CATA is the certifying and governing body for Certified Athletic Therapists practicing in Canada. Established in April 1965 by a group of ATs working with professional hockey and football teams, CATA now represents almost 3000 members. We are dedicated to the advancement and growth of the Athletic Therapy profession through advocacy, education, and research. 

The CATA has always prided itself on having a diverse membership base throughout Canada, but we recognize that we can still improve.  The CATA Board of Directors decided to create a new committee who’s mandate will help us with the identification and addressing of issues relating to cultural distinctions in health care delivery; advise the Board on how best to revise policies or procedures to eliminate barriers, and to establish practices to ensure the effects of systemic racism are eliminated.  Our new Diversity committee hope to work with other members of WFATT to collaborate on these mandates to ensure all Athletic Therapists know and feel that they are heard and included equally.  Our first Chair is Khatija Westbrook who graciously accepted her position and is excited to call for volunteers so the new Diversity Committee can begin their work in early 2021.

The CATA has a long standing history working internationally. From the creation of the CATA International Relations Committee as well as our involvement with the World Federation of the Athletic Training and Therapy, we have built a lot of great working relationships with partners around the world. Click below to read the historical perspective of these relationships from the IRC’s Past Chair’s Dexter Nelson and Glen Bergeron.

During these challenging times, Athletic Therapists are finding ways to continue to help people outside of our normal positions. Here is a great example of a CATA Member Reg Grant; showing the world how versatile Athletic Therapists are as practitioners during COVID. He accepted a position to help a New Jersey hospital last spring, deal with the rapid influx of COVID-19 patients. Reg not only worked for the New York Rangers, but currently holds the chair position on our Continuing Education Committee with the CATA 

The CATA began to accredit Athletic Therapy Programs in 1999.  Each of our 8 (and growing) programs goes through a full re-accreditation, including review of curriculum and site visits every 4 years to ensure all programs are meeting the standards set of by the Program Accreditation Committee.  Each program is able to maintain their own “Institutional Identity”, while delivering the rigorous competency-based education to ensure the highest level of skill in the entry level Athletic Therapist. We are excited to say that Athletic Therapy is continuing to grow in Canada!

Colin King PhD, CAT(C), is an Associate Professor and Athletic Therapist in the School of Kinesiology at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Colin’s main research interests include: exploring the impact of innovative pedagogies and multimedia technology in athletic therapy education, as well as concussion education and knowledge mobilization. He also enjoys integrating these two interests to design novel projects that focus on athletic therapy teaching and learning.