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OaSIS 2025 Version 1.0
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31204.01 – Recreational therapists

Recreational therapists implement treatment plans by carrying out specialized therapy sessions employing approaches and techniques such as recreational, sports or other movement therapy.

Overview

Example job titles

  • Athletic therapist
  • Certified athletic therapist (CAT)
  • Recreational therapist

Core competencies

  • Monitoring to observe physical and emotional responses, adjust interventions and maintain a supportive environment to achieve efficient therapeutic outcomes
  • Oral Communication: Active Listening to foster a supportive environment where clients feel heard, understood and empowered in their therapeutic journey despite cultural differences
  • Social Perceptiveness to understand clients' emotions, behaviours and social dynamics to create inclusive environments where clients feel supported and motivated to achieve therapeutic goals
  • Stamina to actively participate in physical activities and therapy sessions, often for extended periods
  • Verbal Ability and Speech Clarity to clearly explain activities, provide instructions, offer encouragement and communicate effectively with clients, families and healthcare teams
  • Collaboration to ensure coordinated care, integrate diverse expertise and optimize client outcomes through shared goals and mutual support
  • Knowledge in Physical Health to understand physical conditions, limitations and capabilities to select appropriate activities, advise how to minimize injury risks and promote overall well-being during therapeutic sessions

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • Assess patients and review reports from physicians, physiotherapists, psychiatrists, counsellors, teachers and other professionals to determine patients' capabilities and needs.
  • Prepare individualized and group treatment plans either independently or through a multidisciplinary team approach, based on health concerns and on recommendations from physicians or other health professionals
  • Design and carry out specialized therapy sessions employing techniques such as art, athletic, dance, music or recreational therapy or remedial gymnastics to meet specific physical or psychological needs of patients
  • Co-ordinate, initiate, design and implement specialized therapy programs for the general patient population and in the community
  • Advise patients on how to deal with their mental and physical abilities and help them integrate into the community
  • Observe, analyze and record, patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions and consult with other health care professionals to evaluate and modify treatment plans as needed
  • May conduct research in therapeutic recreation.

Additional information

  • There is no mobility between the different occupations in this unit group.

Similar occupations classified elsewhere

Exclusions:

  • Occupational therapists (31203)
  • Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies (41301)

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

31204 – Kinesiologists and other professional occupations in therapy and assessment

Occupational profile

31204.01 – Recreational 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.