Key Takeaways from the CPA Virtual Town Hall

The CPA hosted a virtual Town hall on Thursday, October 17th, open to all members. The event provided a valuable opportunity for CPA President Allison Stene and CPA CEO Krissy Bell to engage with members in a thoughtful and inspiring discussion about the future of the Association and the physiotherapy profession in Canada. We are incredibly grateful to all of the CPA members who shared their time and actively engaged with us throughout the session.

For those who couldn’t join us, below is a summary of the main discussion topics from the town hall:

• Optimizing Scope of Practice: In May 2024, the CPA kicked off National Physiotherapy Month, which focused on advocating for the optimization of physiotherapy scope of practice across Canada. This work included the publication of two critical papers to fuel its advocacy strategy, the first being a position paper on the national scope of practice definition for physiotherapy, and the second being a study from Deloitte Consulting that identifies the potential economic impact of the profession — including the fact that physiotherapy is already reducing the burden of illness in Canada by $232 million per year.
  
  Our ongoing advocacy and lobbying efforts for optimized scope of practice continued through our 2025 Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance. In this submission, the CPA recommends that the federal government work with provincial and territorial partners to allow physiotherapists to work to their full scope of practice, including the ability to order diagnostic imaging in every jurisdiction. Additionally, the CPA is actively working to support its Branches in their advocacy efforts to empower physiotherapy professionals to work to their full scope within their respective provinces and territories.
  
  We are already seeing progress at the national and local levels for physiotherapy professionals being enabled to practice to their full scope, including the ability to order imaging. For example, as announced in February 2024, physiotherapists in private/community practice in Nova Scotia may now apply to become authorized prescribers for plain view radiographs (x-rays).
  
  
• Shortage of physiotherapists in Canada: Over the next decade, the growth in demand for physiotherapists in Canada will outpace the number of new job seekers entering the profession. This labour shortage will persist nationally, exacerbated by an aging population and longer life expectancy. The demand for health care professionals —including physiotherapists, physiotherapy technologists, and physiotherapist assistants —will sharply increase, leading to reduced availability of physiotherapy services for a profession that is already experiencing burnout and exhaustion.
  
  The CPA has been strongly advocating to address the workforce shortage, emphasizing its impact beyond nurses and physicians. This lobbying was pivotal in securing the inclusion of physiotherapists in the Student Loan Forgiveness Program in the April 2024 Federal Budget, which will help address the shortage of physiotherapy care in rural and remote communities.
  
  In addition, the Seniors’ Health Division joined us in lobbying the Minister of Seniors on the impact of shortages on elder care and the preventative role physiotherapy can play.
  
  We have also engaged with the Minister of Health, the Senate, and the Standing Committee on Finance to emphasize the need for improved access to physiotherapy across Canada. In our recent Pre-Budget Submission, we focused on demonstrating how expanding the scope of practice for physiotherapists can alleviate system pressures and offer a cost-effective solution to the workforce shortage.
  
  Finally, the CPA continues to be involved in health workforce discussions with Health Canada and recently attended the Heath Workforce Canada conference, where we continued to highlight the shortage of physiotherapy services and professionals across Canada. Our focus remains on supply, retention, and growth in both domestic and international Federal policy, as well as securing funding for additional educational seats.
  
  
• Communication Between CPA and the Alliance on the Importance of Reinstating a National Licensing Standard: The CPA communicates regularly with the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR), both on the topic of the evaluation services re-envisioned project that CAPR is undertaking, and as part of the National Physiotherapy Advisory Group table, alongside Physiotherapy Education Accreditation Canada (PEAC) and the Canadian Council of Physiotherapy University Programs (CCPUP). We are grateful to our partners at CAPR for their open communication channels and for including the CPA in their consultation with stakeholders on their work to evolve evaluation services for physiotherapy professionals in Canada.
  
  
• Membership Insurance Coverage: The CPA has heard significant concerns from members regarding the recent increase in audit activity for professional physiotherapy services. To support our members should they face an audit, we are now offering expanded insurance coverage designed to offer financial protection against audits, which is being provided for this membership year at no additional cost to members. Instead, it is being fully funded by the CPA Insurance Reserve Fund.
  
  Earlier this year, the CPA, alongside BMS Canada and Gowlings WLG, also released the document Responding to Insurance Audits: A Guide for Physiotherapists, which provides an overview on how to navigate the insurance audit process and includes tips to proactively manage your practice and ensure preparedness in the event of an audit.
  
  
• Insurer-focused advocacy initiatives: The CPA has a strong insurance advocacy focus for 2025. We have been regularly engaging with insurers and meeting with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) to discuss the role and scope of physiotherapy in Canada. Where appropriate, provincial and territorial Branches have also been engaged in these discussions. We are working to provide insurers with leadership and expertise regarding the profession and to identify possible areas that CPA can advocate on behalf of the profession, where and if scope may be limited.
  
  The CPA is also part of the Extended Health Care Providers Coalition (EHPC), which is a national coalition comprised of regulated providers that meet quarterly and advocate to the government and national decision-makers. This coalition recently submitted a Pre-Budget Submission and appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance in October to address national priority issues for extended health providers (inclusive of physiotherapy).
  
  
• Improving bilingual communications: As a bilingual organization with both Francophone members and staff, we value and take seriously any feedback on our bilingual communications. We strive to offer equitable content in both official languages and have processes in place to support this, which involve the utilization of professional translators as well as incorporating the advice of French-language partners in Quebec and across Canada. We also recognize that languages contain nuance, and translations can differ based on the content. We are committed to regularly reviewing and improving our translation protocols.
  
  
• Division Transformation Project: In the current Strategic Plan, the CPA Board of Directors defined a vision for the Canadian Physiotherapy Association that, among other things, sees a future where Divisions and Assemblies are positioned as the CPA’s subject matter experts on physiotherapy.
  
  Whether it is in the creation of professional development content; engaging in credible, evidence-based advocacy; or acting as a trusted source for member engagement, we are working towards a future where there is a more prominent and consistent role for Divisions and Assemblies in the advancement of the CPA specifically and physiotherapy in Canada more broadly. Ultimately, this will provide enhanced value for current and future CPA members and physiotherapy professionals.
  
  To bring this vision to life, we are amid a multi-year project to fully understand what this future should look like and how we work together with our trusted Division volunteers to achieve these goals.
  
  
• Membership Renewal Challenges: We recognize and sincerely thank our members for their patience and understanding as we navigated the renewal challenges this year. We apologize for any inconvenience the difficulties with our renewal system may have caused. Please know that we are actively exploring the purchase of a new membership system for the 2025 renewal period to provide a better, easier renewal experience for our members.
  
  
• Truth and reconciliation: We acknowledge that much more work is ahead for the CPA regarding responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. The CPA will consciously take steps to foster relationships with Indigenous communities to ensure that meaningful discussions, learning, and unlearning can occur. This includes curating and sharing resources with practicing physiotherapy professionals to support the delivery of culturally safe and trauma-informed care, connecting our members to continuing education opportunities that are informed and led by Indigenous communities and health care providers, and working with our partners in the Indigenous Health Subcommittee of the CPA Global Health Division to bring the voices of Indigenous physiotherapy professionals forward in our work
  
  
• Congress 2025: While the CPA has confirmed that there will be no Congress event in 2025, there will be a CPA flagship event in 2026. The future of the Congress event will be a consideration for the next strategic plan.

Thank you once again for your commitment to our community. We look forward to your continued engagement as we work together to advance the physiotherapy profession.