Allied Health in the US and Canada: Licensing, Exams and Visas (2026)

One pattern, many regulators

Allied health in North America follows a consistent shape: a national credentialling body assesses your qualification and sets the exam, and a state or provincial licensing body grants the licence. Neither country has a single allied health regulator, and the profession you belong to matters more than the country you are applying to.

United States: profession by profession

• Physical therapists. Credential evaluation (commonly through FCCPT), then the National Physical Therapy Examination set by the FSBPT, then a licence from the state board. Physical therapy is a Schedule A occupation for immigration, which removes the labour certification stage on the EB-3 route.
• Occupational therapists. Credential review and the NBCOT certification examination, then state licensure. Occupational therapy is also Schedule A.
• Radiographers and imaging professionals. ARRT certification is the common standard, with licensure requirements that vary widely by state — some states license, others rely on ARRT alone.
• Speech-language pathologists and others. ASHA certification plus state licensure is the usual pattern.

English evidence and a VisaScreen certificate from TruMerit are required for the immigration side, exactly as they are for nurses. Where a profession is not Schedule A, the employer must test the labour market first, which lengthens the process considerably.

Canada: national exam, provincial licence

• Physiotherapists. Credentialling and examination through the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators, which runs a written component and a clinical component, then registration with the provincial college.
• Occupational therapists. Assessment and the national certification examination through CAOT, then provincial registration.
• Medical radiation technologists. CAMRT certification, then the provincial regulator where the profession is regulated.

Immigration runs separately through Express Entry, where several allied health occupations appear in the healthcare category draws, or through provincial nominee streams. As with nurses, you can be in the immigration pool while your credentialling is still in progress.

Choosing between them

The trade-offs are the same as for nursing, sharpened by profession. The US pays more and, for physical and occupational therapists, offers a green card with the labour certification stage removed — but the EB-3 queue still applies, and your country of birth determines how long it is. Canada gives permanent residence sooner and a more predictable process, with pay in the CAD $70,000–$95,000 range for most allied health roles.

One practical advantage worth weighing: a Canadian licence plus Canadian citizenship later opens TN status in the US, which bypasses the green card queue entirely for several allied health professions. For a therapist from a country facing long EB-3 waits, the Canada-then-US sequence is a real strategy rather than a consolation.

Before you start

1. Confirm your profession is regulated in the state or province you are targeting, and by whom. Requirements differ more within each country than between them.
2. Check the exam calendar. National exams run on fixed dates with application deadlines months ahead; missing one costs a cycle.
3. Get transcripts and course descriptions early. Credential evaluation is content-based, so module detail and clinical hours carry the weight.
4. Decide the immigration route before the licensing route if your country faces long US waits — it may change which country you apply to first.

Frequently asked questions