Get people moving again after injury, surgery and illness. A tough master's to get into, then steady work everywhere.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$96,000
New grad
$62,000
Senior hospital or clinic lead
$117,000
Job Bank's median is about $46 an hour, roughly $96,000 a year full time, with a spread of about $30 to $56 an hour. Hospital physios sit on a union grid of roughly $38 to $52 an hour. Private clinic physios are usually paid a share of what they bill, so busy ones earn more and slow weeks earn less. Clinic owners can clear $150,000 or more.
$30 to $40 an hour
About $62,000 to $83,000 a year full time
Hospitals and public rehab centres pay a bit more than private clinics at the start. Rural and northern jobs often add signing bonuses.
$150,000 to $250,000+
Owner-operators with several therapists on staff
Private physiotherapy is a fee-for-service business: $90 to $150 a visit, paid by patients or their insurance. Most physios never own, but the option is real and common.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
Both ends are the same path: a four year undergraduate degree, then a two year master of science in physiotherapy, then the national licensing exam at around 2,500 dollars and the first year of provincial college registration. The low end is cheaper universities throughout, the high end the most expensive programs. Quebec runs combined bachelor and master programs that come in below the rest of the country. Registration fees of 500 to 800 dollars repeat every year once you are working.
Total tuition around $55,000 to $80,000. Quebec runs cheaper combined bachelor-master programs.
Pension
HOOPP (the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) or a provincial equivalent in hospitals.
Union pay grid and extended health
In public settings.
Flexible private-sector schedules
Part-time and split weeks are normal.
Being your own boss
Many physios work as self-employed contractors or open a clinic.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A bachelor's degree, then a 2-year professional master's.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Biology, chemistry, physics, math. You need high marks for the whole path.
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Kinesiology, health science or biology are common. Programs look at your GPA in the last 2 years and want it high, usually 3.7 or better on a 4.0 scale.
MScPT (master of science in physiotherapy)
2 years
Two intense years with 1,000 or more hours of clinical placements across hospitals, private clinics and community care. Only about 15 programs in Canada.
CPTE (Canadian Physiotherapy Examination)
After graduation
Since 2026 there is one national exam, run by CAPR (the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators). It has a written section and an oral, scenario-based section with a single pass mark. It replaced the old PCE (physiotherapy competency exam) and the separate provincial clinical exams.
Register with your provincial college
A few weeks
For example the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario. Then you can use the title physiotherapist.
Biology
Anatomy is the foundation of everything.
Physics
Movement is physics.
Chemistry
A prerequisite for most science degrees.
Math and English
Both required for admission almost everywhere.
Physiotherapist is a protected title in every province. Outside Quebec you register with a provincial college after passing the CPTE (Canadian Physiotherapy Examination). Registration transfers between provinces with paperwork. You do not need a doctor's referral to see a physiotherapist anywhere in Canada, though some insurance plans still ask for one.
About 15 accredited programs in Canada. A few examples:
University of Toronto, McMaster, Western, Queen's, University of Ottawa
Ontario
UBC (University of British Columbia)
British Columbia
University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan
Prairies
McGill, Université de Montréal, Laval, Dalhousie
Quebec and Atlantic Canada
Things you don't need, but that help.
Manual therapy fellowship, FCAMPT (Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapy)
Years of extra courses and exams; allows spinal manipulation and raises clinic rates.
Sport physiotherapy diploma
Sideline coverage for teams, up to national and Olympic level.
Pelvic health
A fast-growing private niche; courses cost a few thousand dollars.
Acupuncture and dry needling
A common add-on in private clinics.
Volunteer or work in a physio clinic
Most programs require observation hours.
Athletic experience or coaching
Physiotherapist assistant work
A 2-year college diploma, and a paid way to see the job up close.
Comfort with hands-on work
Half the job is touching strangers.
Most private clinics are owned by physiotherapists. A typical path: 3 to 5 years as an associate, then buy in or open a small clinic. Income can double, but so does the stress: rent, staff, marketing and insurance billing.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Private clinic: 30-minute appointments back to back, 12 to 16 patients a day, mostly backs, knees, shoulders and post-surgery rehab. Hands-on treatment, exercise prescription, notes. Hospital: fewer patients, sicker. Getting someone walking the day after a hip replacement, chest physio in intensive care, discharge planning with the team.
The good
The hard parts
Like the field but not this exact job?
Things people don't tell you.
In every province you can book a physiotherapist directly without seeing a doctor first.
Physiotherapy was a 4-year undergraduate degree in Canada until the 2000s. Every English-language program has since moved to a 2-year master's on top of a bachelor's.
Sport physiotherapy diploma holders cover Olympic and Paralympic teams, Hockey Canada and pro clubs. The early work is unpaid or low paid, and very competitive.
Many private-clinic physios are contractors paid 40% to 60% of what they bill. That is why two physios in the same clinic can earn very different amounts.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.