Physiotherapist from U.K. unable to work in Quebec despite shortage

Physiotherapist Lorenzo Ottanelli never imagined he would face such a laundry list of obstacles to work in Quebec – a province dealing with a shortage of physiotherapists.

But that’s been the case for the internationally trained physio with years of private practice under his belt.

The 32-year-old from the United Kingdom says meeting the equivalency requirements of Quebec’s professional order of physiotherapy – the OPPQ – hasn’t been easy.

Unable to work for a year already, Ottanelli is strongly considering moving back home.

“They’re not really trying to attract skilled immigrants to Quebec and Canada in general, I don’t think,” Ottanelli told CityNews.

“The way things are at the moment, I think I’m set on going back to the U.K.”

After last living in London, Ottanelli and his Montreal wife decided to relocate to Montreal to be closer to her family.

“I applied for the permanent residency visa,” he recounted. “It wasn’t really easy, but I got there and then moved to Quebec and that’s where trouble started.”

The trouble for Ottanelli isn’t a question of diplomas or certification; he has a bachelor’s degree of science in sports rehabilitation from St. Mary’s University (2018) and a master’s of science in physiotherapy at Brunel University (2021) – both in London. His training is similar in content and identical in duration to the McGill program.

Ottanelli then went on to work at a private practice.

“In Canada, I guess you have to go through a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree to be a physiotherapist,” he said. “In the U.K. and in Europe, you don’t have to do a master’s, but I do have a master’s.”

What it comes down to is getting his physiotherapist accreditation transferred to be able to work in Quebec.

“They require some sort of certified version of my degree, which I provided, but because it was a copy and not the original, they kind of declined it because that’s the way they do things, I guess,” said Ottanelli.

At least 18 months to obtain licence, professional order says

The OPPQ says it takes an estimated 18 to 24 months for physiotherapy professionals trained abroad to obtain a licence to practise physiotherapy in Quebec.

“The most frequently required support measure for physiotherapy professionals trained abroad wishing to obtain a licence to practise physiotherapy in Quebec, regardless of the country, is a 16-month refresher training program,” the OPPQ said.

“I was told I would have to go back to college potentially to do some training or have to go back to do some internships for months and months,” Ottanelli said.

Immigration lawyer Ho Sung Kim says it’s not uncommon to see discrepancies or delays throughout immigration processes and professional order registration.

“These equivalencies provide you a certain period of time to go through all the requirements, including French,” said Kim. “If you start the process too early, or if you don’t meet one criteria of all the requirements, you may have to reply and start from scratch.”

Having already been unable to practise physiotherapy for a year, an additional 18 to 24 months is time Lorenzo feels he doesn’t have.

“It’s a shame because I feel like Montreal is a great city,” said Ottanelli. “It just I feel like, as an immigrant, if you didn’t study here, it’s really, really challenging.”

“And it’s a shame because my wife is from here.”