Alberta

Canadian Massage and Manual Osteopathic Association (CMMOTA) Representatives:

• Heather Goddard - Executive Director
• Jeremy Sayer - RMT, Government & Industry Relations Manager
• Gisella Callander - RMT

Certified Registered Massage Therapist Association (CRMTA) Representatives:

• Michelle Bullock - RMT and CRMTA Registrar
• Adam Salzman - RMT and CRMTA Board of Directors
• Marija Pavkovic-Tovissi - Treasurer of the CRMTA Board of Directors

Massage Therapist Association of Alberta (MTAA) Representatives:

• Gina Hendrickson - Executive Director
• Janine Gotzke - RMT, Chair of the MTAA Board of Directors
• Jason Dvorak - RMT, MOT, Secretary/Treasurer of the MTAA Board of Directors

Natural Health Practitioners of Canada (NHPC) Representatives:

• Tendai Nzuma - NHPC CEO and Registrar
• Paul Donovan - Government and Industry Relations Director
• Melanie Hayden - RMT

Transitional Council for the College of Massage Therapists of Alberta (TC-CMTA) Representative

• Christy Kasur - RMT, President of TC-CMTA, Facilitator of AWGRMT

Due to the many steps in the regulatory process, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take for the College to open. The timeline may increase depending on what happens at certain steps in the regulation process.

In the application, the proposed cost is a one-time fee of $542 plus an annual fee of $150 until the College is established. The benefits of joining in Year 1 instead of waiting until later are:

• Lower costs: Year 1 offers the lowest one-time buy-in and annual fees.
• Financial stability: Early membership helps fund the College's development, ensuring a smoother and faster transition (for massage therapists) into the College.

Establishing a regulatory College requires significant funding to develop legal, administrative, and operational structures. A more detailed breakdown of the funding model is available in the application for regulation (PDF).

The estimated cost of establishing a regulatory College may seem high, but when broken down, it is not a significant cost per hour.

For example, a therapist working 18 hours per week, with two weeks of vacation, completes 900 treatment hours per year.

If they join the Transitional Society in Year 1, the total cost is $692 for the first year. This means setting aside only $0.77 per hour of treatment for one year.

The annual fee of $150 remains locked in until the College is established, which breaks down to just $0.17 per hour of treatment per year.

Once the College is established, the annual fee is estimated at around $1.02 per hour, based on 900 hours of work per year. This would be slightly higher for part-time therapists, but still manageable.

The cost of regulation is further offset by hourly massage therapy rates being typically higher in regulated provinces.

Regulation improves public safety through:

• Standardization of Patient Care – Ensures all therapists meet consistent training, safety, and ethical standards.
• Public Protection – Only qualified therapists can use protected titles like Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), reducing the risk of unqualified practitioners.
• Improved Access to Massage Therapy – Increased recognition among health care providers and insurers makes massage therapy a more accessible and trusted health care option.
• Stronger Complaint and Disciplinary Processes – Patients will have a clear system for reporting concerns, ensuring ethical and professional conduct is maintained.

By implementing these measures, regulation ensures a safer, more respected, and professionally rewarding industry for therapists while providing the public with greater confidence in massage therapy services.

An additional benefit to the public is the recognition of fees paid for treatment as medical expenses for tax purposes.

Regulation is primarily designed to protect the public, but it also provides significant benefits for massage therapists, making it a valuable investment in the profession.

Massage therapists gain:

• Professional Credibility and Public Trust – Regulation ensures massage therapists are recognized as healthcare professionals, increasing respect and trust from clients and medical providers.
• Increased Referral Opportunities – Doctors and other healthcare professionals will be more likely to refer patients to registered massage therapists.
• Easier Mobility Between Provinces – Regulation allows therapists to practice in other regulated provinces without extra certification.
• Stronger Industry Representation – A single governing body will advocate for fair treatment, insurance recognition, and industry-wide improvements.
• More Financial Stability – Regulated provinces typically see higher treatment rates ($15–$20 more per session), which helps offset regulatory fees.
• Inclusion in Government Support During Health Crises – As a regulated health profession, massage therapists may qualify for government aid and protections, such as pandemic relief, personal protection equipment (PPE) access, and essential worker status.

By improving professional credibility, financial stability, and public safety, regulation benefits both therapists and patients, helping to establish massage therapy as a respected health care profession.

Regulation will restrict billable techniques to those that fall under Scope of Practice defined by the College. Massage therapists will still be able to use the massage therapy techniques in which they have been trained that fall under the Scope of Practice.

The main change is a clearer definition of what qualifies as billable techniques/modalities as "massage therapy" under regulation.

Techniques not in scope of practice are prohibited from being used in a massage therapy treatment session. They may still be performed but cannot be billed as a massage therapy session or using the massage therapist's registration number from the College.

These techniques are referred to within the proposed application for regulation (PDF).

Safe practice guidelines will be introduced to ensure flexibility while prioritizing client safety. The goal of regulation is to set clear standards and protections for both clients and therapists — not to limit therapy options.

Before proclamation, all practising massage therapists can use the RMT title, as it is not currently protected in Alberta. However, after proclamation, "RMT" and other protected titles will only be available to those registered with the College under the Alberta Health Professions Act (HPA). This ensures public recognition of registered massage therapists as health professionals.

When the College is established, practising massage therapists can apply for grandparenting within 90 days through one of two pathways:

Path 1

Massage therapists who reside in Alberta and are in good standing with CMMOTA, CRMTA, MTAA, or NHPC must provide the following:

• proof of good standing
• criminal record check
• current First Aid and CPR certification
• payment of fees

Path 2

Massage therapists not members of the above associations, must provide the following:

• criminal record check
• First Aid and CPR certification
• proof of English fluency
• 500+ practice hours in the past 3 years
• proof of education meeting Inter-Jurisdictional Practice Competencies and Performance Indicators for Massage Therapists at Entry-to-Practice (IJ-PCPIs) (PDF) standards

Those grandparented into the College will not need to complete entry to practice testing. After proclamation, any massage therapist who has not been grandparented must pass an entry to practice examination to be eligible to join the College.

A jurisprudence course and examination (to ensure all registrants are aware of the regulatory requirements of the college) will need to be completed by all applicants into the College.

Continuing education requirements will likely be similar to those used in currently regulated provinces. The future College may include, but is not limited to, introducing the following requirements:

• practice audit/peer review
• credit-based or outcome-based continuing education
• self-reflection or personal learning development plans

Regulated massage therapists will be required to maintain competency and pursue lifelong skills development, as required by the Alberta Health Professions Act (HPA). Provinces may have different standards, but all health professionals under the HPA must stay current in their field.

Massage therapists can review the following resources on regulation in Alberta:

• the updated application for regulation (PDF) submitted to the Minister of Health on October 15, 2024
• AWGRMT's video explaining the regulation application
• a recording of a Fall 2024 regulation information session

The Alberta government recognizes the TC-CMTA President as the facilitator who chairs the regular meetings of the AWGRMT and serves as the spokesperson in communication between the AWGRMT and the Government.

Once established, the College will determine the standards for the educational institutes and massage therapy programs. The future College will have the responsibility to educate and inform educational institutions of requirements.

Reasonable notice will be provided to massage programs and institutions to make any necessary changes to meet the required standards.

It is important for those who want to transition to the College to stay in good standing with their association.

If you are not currently practising, you may want to keep a non-practicing or inactive membership, so that you continue to receive regular updates on regulation.

Association members can contact their professional association if they have additional questions about regulation.

NHPC members can contact the NHPC Government Relations team at governmentrelations@nhpcanada.org.