August 2025 - Ontario Physiotherapy Association

Annual Fee Guideline Review: We Want Your Input!

Nearly one year has passed since OPA published the 2024 Physiotherapy Fee Guideline, and we’re continuing our commitment to annual reviews that keep pace with the evolving private practice landscape.

Supporting Your Practice Success

The Annual Fee Guideline Review ensures that physiotherapists have access to current, relevant fee guidance. This review process examines market trends, practice realities, and member needs, to deliver a tool that serves our profession.

This resource is designed for all physiotherapists, with particular focus on those in private practice who face daily decisions about fee structures while striving to deliver exceptional patient care and maintain sustainable businesses.

Addressing Real Practice Challenges

We know you’re navigating an increasingly complex practice environment. Economic pressures, changing patient expectations, insurance considerations, and evolving service delivery models all impact how you structure your fees. Without current guidance, it becomes challenging to make confident decisions that balance patient accessibility with practice sustainability.

The private practice landscape doesn’t stand still, and neither should the resources that support your success.

How Your Input Drives Meaningful Updates

Our annual review process is built on member engagement. We’re seeking your insights through a survey that explores your current fees, fee models, and experiences using the Fee Guideline as an advocacy tool in your practice.

This data collection allows us to continue to evolve and modify the Guideline with your real-world experience as the foundation.

The Value You Receive

By participating in this annual review, you gain:

Evidence-based fee guidance that reflects current market conditions

A powerful advocacy tool to support conversations with patients, insurance providers, and other stakeholders

Professional confidence in your fee decisions, backed by peer input

Practice sustainability support that helps balance patient care with business viability

Community connection through shared insights and collective professional growth

Your Participation Matters

The survey takes just minutes to complete but provides invaluable insights that strengthen our entire profession. Your responses help us understand emerging trends, identify challenges, and ensure the Fee Guideline remains practically relevant for diverse practice settings across Ontario.

By participating, you are actively contributing to a resource that supports thousands of physiotherapists in delivering quality care while maintaining sustainable practices.

Looking Forward

Stay tuned for updates this fall as we compile insights, analyze trends, and prepare the updated guideline. This collaborative approach ensures the Fee Guideline continues evolving as a relevant, practical tool that serves our growing professional community.

Supporting Your Professional Journey

This annual review exemplifies why OPA exists: to provide physiotherapists with the tools, resources, and support needed to thrive in all practice settings. Whether you’re establishing fees for a new service, advocating with insurance providers, or simply ensuring your practice remains sustainable, the Fee Guideline serves as your professional foundation.

Ready to contribute? Complete the survey today and help shape the resource that supports our profession’s future.

InterACTION in 2026 and CPA Congress Call for Submissions

The Canadian Physiotherapy Association has opened the Call for Presentations for abstracts to be considered for Congress 2026, hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia from May 28-30, 2026. The Call for Presentations is open from July 2 until October 9, 2025.

For 2026, OPA has decided to promote participation by Ontario members to both submit proposals for Congress and attend in Halifax in May. By facilitating attendance in alternating years at Congress and OPA’s InterACTION, there is an opportunity to create events with robust discussions from members of the physiotherapy community across the country.

This decision will also enable OPA to imagine and host different types of events in 2026. Stay tuned for details about these innovative offerings throughout 2026. We will be planning to offer our next InterACTION Conference in 2027.

Congress 2026 Submission Requirements

Submissions for CPA Congress 2026 must:

Apply to one of the 18 themes or practice areas identified in the call

Be evidence-informed and directly related to physiotherapy practice

Showcase best practices and innovation

Prioritize engagement and practical application

Congress is an excellent opportunity for Ontario physiotherapists to share their expertise, research, and innovative practices with colleagues from across Canada while contributing to the advancement of the profession nationally.

OPA encourages members to submitting proposals that highlight the outstanding work being done by physiotherapists across Ontario. Your participation helps ensure that Ontario’s voice and expertise are well-represented at this national gathering.

For full details and a submission guide, please visit CPA’s Call for Presentations.

Submission Deadline: October 9, 2025

Surgical Centres

August 15, 2025

Surgical Centres

As previously announced, the Government of Ontario is moving forward with a plan to provide insured orthopaedic services, specifically hip and knee joint replacements, in community-based settings.

The Call for Applications to propose an Integrated Community Health Service Centre (ICHSC) that includes orthopaedic services has opened, with applications due August 27, 2025, at 11:59 pm EST.

OPA continues to advocate for increased clarity and transparency on the requirements and the bundled facility fee that funds rehab care for patients related to their surgery. A major concern is that these bundled fees are lower than the current fees for hospital-based surgeries, and it is not clear how this change will impact the financial sustainability of essential rehab services. ICHSC applicants need to understand the value of physiotherapy care that is included in the bundled fee. Physiotherapy clinics cannot afford to provide services to patients below market rates. Ensuring that physiotherapy remains appropriately integrated and publicly-funded as a core component of care in these centres is vital for maintaining health system quality and equity across Ontario.

As part of the application process, prospective licensees are required to demonstrate partnerships with rehabilitation providers, which may include physiotherapists.

For more information on the Call for Applications, please visit the Government of Ontario’s website.

How You Can Support OPA’s Advocacy

Your input will help OPA continue to advocate effectively for the integration and appropriate compensation of physiotherapy services in this evolving healthcare landscape and ensure that patients receive comprehensive care throughout their orthopaedic surgical journey.

OPA would like to hear from you about your participation in the application process. We will inform our advocacy by understanding how physiotherapy services are represented in the applications, which may include details about reimbursement rates or how an episode of care is defined. Please share your feedback below.

OPA will continue to monitor developments and provide updates to members as this initiative progresses.

Physiotherapists Part of Team Improving Stroke Care in Sudbury

August 5, 2025

Innovative Stroke Care Model Launched

Venkadesan Rajendran, District President of the Northern Ontario District of OPA, is the project lead for a new innovative stroke care model called MOTIVE in Sudbury.

The project brings an expert team, which includes stroke neurologists/stroke physicians, an advanced practice physiotherapist, an occupational therapist, a stroke nurse, a speech-language pathologist and a reactivation worker, to the patients directly. They conduct an early assessment, coordinate treatment planning and streamline access to rehab. MOTIVE stands for MObile TIA and Stroke with AdaptiVE Workflow.

“Health Science North (HSN) indicates that it allows for faster access to care and fewer hospital admissions for patients in the Sudbury area.” says Venkadesan Rajendran in Sudbury.com.

Rajendran also said that HSN supported the initial development of Advanced Practice Physiotherapy in stroke care a few years ago. He is grateful to Dr. Ravinder-Jeet Singh, Stroke Neurologist, Lisa Zeman, Clinical Manager, and Lisa Smith, VP of Nursing services who supported the development of the role.

Benefits to Interprofessional Care

MOTIVE demonstrates how including physiotherapy in interprofessional stroke care contributes to more effective care for patients in Ontario. As Venkadesan Rajendran remarks “Instead of waiting for patients to be transferred to the designated stroke unit, we bring the care to them. We’re reducing the time lost due to system inefficiencies.”

Since its launch in February 2025, the program has seen 109 patients so far and saved roughly 70 inpatient bed days. Currently supported by one-time funding through the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Innovative Model of Care Fund, the aim is to sustain the model over time said Chantal Liddard, the Director of the Medicine Program at HSN.

About Stroke in Canada

Stroke is a leading cause of adult disability with nearly 1 million people in Canada currently living with stroke. Furthermore, the number of people in Canada living with stroke has steadily increased over the past 20 years due to the aging population, and because younger people are having more strokes.

Physiotherapist Leader, Advocate, and Award Winner

OPA applauds Venkadesan Rajendran for his commendable leadership in physiotherapy – as the Northern Ontario District President of OPA, through his research, and as the Project Lead for MOTIVE. Venkadesan also won OPA’s Innovation and Advancement Award in 2023.

Read HSN news release

Read Sudbury Star article

Read article on Sudbury.com