Internship Program Classifications

Please select one of the Internship Pathways below:

Method I - Accredited School Program The applicant must have completed an OPC approved and officially recognized technical prosthetic and orthotic school program. Applicants must be employed in a prosthetic and/or orthotic facility. This must be followed by 3450 hours of full-time work in the appropriate discipline. The 3450 hours must be actual working time, which excludes any and all forms of absence from the job due to vacation, sickness, etc. This practical experience must be under the supervision of an on-site OPC Certifee and/or Registered Technician in good standing with the corporation, in the appropriate discipline.

*Post 5 years practicing as a Registered Technician in your first discipline. If a Registered Technician (who has obtained their first discipline after completing a recognized Technical prosthetic/orthotic school program) has been registered for more than five years and practicing full time in their primary discipline, a further 1725 hours of practical experience and Internship under the supervision of an on-site OPC Certifee and/or Registered Technician in good standing with the corporation, in the appropriate discipline is required.

If applying through Method I, include a copy of your diploma(s), etc. from the Canadian accredited technical school (the diploma may be sent in separately by email if not received yet).

Method II - No Accredited Program

The applicants must be employed in a prosthetic and/or orthotic facility. This must be followed by 6900 hours of full-time work in the appropriate discipline, no less than 37.5 hours per week. The 6900 hours must be actual working time, which excludes any and all forms of absence from the job due to vacation, sickness, etc. This practical experience must be under the supervision of an on-site OPC Certifee and/or Registered Technician in good standing with the corporation, in the appropriate discipline.

** Post 5 years practicing as a Registered Technician in your first discipline. If pursuing a second discipline (Method II), and the Registered Technician has been practicing in their first discipline for five or more years, only 3450 hours of experience is required in their second discipline under the supervision of an on-site resident OPC Certifee and/or Registered Technician in good standing with the corporation, in the appropriate discipline, to be eligible to sit the Registration Examination.

If applying through Method II, include a copy of your Grade XII High School or G.E.D. equivalence diploma.

Foreign Applicants:

Foreign trained applicants must have their education assessed by the education committee and by a third party assessment organization as directed by the Corporation. If the qualifications are deemed equivalent to the current standards of the Corporation, then the individual will be required to register with the OPC Technician Internship Program and complete an internship in Canada by completing 3450 hours in the appropriate discipline. The 3450 hours must be actual working time, which excludes any and all forms of absence from the job due to vacation, sickness, etc. This practical experience must be under the supervision of an on-site OPC Certifee and/or Registered Technician in good standing with the corporation, in the appropriate discipline.

If applying as a Foreign Applicant, include a copy of a letter from Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC) stating the acceptance of your educational evaluation.

Supervisor Information Note: An Intern must have a Primary Supervisor but can also have additional Supervisor(s).

Please download the Internship Supervisor Information Form, and have it filled and signed by your supervisor(s) before uploading in the next field:

Payment

You must include the one time Application Fee of $250.00 with your application. This will be through a purchase of the applicable item in the OPC Store at the end of this form.

Total Application Fee with tax:

• (BC/AB/SK/MB/QC) + 5% GST = $262.50
• (ON) + 13% HST = $282.50
• (NB/NL/NS/PE) + 15% HST = $287.50

After you are approved, you will be responsible for paying a separate Internship Membership Fee by March 31st each year. The 2025 fee will be $341.03 + taxes. These amounts go up by 2% annually. The office will issue an invoice to you in advance of the due date.

OPC Privacy Policy

OPC is a non-profit corporation recognizing proficiency in the field of prosthetics and orthotics. OPC regulates the credentialing and ethics of all its members who practice in the field of fitting and manufacturing prosthetic and orthotic devices.

In order to provide these services OPC must collect certain personal information from its members and from third parties. OPC understands the importance of keeping personal information confidential and is dedicated to upholding certain confidentiality obligations at law, pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and Regulations, and as set out in this Privacy Policy.

To comply with its obligations at law, OPC has adopted a Privacy Policy and appointed a Privacy Officer who is accountable for its compliance with its obligations at law. The complete OPC Privacy Policy is available at this link.

OPC has undertaken to ensure that its employees, agents and authorized persons take all reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of personal information. OPC is dedicated to taking reasonable steps to protect personal information from risks such as inappropriate collection, use, disclosure, storage or destruction.

Accordingly, OPC will only use the personal information collected in order to address issues of certification, to keep a membership register, to address ethical and regulatory procedures and issues, to promote OPC, its members and the industry and to provide you with updates concerning the industry and OPC generally from time to time.

If there are any matters that are not expressly addressed in the Policy, or if an individual, (1) requires clarification as to how to implement or interpret the Policy, or (2) would like to request access to his or her personal information or to amend such information, such concerns should be brought to the attention of the Privacy Officer immediately.

The Privacy Officer can be contacted as follows: Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC) 20 Carlton Street., Suite 123 Toronto, ON M5B 2H5 Phone: (416) 623-6687

Personal Information Consent I, the form submitter, hereby give permission for the release of my personal information (name, address, phone, fax and email address) by the staff of Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC), according to the following three options, outlined here and chosen in the next field:

1. I do approve of the release of personal information to sponsors and other association(s) in order that such third parties may contact me with respect to their products and services.
2. I give permission to publish my personal information (as noted) on the OPC website in the member directory.
3. None of the above (Neither option 1 or 2).