Supervised Practice - College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba

April 8, 2025

The Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR) is currently in the process of transitioning back to a single examination which is scheduled to start in January 2026 with the last written exam offering currently scheduled for November 2025. This will impact the Examination Candidate registration process with the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba, the supervision process and access to the Practice Based Competency Assessment (PBCA). More details regarding this examination and the impact to the PBCA can be found under the Practice Based Competency Assessment tab of the website. Please continue to monitor the CAPR and CPM website for more information in the coming months.

The College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba (CPM) mandates the Supervised Practice Program for the following candidates to ensure competence and safety in physiotherapy practice in Manitoba:

New graduates from Canadian physiotherapy programs
Internationally Educated Physiotherapists (IEPs) seeking registration in Canada
Re-entry candidates resuming professional practice

What is Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision is a formal mentorship process designed to enhance a candidate’s clinical knowledge, competency, and professional accountability. Under the guidance of an experienced physiotherapist, candidates develop the ability to deliver safe, ethical, and effective patient care in complex clinical settings. Please review the Physiotherapists’ Guide to Supervision of Examination Candidates for detailed information.

Definitions

Supervisor
A physiotherapist registered with the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba (CPM) with a minimum of two years of physiotherapy experience, who has agreed to supervise the practice of the Exam Candidate.

Program Objectives

The Supervised Practice Program is structured to support the Examination Candidate through:

Providing opportunities for continued learning in preparation for the Clinical Evaluation.
Promoting a thorough understanding of safety and ethical standards in physiotherapy practice.
Enhancing confidence in clinical decision-making and patient care delivery.
Foster effective communication with patients, colleagues, and interdisciplinary healthcare teams.
Facilitate professional networking within the profession.
Deliver ongoing evaluation and constructive feedback to support skill development.
Aligning their practice with current Canadian physiotherapy standards and regulation of practice.

Program Completion

The Supervised Practice Program concludes upon the candidate’s successful completion of the Clinical Evaluation or completion of accepted alternative examination, enabling eligibility for independent practice in Manitoba.

Important Information for Candidates and Supervisors
Candidates and supervisors are required to regularly review updates from CPM, including communications and the CPM website, for any changes to the Supervised Practice Program requirements or processes.

Please note

Please note that Supervisors and Examination Candidates are expected to check the website and communications sent from the College regularly which will outline any changes to the requirements and process for Supervised Practice.

***The assessment of Clinical Performance (ACP) tool is transitioning to an online submission. To learn more about these changes please watch a voiced over Power Point in the Professional Development and Committee Portal under Supervised Practice Resources – Introduction to the Updated 2021 ACP Online Submission.

Resources

Physiotherapists’ Guide to Supervision of Examination Candidates

Supervised Practice Plan

Supervised Practice Agreement

Initial Clinical Performance Tool

The candidate must secure employment under supervision.
The candidate must submit the Supervised Practice Agreement to the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba (CPM)
The candidate must maintain current liability insurance coverage and ensure to identify themselves as Physiotherapy Examination Candidate as per the Practice Direction on Titles, Credentials, and Specialty Designations.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to notify CPM if there is a change in the Supervisor/employment.
The candidate is responsible for being aware of and adhere to the restriction on their license outlined in Registration and Licensing Direction 3.3 Registration on the Examination Candidate Register.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to submit self-reported practice hours after every 400 practice hour interval along with the ACP evaluations (both to be submitted following completion of 400 practice hours, 800 practice hours and 1200 practice hours) if applying for the Practice Based Competency Assessment or until they have successfully passed an alternate clinical evaluation. It is the Examination Candidate’s responsibility to track these hours across all employers and communicate with their supervisor(s) when the ACP is due.

The Supervisor must be a Manitoba registered physiotherapist with a minimum of two years on the Active Practice Register. If there are questions regarding this requirement, the employer/potential supervisor should contact the College – registration@manitobaphysiotherapy.com
The Supervisor must submit a Supervision Plan to CPM prior to the Examination Candidate starting Supervised Practice.
The Supervisor assumes responsibility for the delegation of activities that are within the Exam Candidate’s knowledge, skill and abilities and oversees these activities. Chart notes do not need to be co-signed but should be reviewed initially.
Evaluations by the Supervisor are required to be completed and submitted to CPM when requested. This includes the Initial Clinical Performance Tool and an ACP (Assessment of Clinical Performance). The Initial Clinical Performance Tool must be completed after a minimum of 10 days of clinical practice and must be kept in the Examination Candidate’s file. This would need to be submitted to CPM if requested. A formal evaluation using the Assessment of Clinical Practice (ACP) tool must be conducted every 400 practice hours accrued during supervised practice. It is the Examination Candidate’s responsibility to track their practice hours across all employers and communicate to their supervisor(s) when each 400 hour block is completed and an ACP must be submitted. If no ACP is received following six months in supervised practice, these forms will be requested at that time. As of July 1, 2024, the ACP will transition to an online submission through Microsoft Forms. The Supervisor and Examination Candidate will be provided the link to this form with the initial supervision email sent. There must be one designated facility Supervisor identified to CPM. For specific clinical settings, other physiotherapists may be assigned up to three supervisors maximum to supervise and evaluate the candidate but must report back to the designated Supervisor. A Supervisor may not have more than three supervisees under their Supervision at any given time.
Both parties in the Supervised Practice Agreement may be asked to provide evaluation of the program.

For the supervised practice to be deemed complete, the Examination Candidate must successfully pass an approved clinical evaluation.

The following clinical examination have been approved by Council:

OCE
PBCA
ACEBC

Please note:

It is the individual’s responsibility to educate themselves regarding these options, including further details on eligibility, dates available, cost and how to apply. If an Examination Candidate does not successfully pass the clinical evaluation, they must remain under supervised practice until they successfully pass a clinical evaluation. Details regarding requirements to continue in Supervised Practice following a failure of the Practice Based Competency Assessment are outlined in 3.13 Failure of an Entry to Practice Clinical Evaluation and 3.25 Practice Based Competency Assessment. It is important to remember, Registration on the Examination Candidate register may not exceed two years or three failed Clinical Evaluation attempts, whichever comes first.

Ontario exam is a fully virtual scenario-based exam. To be eligible to attempt this exam, the individual must have previously successfully completed the Physiotherapy Competency Exam (written) within the last five years, they meet the technology requirements and have a copy of their physiotherapy degree. An individual will be ineligible if they have unsuccessfully attempted the OCE or another jurisdiction’s approved clinical evaluation on 3 occasions. Council has had confirmation that Manitoba graduates can register for the OCE and Council will accept this as an approved clinical evaluation to move to a full Active license. The Council is aware that the exam is based on Ontario legislation and will assume that Examination Candidates who register for this exam are aware and waive their right to appeal a result based on this reasoning. For more information on the OCE, please visit the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario website: https://www.collegept.org/ontario-clinical-exam.

Practice Based Competency Assessment (PBCA) Program

Alternate Evaluation BC (ACEBC) – British Columbia’s exam is an in-person OSCE exam that takes place in Vancouver. This exam is run jointly through the College of Physical Therapists of BC and the University of British Columbia (UBC), Department of Physical Therapy. This exam does prioritize spaces for the BC graduates but is open at a later registration date for registrants across Canada. As with Ontario’s exam, an individual is eligible to register if they have passed the PCE (written component) and have not attempted a clinical exam, attempted the PCE (clinical) in or after 2019, or have attempted the BC exam no more than 2 previous times. As with Ontario, individuals will be ineligible if they have unsuccessfully attempted the ACEBC or another jurisdiction’s approved clinical evaluation on 3 occasions. Council has had confirmation that Manitoba graduates can register for the ACEBC and Council will accept this as an approved clinical evaluation to move to full Active license. Council and the College will count any unsuccessful attempts at the ACEBC toward the 3 attempts allowed for Manitoba licensure. For more information on the ACEBC, please visit the College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia’s website: https://cptbc.org/physical-therapists/registration/entry-to-practice-assessment-requirements-for-full-registration/ and the UBC site for registration: https://physicaltherapy.med.ubc.ca/acebc/ .

FAQ

The Canadian Physiotherapy Assessment of Clinical Performance (ACP) is a standardized tool used in Canada to evaluate the clinical performance of physiotherapy students during their clinical education. CPM has been granted access to the ACP tool to assess examination candidates through the PBCA assessment process. The ACP provides a structured, reliable method for evaluating clinical performance.

The ACP tool is transitioning to online submission. To learn more, view the narrated PowerPoint in the Professional Development and Committee Portal under Supervised Practice Resources – Introduction to the Updated 2021 ACP Online Submission

No, co-signing of all chart notes is not required. However, it is expected that chart notes are reviewed as necessary to ensure competency.

This will vary depending on the clinical performance of the Examination Candidate. The Supervisor will have assessed their performance after a minimum of 10 days clinical practice using the ICPT to determine the type of supervision (Direct or Indirect) they require to provide safe physiotherapy services to patients. If you have determine that you don’t need to provide the Examination Candidate with direct supervision, remember that you as a supervisor must provide indirect supervision and be available at all times by phone or virtual means – weekends and evenings – whenever the Examination Candidate is providing physiotherapy services and you are not providing direct supervision. If you are not available to provide supervision you must arrange alternate supervision as per the supervision agreement. Please remember this is supervised, not independent practice and supervision must still be in place.

Yes, Exam Candidates can bill independently.

Yes, please review Can Examination Candidates work alone tab.

The supervisor must assess the Examination Candidate as outlined in the Guidelines for Facility/Supervisor above. This information is also detailed in the Physiotherapists’ Guide to Supervision of Examination Candidates.

Until the Exam Candidate passes a clinical evaluation, including the PBCA, and transfers to the Active register, or until a change of Supervisor is mutually agreed upon by both Supervisor and Exam Candidate. This change must be reported to the CPM.

The Supervisor must make arrangements for supervision by another physiotherapist when the Supervisor is not available. This temporary change does not need to be reported to CPM; only PERMANENT changes in Supervisor need to be reported to CPM.

Fee schedules are not set by CPM. Each individual employer may choose to compensate how they see fit and align with Practice Direction Funding Fees and Billing

If the Exam Candidate fails the Clinical Evaluation, they continues on supervised practice.

Definitions:

Exam Candidate
A physiotherapist who has successfully completed the:

Credentialing requirements of the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (IEPs only)

Written Component (Qualifying Exam) of the Physiotherapy Competency Exam (PCE)

Application for Registration as an Exam Candidate with the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba (CPM)

Re-entry Candidate
A physiotherapist who has:

Allowed his/her registration to lapse and no longer meets the criteria of practice hours for re-registration

Successfully completed the Written Component of the Physiotherapist Competency Exam (PCE)