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Another Successful 2025 Donate Your Kicks Campaign! 

The Windsor District of OPA has organized a Donate Your Kicks Campaign in their district for several years during National Physiotherapy Month in May. The campaign involves collecting used, but in good shape, footwear, so that more patients get the footwear they need to support their mobility needs.  

Each year, Amy Doiron, PT and Windsor District Executive member, coordinates the campaign, ensuring the physiotherapy community in the area is aware of the initiative. She also facilitates the pick-up and delivery of donated shoes. 

On behalf of the Windsor District, Amy would like to thank all the staff, volunteers and donors who made the 2025 Donate you Kicks Campaign another successful year.  

150 pairs of running shoes were collected! 

These 150 shoes will be dispersed throughout Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare to patients in need of good footwear. Several physiotherapy clinics participated and we thank them for their support: 
 

  • Erie Shores Rehabilitation 
  • Loaring Physiotherapy 
  • Kristy Ireland manager from the Running Factory 

The Windsor District would also like to thank the Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare volunteers who helped clean and organize all of the shoes: 

  • Dominic, Simona and Olivia. Without you, this would not have been possible. 

The Impact of OPA District Volunteers 

District volunteers are essential to OPA’s advocacy, governance, and ability to build local community. We are grateful to amazing volunteers like Amy Doiron who continue to make an impact in their communities and demonstrate how much physiotherapists care about patients in their local areas.  

Interested in volunteering? Check out all the ways you can get involved.  

Volunteer today

OPA Campaign Wins Awards 

July 17, 2025

OPA currently partners with SalesLoop, a marketing agency, on projects that elevate the profession and the Association and to increase our reach. Based on our strategic plan, OPA determines each year what strategies may require the investment of valuable membership dollars into our campaigns. 

Silver from Telly Awards (2025) 

In 2024, we launched a campaign “New Voices, New Ideas & New Opportunities” highlighting our change in leadership with our new CEO, Sarah Hutchison, and President, Courtney Bean and how we continue to evolve to meet the needs of the physiotherapy community. We also showcased our Board of Directors and the value we continue to bring to our members. 

SalesLoop entered our campaign into the Telly Awards competition, and we won a Silver Award! By winning a Silver, our project was recognized as an exclusive group of work that meets higher than average standards. Watch the award winning video below.

Campaign Also Wins 3 Gold Healthcare Digital Marketing Awards (2024) 

This same campaign, “New Voices, New Ideas & New Opportunities” also won three gold Healthcare Digital Marketing Awards for our campaign emails, microsite and video.  

Why Does This Matter? 

Winning awards not only feels great but demonstrates that we are investing your membership dollars into campaigns that are effective in meeting our goals and elevating the profession. We have partnered with SalesLoop since 2016 and they continue to go above and beyond. They ensure that our objectives are thoughtfully considered so that we can determine together the best and most cost-effective ways to meet our goals.

About the Telly Awards (2025) 

The Tellys honour excellence in video and television across all screens. The Telly Awards recognize work in Branded Content, Commercials & Marketing, Immersive & Mixed Reality, Non-Broadcast, Online and Television Series, Shows & Segments, Social Video, and Film & Shorts. 

The competition received over 13,000 entries globally from six continents and all 50 U.S. states. 

Entries were judged by a council of over 250 industry experts from organizations such as Netflix, Adobe, PlutoTV, Gymnasium, RunwayML, and more 

  1. Gold Telly Award is the highest honour, awarded exclusively to the top 3% of winning entries, representing the highest marker of excellence. 
  1. Silver Telly Award is awarded to entries that meet a high standard of creative distinction but do not reach the Gold level. 
  1. Bronze Telly Award recognizes commendable work that meets the entry criteria but scores lower than Silver and Gold. 
Learn more

About the Healthcare Digital Marketing Awards (2024) 

The Healthcare Digital Marketing Awards recognizes the best healthcare websites, digital content, electronic communications, mobile media and social media. 

This national competition began its efforts to recognize the field of healthcare marketing and advertising in the pioneering area of digital marketing. 

  1. OPA was won 3 of the 190 awards issued in 2024 
  1. Gold (102), Silver (48), Bronze (24), and Merit (16) 
  1. A total of 62 institutions were awarded 
Learn more

Advocacy at OPA’s Summer Home Care Advisory Committee

July 16, 2025

OPA’s four clinical advisory committees meet quarterly, and in their recent June meetings, engaged in thoughtful and informative discussions around several advocacy items.

The Home Care Advisory Committee met on June 18, 2025 and focused its advocacy discussions on:

  • addressing compensation disparities within the sector—particularly between physiotherapists and occupational therapists
  • and addressing the need for public education on the role of physiotherapy in home care.

The committee also explored strategies to optimize service delivery through better role clarity, targeted recruitment for broader representation, and raised concerns about the exclusion of rehabilitation services in new healthcare infrastructure planning. 

Advocacy at OPA’s Summer Primary Care Advisory Committee

July 16, 2025

OPA’s four clinical advisory committees meet quarterly, and in their recent June meetings, engaged in thoughtful and informative discussions around several advocacy items.

The Primary Care Advisory Committee met on June 23, 2025 and focused its advocacy discussions on:

  • promoting fair compensation for physiotherapists across sectors
  • supporting the integration of physiotherapy into primary care through new and repurposed roles
  • preparing to influence future funding opportunities.
  • The committee also emphasized the importance of musculoskeletal care as a key advocacy message, explored opportunities for private-primary care partnerships, and discussed strategies to align physiotherapy roles with the goals of the new Primary Care Act. 

Advocacy at OPA’s Summer Hospital Advisory Committee

July 16, 2025

OPA’s four clinical advisory committees meet quarterly, and in their recent June meetings, engaged in thoughtful and informative discussions around several advocacy items.

The Hospital Advisory Committee met on June 17, 2025 and focused its advocacy discussions on addressing:

  • critical recruitment and retention challenges for physiotherapists and PTAs in hospitals
  • emphasizing the need for formal strategies, mentorship programs, and equitable incentives comparable to other health professions.
  • The committee also discussed the impact of the proposed removal of provisional practice on hospital hiring and highlighted rising patient acuity as a pressing issue requiring improved staffing models and coordinated discharge planning. 

Advocacy at OPA’s Summer Private Practice Advisory Committee

July 16, 2025

OPA’s four clinical advisory committees meet quarterly, and in their recent June meetings, engaged in thoughtful and informative discussions around several advocacy items.

The Private Practice Advisory Committee met on June 26, 2025 and focused its advocacy discussions on several key areas:

  • responding to the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario’s consultation on provisional registration
  • advancing a strong position on Jordan’s Principle in partnership with the Chiefs of Ontario
  • advocating for changes in the FSRA auto sector system
  • planning updates to the Fee Guideline to better support equitable and informed physiotherapy practice across the province

Courtney Bean, OPA’s President Message, July 2025

July 9, 2025

OPA President Courtney Bean shares a summer message and key updates from the June Board discussions. He highlights the continued push for expanded scope of practice, OPA’s advocacy for physiotherapy in primary care, and efforts to support governance model reviews in light of ONCA. Courtney also touches on recent submissions regarding provisional practice, a new position statement supporting Jordan’s Principle, and advocacy for PT roles in integrated health centers.

Take Action and send a letter to Premier Doug Ford & Health Minister Sylvia Jones on completing the regulations for scope of practice. It takes only 1 minute to add your name and email.

OPA Welcomes PT Student 

July 15, 2025

OPA welcomed McMaster PT student Sarah Pelech on June 9 for a 7-week placement. She is already very engaged in: 

  • updating the new to practice toolkit for OPA’s website 
  • Writing a summary report of the recent scope of practice survey to support advocacy for expanded diagnostic imaging privileges, and  
  • Conducting research to support the integration of physiotherapists into new hip and knee fracture clinics 

This is Sarah’s second clinical placement. She is not only working part-time with OPA but also completing an acute care placement at Hamilton General Hospital Short Stay Medicine unit. 

Sarah is passionate about accessible care, health equity, and the role of physiotherapy in health education and advocacy. She is interested in learning more about what it means to be involved in the OPA, and excited to be a part of the team! 

Want to do a PT Placement at OPA? 

OPA offers clinical placements for Ontario programs that are eligible based on catchment area. Contact your school’s clinical placement advisor for information. 

Rehabilitation Services related to ICHSC Hip & Knee Procedures 

July 15, 2025

Background: What Are ICHSCs? 

Integrated Community Health Service Centres (ICHSCs) are a new model of community-based, publicly funded surgical and diagnostic care, initiated by the Ontario government in early 2023. These centres aim to increase access to timely, high-quality surgical procedures such as cataract surgeries, MRI/CT imaging, and orthopedic surgeries—including hip and knee replacements—by shifting select procedures out of hospitals and into independent community-based facilities. The goal is to reduce surgical backlogs, improve wait times, and enhance patient outcomes through integrated and coordinated care. 

Why It Matters to Physiotherapists and Communities 

This shift has important implications for physiotherapists and communities across Ontario as community based surgical centres open their doors to patients. As ICHSCs become operational, there will be a need for community-based physiotherapists to provide post operative rehabilitative care following surgery. This post-operative service model is different from the hospital-based model.   

For communities, particularly those facing long surgical wait times or lacking local hospital resources, ICHSCs offer an alternative opportunity for more rapid care, but it is critical to ensure that post-operative physiotherapy is appropriately integrated. Ensuring that physiotherapy is included and appropriately funded as a core component of care in these centres is vital for maintaining health system quality and equity across Ontario. 

OPA’s Work and Current Information 

For some time, the Ontario Physiotherapy Association (OPA) has been seeking clarity from the Ministry of Health regarding how post-hip and knee replacement rehabilitation will be funded in the forthcoming Integrated Community Health Service Centres (ICHSCs). ICHSCs will be responsible for providing post-surgical rehabilitation care to patients who clinically require it, and this care must be funded from within the bundled facility fee paid by the Ministry ($6,530 per hip replacement and $5,797 per knee replacement). 

As part of the application process, prospective licensees are required to demonstrate partnerships with rehabilitation providers. This may include out-of-hospital rehabilitation, in-house physiotherapy services, and home-based rehabilitation care. However, patients receiving care through an ICHSC are not eligible for one or more Episodes of Care under the Community Physiotherapy Clinic Program. 

There is currently no provision or requirement for applicants to offer funded pre-operative physiotherapy. However, licensees are required to “organize appropriate pre-operative planning and assessment.” 

Physiotherapists can expect to be approached in the coming days by applicants seeking to form agreements for the delivery of post-operative rehabilitation and potentially pre-operative planning and assessment for patients, contingent on the applicants’ success in securing a licence. 

OPA will continue to monitor developments and advocate for the role of physiotherapy in this evolving healthcare landscape. 

OPA Advocates for More Physiotherapists in Primary Care Teams

July 11, 2025

First contact roles for physiotherapists, who independently diagnose and manage musculoskeletal conditions, have demonstrated effectiveness in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Despite their effectiveness in primary care, many primary care teams in Ontario do not have physiotherapists on staff.  

  • Approximately 20-30% of primary care visits are for musculoskeletal conditions 
  • Based on clinical experience in physiotherapy in primary care settings and suggested attachment rates for physicians, OPA estimates that a physiotherapist on an interprofessional primary care team can increase attachment rates by approximately 250 active patients, or 425 total rostered patients (on average). 

Why This Matters 

Physiotherapists are critical members of interprofessional primary care teams, and increasing the number of primary care physiotherapists in Ontario is an essential step towards improving health system capacity and bringing comprehensive and convenient care to more people in Ontario.   

It also means that more physiotherapists will be able to work to their full scope of practice while spreading awareness among healthcare teams and communities about the role and value of physiotherapists. 

How OPA Advocates 

We are collaborating with primary care organizations and advocacy groups, which looks like:  

  • Supporting proposals to help make the case for PTs joining the team 
  • Supporting primary care organizations with recruitment and retention strategies 
  • Collaborating with  
  • the Primary Care Action Team 
  • Ontario Health Teams 
  • the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario 
  • the Alliance for Healthier Communities 

We are also: 

  • Engaging directly with the Ontario Medical Association and the Nurse Practitioners Association of Ontario 
  • Adding useful materials to the Alliance of Healthier Communities Toolkit: Interprofessional Primary Care Team Expansion 

Other supports from OPA at all points of development include: 

  • Consultation on applications to the Primary Care Action Team 
  • Resources and individualized support for recruitment and retention, including job descriptions, compensation reports, interview guides, and free job postings. 
Preparing PT’s for Team-based Primary Care

What is Going on Now 

In April, the Primary Care Action Team announced a call for proposals to fund expansion of existing primary care teams or new teams in needed geographical areas. The goal of this funding opportunity is to connect more people in Ontario to primary care teams, ultimately to have every person connected within 4 years. 

OPA’s support will continue through future cycles of funding, as having physiotherapists as part of the interprofessional primary care team is an essential step towards improving capacity and bringing connected and convenient care to more people in Ontario.   

Read OPA’s letter to PCAT