Règlement d'autorisation (EN)

Authorization Regulation
Description and Interpretation

In April 2012, the Government of Quebec’s cabinet issued
an order for an authorization regulation, which defined,
among other things, the field of practice for athletic
therapists, their target clientele, and the reserved acts
conferred to them.
This presentation explains the meaning and the scope of
each clause in this regulation.

The purpose of this regulation is to determine, amongst the
professional activities that physicians may engage in, those
professional activities that may be engaged in by an athletic
therapist pursuant to the terms and conditions set out herein.
This section refers to what are defined as the reserved acts that
athletic therapists are authorized to exercise.
ATHLETIC THERAPISTS -
CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES THAT MAY BE
ENGAGED
Code des professions (L.R.Q., c. C-26, a. 94, par. h)

In this regulation, the following definitions apply:
• An individual who takes walks on a regular basis;
• An individual who regularly visits a training centre;
• An individual who belongs to a friendly, amateur or
professional sports team.
By extension, it applies to individuals who practice an activity
similar in nature to a sport, such as dancers and circus artists.
This definition of “athlete” is very broad. It includes:
Further on, we will see that the pool of potential clients is even larger than this.
“athlete” is a person who, at an introductory, recreational, competitive
or elite level, engages in a physical activity that includes some form of
training, respect for certain rules of practice, supervision, technical
content or practice time;
ENGAGED

An athletic therapist may engage in the following professional activities with an
athlete:
1. Evaluate musculoskeletal function when it presents a problem or
incapacity of musculoskeletal origin and when the condition with which it
is associated, if any, is in a chronic phase and a controlled state;
USEFUL DEFINITIONS
Assessment: “The notion of an assessment involves carrying out a clinical judgement of an
individual’s situation on the basis of information that the professional possesses, and
sharing the conclusions of his or her findings. Professionals carry out assessments as part
of their respective fields of practice, and in doing so, they are complicit in the nature of the
diagnosis in the second sense of the word, just as Judge Gilles Blanchet mentions in the
Association des chiropraticiens du Québec vs. Office des professions du Québec case.”
(Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90, section 9)
ENGAGED

USEFUL DEFINITIONS
Disability or incapacity: “According to the Dictionnaire Robert, a “disability” is an organic
or mental insufficiency, while an “incapacity” refers to the state of a person who,
following an injury or sickness, becomes unable to work or carry out certain activities.”
(Section 10 of the Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90)
Associated afflictions (arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, etc.)
Athletic therapists can treat athletes with afflictions if they are in the chronic phase and
in a controlled state. In addition, the affliction must have been diagnosed and treated by
a specialist.
ENGAGED

2. use invasive forms of energy;
Exercising this activity identically mirrors what is described for physiotherapists.
On this matter, the Cahier explicatif de la Loi 90 stipulates:
“It is also important to note that as part of the treatments they
provide, physiotherapists use machines that emit certain forms of
energy that can cause bodily harm, including short wave
diathermy. Due to predictable advances in technology in the field,
and rather than limiting the list to existing forms of energy, this
activity is worded so as to limit the use of invasive forms of
energy. It also excludes those that have only a superficial effect,
or, in other words, effects that do not penetrate beyond the
cutaneous barrier of the human body.”
(Section 12 of the Cahier explicatif de la loi 90)
ENGAGED
athlete:

For example:
• Treatment of wounds during emergency care, including
lacerations, abrasions, blisters, etc.
• Treatment of post-surgery scars in a clinical setting.
3. provide treatment to wounds;
ENGAGED
athlete:

4. administer topical medications that have been the subject of a
prescription as part of the use of forms of invasive energy and for
treatments of wounds.
Examples :
• Iontophoresis ;
• Antibiotics for the treatment of wounds.
ENGAGED
athlete:

An athletic therapist must engage in these professional activities for purposes of
supervising athletes in the preparation and execution of their physical activity,
offer them first aid on training and competition sites, determine their treatment
plan and evaluate and treat their problem or incapacity of musculoskeletal origin
in order to obtain optimum functional performance.
THIS CLAUSE DOES NOT LIMIT ATHLETIC THERAPISTS’ PLACE OF PRACTICE. Their work can be
carried out on a playing field (indoor or outdoor), at a sporting facility, in an area suitable
for physical activity (i.e. a park), in a professional office, in a training or conditioning centre,
in a clinical setting or potentially, at a hospital.
Furthermore, the origin of the musculoskeletal injury HAS NO BEARING ON THE DECISION TO
TREAT. As such, an amateur athlete who runs three times a week can resort to the services
of a therapist if, for example, (s)he sprains an ankle getting off the bus.
ENGAGED

An athletic therapist may engage in the professional activities provided in
paragraphs (2) to (4) of section 3 with any other persons if the following conditions
are respected:
1° the person presents a problem or incapacity of
musculoskeletal origin and the condition with which it is
associated, if any, is in a chronic phase and a controlled state;
2° there has been a prior assessment by a physiotherapist or a
medical diagnosis.
ENGAGED

This section is very IMPORTANT, because it means that the general
population is able to access athletic-therapy services. If there is an
associated affliction, the same rules apply here as with athletes.
PLEASE NOTE that we are not talking about getting a reference, but
rather, having an assessment or a diagnosis in hand.
EXAMPLE: A nurse sprains a limb at work. She is diabetic, but
the situation is stable and she receives medical attention. With
her physician’s diagnosis in hand, she can then receive the
services of an athletic therapist.
ENGAGED
An athletic therapist may engage in the professional activities provided in
paragraphs (2) to (4) of section 3 with any other persons if the following conditions
are respected:

Please send your questions and comments
to the following email address,
with the subject line “Authorization Regulation”.
admin@ctsq.qc.ca

Règlement d'autorisation (EN)

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