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HCPC · CORU · AHPRA · OTBNZ · Provincial college

Australia is short of occupational therapists.

Occupation Shortage List 2025 · shortage in all 8 states & territories · jobsandskills.gov.au

You help people do the ordinary things again — dress, cook, work, live independently.

An occupational therapist in a white coat pauses in thought at a bright clinic desk.

Occupational Therapist

Australia · AHPRA

AU Shortage · all 8 statesNZ Green List · Tier 1UK NHS shortfall planIE Critical Skills

5 of 5

countries carry this profession on an official shortage or priority list

NHS Long Term Workforce Plan · gov.uk · enterprise.gov.ie

NZ Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

2,162

open listings — NHS Jobs, HSE jobs, Health NZ portal, Job Bank Canada

exact title & keyword match · 2026-09-22

18,500

healthcare invitations in the last 12 months — 6 draws

canada.ca · rounds of invitations · 2026-09-22

What you do abroad

The work, and why it matters.

You help people do the ordinary things again — dress, cook, work, live independently.

For patients

The difference between discharge home and discharge to care.

For the system

Australia rates you in shortage in all eight states. The NHS names you among its greatest shortfalls.

For you

A profession every one of our five countries is actively recruiting.

Where the work happens

  • Hospitals
  • Mental health
  • Schools
  • Community care
Where you're wanted

Five of five countries list this role.

Each card carries this profession's strongest fact there, and what is open on the boards today.

United KingdomNamed among the greatest AHP shortfallsNHS Long Term Workforce Plan · june 2023
1,987 live · NHS Jobs

exact title · 2026-09-22

NHS Agenda for ChangeGBP 32,073Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Band 5, entry step · a year

Source: nhsemployers.org · agenda for change pay scales · 1 Apr 2026

IrelandOn the Critical Skills Occupations Listenterprise.gov.ie · 2026-09-22
9 live · HSE jobs

keyword match · 2026-09-22

HSE consolidated pay scaleEUR 45,514Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

entry grade · a year

Source: assets.hse.ie · consolidated salary scales · 1 Jun 2026

AustraliaShortage in all 8 states & territoriesjobsandskills.gov.au · 2025 list, state ratings
NSW Health professionals awardAUD 76,364Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Level 1 Year 1 · entry grade · a year

Source: health.nsw.gov.au · health professionals state award · 1 Jul 2025

New ZealandGreen List Tier 1 — straight to residenceimmigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22
80 live · Health NZ portal

exact title · 2026-09-22

Health NZ allied health scaleNZD 77,087Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Step 1 · entry grade · a year

Source: tewhatuora.govt.nz · allied health collective agreement · 2 Sept 2024

CanadaIn the Express Entry healthcare category (NOC 31203)canada.ca · 2026-09-22
86 live · Job Bank Canada

keyword match · 2026-09-22

BC health science professionalsCAD 43.83Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

P1, first year · entry grade · an hour

Source: hsabc.org · health science professionals agreement · 1 Apr 2025

You'd be in good company

Named, in their own words.

As of 28 August 2026, the highest numbers of approved graduate registrations were recorded in Social Work (188), Physiotherapy (165), Medical Science (114) and Occupational Therapy (91).
coru.ie · over 820 newly graduated health · 28 Aug 2026
A Career in Occupational TherapyWinnipeg Regional Health Authority · 22 Oct 2025
Who regulates you

Who decides, country by country.

The regulator assesses your qualification. We prepare and submit the file. The decision is theirs.

United Kingdom

HCPC

  • Degree, transcripts & syllabus mapped to its Standards of Proficiency
  • Registration and experience in your home country
  • English language test
hcpc-uk.org

Ireland

CORU

  • Qualification recognition against the Irish standard
  • Syllabus, placement hours and scope of practice
  • English language and good standing
coru.ie
  • Qualification assessment or portfolio, board by board
  • Supervised practice and recency
  • English language test
occupationaltherapyboard.gov.au
  • Qualification assessed against the NZ standard
  • Registration with the profession’s own board
  • Green List job offer → Straight to Residence
otboard.org.nz
  • Credential assessment for the province you choose
  • A national certification exam for most professions
  • Language test — English or French
canada.ca
Your route

Four steps to registration.

Fit check against the regulator’s standards

Your degree, syllabus and clinical hours read against the regulator’s own published standards.

Portfolio and syllabus prepared

Every document in the form the regulator asks for, translated and legalised in the right order.

Filed in your regulator account

Filed in your own account. Every query drafted by us, sent by you, tracked to the answer.

Registered, with your visa route documented

Registration comes first. The visa route follows the destination country’s published framework.

Recent numbers

The latest official figures.

Read from the government's own pages in September 2026. The date is the disclosure.

48,572

occupational therapists on the HCPC register

hcpc-uk.org · register summary · 1 Sept 2026

34,423

occupational therapists on the AHPRA register

ahpra.gov.au · australian health practitioner · read 23 Sept 2026

Tier 1

Green List Tier 1 — straight to residence

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

10,000

skilled-independent (189) invitations in the last SkillSelect round

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au · 2026-09-22

97,475

open NHS vacancies — 6.5% of the workforce

nhs vacancy statistics · mar 2026

Canada's last six Express Entry healthcare draws

Draw dateInvitationsCRS cut-off
4 Sept 20263,500475
25 Jun 20264,000475
20 Feb 20264,000467
11 Dec 20251,000476
14 Nov 20253,500462
15 Oct 20252,500472

canada.ca · rounds of invitations · 2026-09-22

Route finder

Where could you be working next year?

Two answers. Ten seconds. Then we show you what's open for your profession.

These describe each country’s general immigration framework as published, not a route we can promise or advise on. Immigration rules change and are applied case by case. For your own circumstances, consult a registered immigration adviser.

See your own route as an occupational therapist.

One more answer — where you want to work — and the facts are on screen.