Vicars Leadership Advocates for RMT Regulation
Massage therapists have been in the news recently, and this has brought renewed attention to the ongoing fight for massage therapy regulation in Alberta.
Last week, Vicars staff spoke to CTV News Edmonton about the importance of professional regulation for RMTs and third-party accreditation for massage schools in Alberta – and what steps the provincial government would need to take to make this happen.
There have been several high-profile cases of massage therapists being charged with abuse of their clients. And while no single law or piece of regulation will stop some people from hurting others, regulating massage therapy in Alberta would go a long way toward protecting the public.
Watch the full story on CTV News Edmonton
Click here to watch Executive Director Sarah Ward-Bakken and Curriculum Director Linda McGeachy explain why regulation and independent accreditation is so important for the future of safe and effective massage therapy in Alberta.
At Vicars School of Massage Therapy, we’ve always been advocates for provincial regulation of massage. Sarah Ward-Bakken, our executive director, explains the importance of provincial regulation by comparing the situation in Alberta to how things work in regulated provinces like BC and Ontario:
In BC, the profession is overseen by the College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC. In Ontario, they’re governed by the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. (The other regulated provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island). These regulatory colleges exist because those provinces are regulated.
“The role of a College of Massage Therapists is to dictate the standard of practice and the scope of practice of a massage therapist, with the ultimate goal of protecting the public. Their whole goal is to make sure that massage therapists are safe and effective” she says.
The College sets and enforces minimum standards of skill and knowledge for massage therapists. These are called competencies. After graduation, a therapist must pass both written and practical exams before they can legally call themselves an RMT (Registered Massage Therapist).
“So everyone who has earned the title of RMT in British Columbia has met a minimum benchmark.”
Alberta doesn’t have this. Instead, there are professional associations. These organizations provide their members with continued education, liability insurance, and a billing number for insurance companies. There are no entry exams , and each association sets its own entrance standards for members.
“The challenge is that these associations don’t have a standardized requirement for becoming a member. So the competency levels of massage therapists around the province is very varied,” says Sarah. This can have serious consequences for the public.
“It’s also important that the schools, professional associations, and accrediting and regulatory groups should all be independent of each other, which isn’t the case right now.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Alberta government is currently reviewing an application for regulation that was submitted by the Alberta Working Group for the Regulation of Massage Therapy (AWGRMT) late in 2024.
If massage therapy becomes regulated, all schools will have to meet the national standards that other regulated provinces follow – which would be great news for both massage students and the public.
“The biggest thing that regulation would do is put everyone on a level playing field,” says Linda McGeachy, Curriculum Director at Vicars.
Readers who are in favour of this level playing field—and want all RMTs in Alberta to have a minimum level of safety and effectiveness—are encouraged to contact the Health Minister, Minister of Advanced Education, and their MLA.
Regulation and Accreditation: Know the difference
Regulation and accreditation are both important, and both essential for the future of massage therapy in Alberta. But they aren’t the same. Here’s what you need to know:
Regulation is for the whole profession. It means that the provincial government would define what it means to be a massage therapist – including minimum levels of training and skill (called “competencies”) and what RMTs can and can’t do (called “scope of practice”). They would base this on the same standards that other regulated provinces follow (you can read the standards here). The day-to-day oversight of RMTs and massage schools in a regulated province falls to the regulatory college.
This would mean that the public could be confident that any therapist calling themself an RMT will have earned the title and have demonstrated that they have the skills and knowledge to provide treatments that are both effective and safe.
Other regulated health care professions in Alberta include acupuncture, dental hygiene, medicine and surgery, midwifery, nursing, physiotherapy, and naturopathy.
Accreditation applies to massage therapy training programs. It’s the official approval of a program by an independent accreditation organization. In Canada, that’s the Canadian Massage Therapy Council for Accreditation (CMTCA). In order to earn the CMTCA’s approval – full accreditation status – a program needs to undergo a thorough evaluation. The CMTCA reviews curriculum, policies, student experience, staff training, and even the campus facilities to make sure that the school meets the Canadian standards.
Right now, Alberta massage schools don’t have to be accredited. In fact, most aren’t. (In Alberta, Vicars School of Massage Therapy is the only accredited private college, and the only 100% blended-learning program). If massage therapy becomes regulated, all schools will have to meet the same standard—which would be great news for massage students and the public.
