Find the Best Occupational Therapy Assistant Jobs and Vacancies Here’s

Are you interested in a career that involves helping people and making a difference in their lives? If you have a compassionate nature, good organizational skills, and the ability to follow instructions, you might want to consider becoming an occupational therapy assistant. This profession requires 2 years of post-secondary education and offers an average salary of $27.61 per hour.

Role of an Occupational Therapy Assistant

Occupational therapy assistants work under the supervision of occupational therapists to implement treatment programs for clients with various challenges. These challenges could be physical or mental illnesses, injuries, developmental delays, social disorders, or aging. Clients can range in age from infants to the elderly.

Duties and Responsibilities

As an occupational therapy assistant, your duties will include gathering resources for client treatment and education, implementing treatment plans created by occupational therapists, promoting a positive attitude towards clients and their treatment programs, teaching clients skills for daily living, helping clients improve their physical, intellectual, and social-emotional abilities, assisting with splints and assistive devices, measuring clients for wheelchairs, educating clients and caregivers on device usage, and much more.

Skills and Qualifications

Working conditions for occupational therapy assistants can be high-stress, as they may need to lift and move clients or equipment weighing up to 20 kilograms. It is important to use proper lifting techniques to avoid injury.

Job Opportunities and Certification

To succeed as an occupational therapy assistant, you will need to possess mental fitness, physical strength and stamina, patience, tact, flexibility, sensitivity to clients' needs, fine motor skills, observation and organizational skills, as well as excellent communication and problem-solving abilities. You should also enjoy working with clear guidelines, helping people both individually and in groups, and handling and maintaining equipment and supplies.

In terms of job opportunities, there is an approximate annual demand of 1,600 occupational therapy assistants per province. While certification is not regulated, having the appropriate education and training can greatly enhance your chances of securing a position in this field.

If you are interested in pursuing a career as an occupational therapy assistant, you can explore the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes: 2006 NOC: Therapy Assistants (3414.2), 2006 NOC-S: Other Assisting Occupations in Support of Health Services (D313), 2011 NOC: Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment (3237), and 2016 NOC: Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment (3237).

Remember, this profession offers not only the opportunity to make a positive impact on someone's life but also a competitive salary. Start your journey towards becoming an occupational therapy assistant today!