Features Research
National Accreditation for MT Education – Bulletin No. 3

Accreditation operations will:

• Be administered by a newly-created, specific-purpose agency that is federally incorporated and governed jointly by massage therapy regulators, massage therapy educators and massage therapy professional associations.
• Take place in a manner consistent with the Good Practice Guidelines published by the Association of Accrediting Agencies of Canada
• Become revenue-neutral in the long-term, with operations funded through the accreditation fees paid by programs.

Accreditation services will:

• Be available to programs that take place in both private and public education institutions
• Avoid redundancy with provincial government requirements applicable to education institutions
• Be available in both regulated and unregulated provinces

Accreditation standards will:

• Be based upon the Inter-jurisdictional Practice Competencies and Performance Indicators approved by the regulated provinces in 2012 (and incorporate future updates to that document)
• Be flexible in their application, focusing more on the student learning outcomes produced by the program than on the program’s structure and process
• Be developed in consultation with stakeholders

Over the next few months, the committee will continue its work to create an implementation plan that will address the structure and governance of the accreditation agency, operating principles and process, resourcing, and a phase-in approach and timeframe.

An open stakeholder workshop is also being planned for the fall, where the committee will present its plan and seek feedback.

Communications for the consultant or the Planning Committee can be sent by email to MTaccreditation@telus.net.