Progress on our Commitment to Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility

We continue to take steps that embed the principles of cultural safety and humility into our organizational values, governance, and operations.  Below we share highlights of our recent activities.

Website Updates After completing an environmental scan, we are updating and developing content for our website. Examples of planned topics include land acknowledgements, a listing of relevant reports and publications, and an overview of resources and continuing education opportunities.

We are excited to explore engaging the talent of a local Indigenous artist to develop meaningful, culturally appropriate images for the site.

Adoption of a COTBC Land Acknowledgement Policy We believe meaningful land acknowledgements are an initial step towards reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility. They show recognition and respect, which are essential to strengthening and healing relationships.

Given this, COTBC recently adopted a new policy that guides the organization on how its land acknowledgements will be developed and delivered.

Self-Identification of Indigenous Occupational Therapists As part of this year’s registration renewal, we invited occupational therapists to voluntarily disclose if they identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit) and if so, if they were interested in being contacted to provide their perspectives on important regulatory issues.

We are pleased to share that of the 31 registrants that self-identified as Indigenous, 18 consented to contact. We sincerely appreciate this interest, and we will be in touch as opportunities arise to provide your valuable input.

National Indigenous Peoples Day Staff of COTBC and the College of Physiotherapists of BC gathered on National Indigenous Peoples Day to reflect and learn about the impacts of colonization in Canada and the importance of land acknowledgements.