Selecting a Massage Therapist

The MTAA makes the following suggestions when looking for a massage therapist:

• Clients are encouraged to inquire if their massage therapist is a member in good standing of a professional association, and then investigate the organization’s entry requirements and if there is a need for the therapists to fulfill continuing competence requirements.

• Clients are further encouraged to confirm with their third-party health benefits provider that their therapist's professional association is recognized and that receipts will be accepted for reimbursement without question.

• Massage therapy is not regulated under the Health Professions Act in Alberta. Municipal legislation (City Licensing) does not deal with practitioner competencies. As a result, it is an entirely "buyer beware" market, with no obligation for a therapist to be a member of a professional association, to possess professional and general liability insurance, or to abide by professional standards of practice.

• The Provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland / Labrador have Regulatory Colleges of Massage Therapy. In these provinces, there is mandatory registration of all massage therapists to ensure an absolute mechanism of accountability for therapists to abide by practice and ethical boundaries established for the profession.