Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists

OT Then: Stories from our past

The history of occupational therapy in Canada is filled with fascinating stories of courage, insight and determination. Understanding how occupational therapy has developed across the country will help us to continually explore our professional identity, provide insight on how our profession is evolving, and leave a richer historical record for future generations.

With the common goal of bringing our history to life, members of the OT History Interest Group, at the University of Toronto, and the CAOT Archives committee have come together to profile these stories, both in a regular column in the OT Now and on the CAOT website.

The OT History Interest Group is made up of people who collect, maintain and examine archival and historical occupational therapy materials. We hope similar interest groups will form across Canada by generating interest and offering OT researchers and practitioners a venue to explore the history of OT. 

We encourage OT researchers and practitioners from across Canada to contribute pieces of interest, submit articles, locate and archive important historical texts, artifacts and share untold stories. Since we believe in an urgent need to document our early history, we will begin by focusing from about the period of 1900 to 1950.  Please send your entries by e-mail.

OT History Interest Group members: Sue Baptiste, Catherine Brackley, Mary Clarke, Lynn Cockburn, Jane Davis, Judy Friedland, Barry Trentham

Read about one of the first occupational therapists in Canada

Why are all these women dressed up?

Curative workshops

Jessie Luther