start in the process is on the following Website: http://www.acotro-acore.org/seas/getting-started. This is the website of the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO). All internationally educated occupational therapists will begin their registration process with ACOTRO, by applying to the Substantial Equivalency Assessment System (SEAS). SEAS will assess whether or not your education and competencies are substantially equivalent to those of a Canadian educated occupational therapist. SEAS will also determine your eligibility to write the National Occupational Therapy Certification Examination (for information about this exam, see: https://www.caot.ca/site/notce/natotcertexam?nav=sidebar ).
Each province in Canada has its own regulatory organization, usually called a College. After completing SEAS, you must register with the regulatory organization in the province where you intend to practice. You should contact the provincial regulatory organization where you intend to practice to obtain additional details about the specific requirements of that province. Please find a list of the provincial regulatory organizations here: http://www.acotro-acore.org/links.
If you are considering working in Quebec, they have a separate process for determining education equivalency (not SEAS), you should contact them directly: www.oeq.org.
If you would like personal assistance to meet your learning needs in order to successfully transition into Canadian practice, please see the following website: http://otepp.mcmaster.ca/
For general information and resources about occupational therapy practice in Canada, you will find it very relevant to consult the website of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (www.caot.ca), including the following page for internationally educated occupational therapists : http://www.caot.ca/site/ieot/intleducatedot?nav=sidebar
Andrew
