FAQs

CUSTOMER SERVICE – When you have questions, we know you want answers! When you have a problem, we know you want a solution! That is why we have staff dedicated to making sure that your email is answered within 1 business day! That is why we have staff that are dedicated to answering your phone call, or returning your call on the off chance that you have to leave a message because our staff are all busy meeting other members needs. That is what CMMOTA is all about! We pride ourselves on our customer service, but don’t take our word for it, here is some feedback from our members:

“I would like to thank everyone at CMMOTA!! You have been amazing support through all of this, and I truly appreciate you keeping us informed and safe! I am so proud to be a member of CMMOTA! I do really appreciate everything you do for us!! CMMOTA rocks!” -Vicki
“I have to say I am very grateful to have you all working so hard to get us back to work safely. This was a very detailed and very thought out guidelines and protocols. I like how you are taking that extra step” -Melanie
“Wow guys. Way to go above and beyond on keeping therapists and patients safe.” -Andrew
“I’d like to express my gratitude for your tremendous efforts and great work you guys did through the pandemic uncertainty. The weekly updates recap is appreciated a lot.” -Donxia

OCCURANCE BASED INSURANCE – Not all professional liability insurance is created equally. Reading the following information may be the most important thing that you read this year – what kind of insurance do you have if you’re not with CMMOTA??
The current CMMOTA insurance program gives its members both OCCURRENCE BASED Commercial General Liability (CGL) and OCCURRENCE BASED Malpractice liability coverage.
Commercial General Liability covers property damage or injury to others that may occur while on or around your business premises when you are not directly providing RMT or MOT services to them (for example a client breaks their leg tripping on a loose piece of carpet entering your office). Malpractice Liability provides coverage for injury that directly results from your treatment or failure to provide the correct treatment to the client (ie. you injure a client due to improper treatment).
Occurrence based coverage means insurance would respond to an injury claim that was brought forward, even if it was months or years after the treatment that caused the injury was given, even if the policy has been cancelled.
With a Claims Made based policy, the claim has to be brought forward while the policy is active. As soon as a Claims Made policy goes inactive for any reason, it voids coverage for all past claims. While there are ways to extend the reporting period for Claims Made there is often a cost and a time limit of only a few years for these extensions.
So, for example, for someone going on maternity leave it would NOT be advisable for them to temporarily cancel a Claims Made Based policy as doing so could result in a denial of an injury claim from a past treatment. This would leave the member responsible for paying their own defense costs and any judgments against them. Even in cases where it is unlikely that there will be any judgement against the practitioner, the defense costs can be considerable. This same scenario with the CMMOTA Occurrence Based program poses no such issues as long as it can be shown a policy was in place when the treatment occurred that caused the injury.
So does this kind of insurance cost more? Check out our professional liability insurance rates by visiting the CMMOTA Fee Schedule

LOW PRICED MEMBERSHIP COSTS – We know how much everyone values a dollar. That is why CMMOTA strives to keep our membership fees among the lowest in the Country, for both our Massage Therapist and Manual Osteopathic Therapist members. You can find a breakdown of our YEARLY membership fees in the CMMOTA Fee Schedule. We also prorate our membership fees on a quarterly basis, and starting in 2024 Membership Renewal Fees include basic professional liability insurance (breakdown is included in the CMMOTA Fee Schedule)

PERKS – One of the great things about belonging to CMMOTA is the incredible Partner Perks program that our members enjoy! These have been developed over our 46 years of delivering member services, and we are continuously trying to include more and more relevant discounts that will apply to both your personal and professional lives! It is a great way to save on some of your regular recurring costs. We have one member who maintains their membership so that they could get the discount for TD Home and Auto Insurance. This perk alone saves them more than the cost of their yearly membership fees. We also have a member who recently reported to us that their annual savings on a new phone plan from one of our Partner Perks saved them more than their membership and insurance fees combined.

Here is a list of our current Perks Partners:

PD Workshops
TD Home and Auto Insurance
Bell – various deals on cell phone services
Rogers – various deals on cell phone services
St. John’s Ambulance – 10% off
Seminars for Health – 10% off their courses
GoodLife Corporate Wellness – save up to 40%
SSQ Optional Group Accident Insurance
OrthoCanada – 10% off
Mark’s Work Warehouse – 10% off anything in the store
Noterro – 25% off
K-Taping Academy Canada – 15% off
Academy of Integrative Medicine – 15% off
CMMOTA Referral Program – earn $10 in credit for every person that you refer to our association, which are applied to future membership renewal fee costs.

WE ARE NATIONAL – Did you know that there are many advantages to being part of a professional Association that is National? Here are a few of our favorites:

Moving from one province or territory to another? Your membership travels with you, no need to switch associations in the middle of the year! All that you have to do if you are moving from Province to Province is inform CMMOTA of your impending move, and we will help you to navigate any necessary changes you may need to make (like insurance, membership certificates, changes to your direct billing setup, etc.).

We have a National voice, not just a Provincial one. CMMOTA has been busy establishing a voice with all Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments throughout our great Nation, and as our membership numbers continue to grow, so too will our influence when it comes to advocacy efforts at both Federal and Provincial/Territorial government levels.

A Massage Therapy Student member is someone who is currently enrolled in their first year or second year.

An Massage Therapy Associate member is someone who has completed first year and is continuing their education to obtain a minimum of a 2200 hour diploma.

A Full Massage Therapist, Spa Therapist, or Registered Massage Therapist member has completed a 2200 hour program AND submitted all necessary documentation to the CMMOTA required to obtain and maintain their membership with the Association.

The current 3 year period is from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024. This period is the same for all members. The submission deadline for continuing education credits is January 15, 2025. All members are responsible for completing credits and for submitting proof of same within the required timeline. The courses must have been taken within the current submission cycle. For example courses taken in the year 2021 or prior would not count for credits. The required CE credits are prorated depending on your effective date for becoming a Full member:

By logging in to your Member Profile and editing your information. There are fields that you will not be able to access that only the CMMOTA can see. Be sure to click “Save” when you are done. The modalities that you specialize in are only reflected if you have sent in a certificate of completion for the corresponding course.

The AGM is a meeting place where members can come and network, meet the board members including the President, and have their voice heard. The general discussions revolve around any changes to policy or bylaws within the association, and the projection of where the Association is headed. Do not forget that it is mandatory to attend at least one meeting every three year cycle. You will receive 4 credits per meeting that you attend. Failure to attend one AGM every 3 year cycle, if required under your membership class/type will result in a AGM-Fee-In Lieu, in accordance with the CMMOTA Fee Schedule, which must be paid prior to membership renewal the following year.

In accordance with CMMOTA Bylaws, and CMMOTA Policy, only Members, and special guests invited by motion of the Board of Directors may attend.

No, it will not have any affect or hindrance on the move towards Massage Therapy Regulation in the province of Alberta or elsewhere. This is because it is its own profession.
As an organization we remain invested in the Transitional Council for the College of Massage Therapy of Alberta. Our board strongly believes that by working together with the other associations in each province we will be able to see regulation achieved and as an Association we continue to work towards that end

An Osteopath in Canada refers to a Medical Doctor that has specialized his training in Osteopath Therapy. There are currently no schools in Canada that provide this specialized training, and there are currently between 20-30 Osteopaths nation wide. In Canada the terms “Osteopath”, and “Osteopathic Physician” are both protected titles under the College of Physicians and Surgeons in most, if not all provinces and territories.
Manual Osteopathic Therapists or Osteopathic Manual Therapists (the terms are interchangeable) are non-physicians who have been trained in a specialized school of Osteopathy. According to the World Health Organization there are 2 different types of Manual Osteopathic Therapists. The first training program – which is referred to as type 1 – is “aimed at those with little or no prior health-care training, but who have completed high school education or equivalent. These programs typically are four-year, full time programs. Supervised clinical training at an appropriate osteopathic clinical facility is an essential component, and students may be required to complete a thesis or a project.” (World Health Organization, Benchmarks for Training in Osteopathy, 2010. P7.) A typical type 1 program would take 4200 hours, including at least 1000 hours of supervised clinical practice and training. The second training program – which is referred to as type 2 – is “aimed at those with prior training as health-care professionals. Type 2 programs have the same aims and content as the Type 1 programs, but the course content and length may be modified depending on the prior experience and training of individual applicants.” (World Health Organization, Benchmarks for Training in Osteopathy, 2010., P7.) This program is typically around 1000 hours in length and is adapted depending on the individuals prior training and knowledge.

The primary difference is in the type of benchmark that the programs are trying to attain. Most of the 4 to 5 years schools have been started by Manual Osteopathic Therapists that have been trained and emigrated from Europe, Australia or Asian countries where the training is 4 to 5 years. In Canada, Massage Therapists go through rigorous training in Anatomy, and Physiology, whereas most other places in the world, and even in the United States, the requirements for Massage Therapy training are much lower. It is with this preconceived idea that many of those school approach the requirement to have a 4 to 5-year program, as such based on a Type 1 WHO model. Those schools who have a condensed model are the ones who require that the individual taking Manual Osteopathic Therapy have prior experience in the health-care industry(ies) and take the approach of the Type 2 WHO model.

The benchmark for Manual Osteopathic Therapists has already been set by The World Health Organization.
In specific regard to our organization’s acceptance of Manual Osteopathic Therapists we would be looking at the requirements laid out for a WHO Type 2 Osteopathic Therapist, which is 1000 hours of instruction at an approved school.

Membership renewal fees are due by December 31.

If you reside in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan,  or the Yukon Territory membership renewal fees include basic professional liability insurance which is payable directly to the Association.

If you reside in New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, or Quebec – your membership renewal invoice will not include basic professional liability insurance. You are responsible to pay your insurance broker directly for your insurance and provide a copy of your insurance certificate directly to the Association as part of the renewal process.

You can refer to the “Credit Guidelines” on the website, if you are a member fill out an Appendix 22 – Member CEC Course Evaluation Form and submit it, or if you are course developer fill out an Appendix 23 – Course Developer CEC Course Evaluation Form, or send a website link by email to info@cmtdev.ca as the course you are interested in may have been previously approved. If the course has not been approved, we may ask for additional information in order to evaluate it.