FAQs
The RMTAO is the professional voice of massage therapy. Established in 1936, the RMTAO is a member driven, non-profit association that provides leadership for and advocates on behalf of the profession. The RMTAO advances the profession of massage therapy by promoting a professional image to the public, educational institutions, the government, business and other health care professions.
The RMTAO is the voice of the massage therapy profession, and we advocate on your behalf. We advocate to ensure that Ontarians have and want complete access to massage therapy, and our healthcare peers understand and appreciate our expertise. As a member, you are supporting these efforts, and supporting the growth and development of the massage therapy profession.
As a member of the Registered Massage Therapists' Association of Ontario, you will also have access to the tools, programs and services that will help you build your practice and grow in your career as an RMT. Read more about the benefits of membership.
All Registered Massage Therapists are required to be registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. You can go to www.cmto.com, and navigate to the Public Register on the top of the screen.
Typically, appointments or sessions are based on visits lasting 15, 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes. An appointment or session will likely include the following components, each of which will vary in the amount of time required to complete including: intake/interview, initial assessment or re-assessment, treatment, self-care recommendations, charting, and administration. The RMTAO has published a recommended fee schedule for the information of massage therapists. This is not a mandatory schedule. As such, massage therapists must set their own fees based on their practice and the environment in which it exists. Please view our section Services and Fees for further information. While these fees may vary from practice to practice, all fees must be clearly posted, and patients must be notified prior to any fee changes.
Whether to offer a tip or gratuity is a growing question among patients of massage therapists. Currently, there are no rules governing the provision of gratuity; however, clients are urged to consider the environment in which the service has been provided. Massage therapists are health professionals, and as such, they do not expect a gratuity when they provide services in your home, their private clinic or a multidisciplinary setting. A massage therapist will use his or her discretion when deciding whether to accept gratuities from you as a patient. It is not recommended that a tip or gratuity be sought or required, and many RMTs will refuse a tip if offered.
If you are seeking massage therapy treatment in Ontario, please visit our companion website: www.RMTFind.com . You can search by postal code, region or massage therapist name to find a massage therapist near you.
The practice of massage therapy is regulated under the Regulated Health Professions Act and the Massage Therapy Act. These pieces of legislation establish the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO) and the profession of massage therapy as a self-regulating health profession in Ontario.
The CMTO exists to protect the public interest and to regulate the profession of massage therapy, through the maintenance of high professional standards. The CMTO also ensures ethical, high-quality health care.
Questions regarding the conduct of a Registered Massage Therapist must be addressed to the CMTO. The RHPA requires the CMTO to have a formal complaints process. This process gives any member of the public the right to have his/her complaint about a Registered Massage Therapist's behaviour, conduct or practice investigated by the College's Complaints Committee. Each step of the process is designed to ensure fairness to both the complainant and the member who is the subject of the complaint.
You may file a complaint with the Registrar in writing, recorded on audio tape or on video, submitted on disk or on other permanent medium. The complaint should include the name of the Massage Therapist, the time, place, date(s) and details of the event(s).
For more information about the College, or to file a complaint you may visit their website at www.cmto.com
No. Massage therapy treatments are not covered under OHIP, regardless of whether the treatments are provided by a Registered Massage Therapist directly, by a physician or required (i.e. a prescription) by a physician.
Most progressive extended health benefit plans do cover massage therapy treatments when provided by a Registered Massage Therapist and most do not require a physician's order to do so. Contact your employer for more information.
In order to become a Registered Massage Therapist in Ontario, an individual must complete an educational program at an educational institution recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
Upon graduation, the individual must become registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO), the regulatory body for the profession. This includes the completion of Certification Examinations.
Certification Examinations include two components, Multiple-Choice Examination and Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE). Successful completion of both components of the certification examination is a non-exemptible requirement for all candidates seeking registration with the College.
If an individual has previously practiced massage therapy in another province or territory, or in another country, click here for an overview of the requirements to become registered in ontario.
For more information about the examination process or the CMTO, visit www.cmto.com.
Through our Flex membership, you can enroll in optional programs at the same point at which you renew your RMTAO membership. You can also add any programs at any point throughout the year through each individual program page. Some programs, such as Professional Liability Insurance and GoodLife Fitness Memberships are pro-rated at various points throughout the year. For certain programs, including Home and Auto Insurance, or Health Benefits , the fee to the RMTAO is only for enrolment in the program, and additional fees will be required. View the programs pages for more details.
Please note that all RMTAO optional programs run from October 1, or the date payment is received, whichever is later, to the following October 1.
In Canada, before a health profession can be exempt from charging HST the profession must be regulated in a minimum of five (5) provinces. Massage therapy has recently been regulated in Prince Edward Island, meaning that massage therapy is now regulated in five provinces - Ontario, Newfoundland, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The next step would be a formal application by the Canadian Massage Therapist Alliance (CMTA) to the Federal Minister of Finace for tax exemption for massage therapists. The RMTAO plays a leadership role in the CMTA, and along with our CMTA partners we are currently laying the necessary groundwork and gathering the necessary information in order to build a strong case for tax exemption. Based on the experiences of other health professions applying for tax exemption, we expect this process to take two to four years.
In the meantime, most Massage Therapists are HST-registered under the rules established by the Canadian Government are required to charge and remit HST.
The RMTAO offers an online career opportunities service to assist Registered Massage Therapists in finding positions or space available. Visit the Career Centre to post a position. You will be able to provide your contact information, what you're offering, your job requirements, etc. You can choose to advertise a position available and add compensation as either a split percentage or salary. You can also advertise a space available and include a requested rent. The cost is $90 (+HST) to advertise a position for a period of 28 days.
If you have previously created an account on RMTAO.com as a student, please log-in to that account, and click on join now on the dashboard screen. If you do not have an account, you can click on become a member from the home screen of RMTAO.com.
If you do not yet have a CMTO registration number, you can check off the option that says that you are in the process of obtaining it and will provide it to the RMTAO within 30 days of your purchase of insurance. Our Quick Enrol options allow you to purchase both membership and Professional Liability Insurance in a single transaction. By choosing the Trisura Portal Quick Enrol option, you can access new grad discounts on Professional Liability insurance and free unlimited legal consultations. If you would like to purchase just membership, or membership and any of our optional programs, you can choose the Flex Option. You can learn more about our programs by clicking here.
If you have any questions that were not answered above, do not hesitate to contact the RMTAO office at 1-800-668-2022, or info@rmtao.com