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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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31203.00 – Occupational therapists

Occupational therapists develop individual and group programs with people affected by illness, injury, developmental disorders, emotional or psychological problems and aging to maintain, restore or increase their ability to care for themselves and to engage in work, school or leisure. They also develop and implement health promotion programs with individuals, community groups and employers.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Case manager occupational therapist
  • Clinical occupational therapist
  • Community occupational therapist
  • Occupational therapist (OT)
  • Occupational therapy rehabilitation consultant
  • Research and development occupational therapist

Core competencies

  • Critical Thinking, Decision Making and Problem Solving to accurately assess complex client needs to develop effective and personalized interventions to improve clients' capabilities and needs
  • Oral Communication: Active Listening to accurately understand client needs, build trust, enhance communication and address emotional issues, leading to personalized and effective care
  • Problem Identification and Inductive Reasoning to analyze clients' capabilities and expectations related to life activities through observation, interview and formal assessments to plan treatment programs
  • Verbal Ability to communicate with other health care personnel and consult on health promotion programs to prevent disabilities and maximize independent function in all activities of life
  • Concern for Others to address the unique needs of each individual to create effective, personalized programs that improve clients' quality of life and independence
  • Knowledge in Physical Health to understand the impact of physical conditions on daily functioning, design effective rehabilitation plans and promote safe practices

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Analyse clients' capabilities and expectations related to life activities through observation, interviews and formal assessments
  • Develop intervention programs to address clients' needs related to self-care, work and leisure activities
  • Maintain clients' records
  • Establish personalized care plans working as a member of an interdisciplinary team
  • Consult and advise on health promotion programs to prevent disabilities and to maximize independent function in all activities of life
  • May supervise support personnel and students and provide training.

Additional information

  • Occupational therapists may progress to management or administrative positions through further training and experience.
  • Occupational therapists may specialize in working with specific populations such as children or adults, or persons with distinct problems such as dementia, traumatic brain injury and chronic pain, or provide special interventions such as return-to-work programs.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

No data has been provided for this section.

NOC hierarchy breakdown

NOC version

NOC 2021 Version 1.0

Broad occupational category

3 – Health occupations

TEER

1 – Occupations usually require a university degree

Major group

31 – Professional occupations in health

Sub-major group

312 – Therapy and assessment professionals

Minor group

3120 – Therapy and assessment professionals

Unit group

31203 – Occupational therapists

Occupational profile

31203.00 – Occupational therapists

O*NET in-it

This page includes information from the O*NET 27.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Employment and Social Development Canada has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.