2022 AGM Minutes

Click here to download the minutes of the hybrid 2022 AGM.

2023 AGM Agenda

Call to order: Sunday April 2nd, 2023

1. Housekeeping
2. Keynote speaker: Pamela Fitch, M.Ad.Ed., RMT
3. Review/amend/adopt Agenda
4. Review/amend/adopt Minutes of hybrid AGM – April 3rd, 2022
5. Business arising from the Minutes
6. Board and administrative reports (as written)
7. Audited financial statements
8. Report of the nominating committee
9. Election
10. Membership awards
11. Date of next meeting
12. Adjournment

Date of next meeting: Regina/hybrid - April 7, 2024

NOTE: Pre-registration for the 2023 meeting is required and will close on March 29th at midnight.

2022 AGM Attendance List

Click here to download the attendance list from the hybrid 2022 meeting.

Board of Directors' and Administration Reports

PRESIDENT - CAMILLE LAPIERRE, RMT

Welcome to all new members and hello again to you valued members of MTAS! 2022 seemed to be the year where the pace ramped up to how it used to be but we succeeded in getting back into the groove. Actively participating in the Saskatchewan College of Massage Therapists Working Group has remained the main focus as well as working out the framework to becoming a member-focused association. Below are the highlights from this past year.

Marketing
The MTAS office has gained some additional skills in the ever-evolving world of social media and its value in promoting MTAS and the profession. As experts in the field of massage therapy, content and subject matter are more easily monitored and professionalism remains at the highest standard. Radio advertising continues to be the most cost effective in reaching a large audience.

Meetings
Following the 2022 AGM, the newly appointed Board decided on monthly meetings versus every 2 months or so.  Two in-person meetings along with approximately 1 hour Zoom evening meetings proved to keep everyone up to date and help to keep all Chairs on task.  

Government Relations
The Saskatchewan College of Massage Therapists Working Group continues to meet monthly. Our goal to have the administrative and regulatory bylaws drafts completed by fall of 2022 was met half way and the administrative bylaws draft is complete and the regulatory bylaws are still in progress. A huge thanks to Ken Ansell, Todd Rintoul and Lori Green for their continued commitment to this project.

MTAS is sustaining a great working relationship with Rebecca Bayliss, senior policy analyst with the Ministry of Health, who remains available to answer questions on our progress so far.

CMTA
The CMTA was finally able to meet in person post pandemic in St John’s NFLD on September 15th, 16th, and 17th.  The meeting was met with a spirit of collaboration and proved to be very productive. With the CMTA moving from an Alliance to an Association, it will gain more political clout when it comes to advocating at a national level.

The English to French translation of the new CMTA website is almost complete and should be going live in the very near future.

Acknowledgements
Massage therapy is transformational, not transactional. 
“By touching a body, we touch every event it has experienced.  For a few brief moments we hold all of a client’s stories in our hands.  We witness someone’s experience of their own flesh, through some of the most powerful means possible; the contact of our hands, the acceptance of the body without judgment, and the occasional listening ear. With these gestures, we reach across the isolation of the human experience…  In massage therapy, we show up and ask…what it is like to be another human being.  In doing so, we build a bridge that may heal us both.”

Tracy Walton, “The Health History of a Human Being.” Massage Therapy Journal, Winter, 1999

A huge thank you to my fellow Board members: Erin Sobkow, Aileen Tran-Mapletoft, Amanda Gara, Natalie Cargan, Tim Rutley, Lara Brierley and Jordan Smith.  Your hard work and commitment are much appreciated!

Thanks to all of my fellow colleagues for your continued support of MTAS.

And last but not least, a tremendous thank you to our amazing staff: Executive Director Lori Green, Member Services Manager Jayne Little and Chief Examiner Mieka Dueckman. Your dedication to promoting and upholding the massage therapy profession does not go unnoticed. You hold tremendous value within our organization and for that we truly grateful.

Respectfully submitted,

Camille Lapierre, RMT
Chair of the MTAS Board of Directors

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VICE PRESIDENT - ERIN SOBKOW, RMT

Another year has passed and MTAS remains as the preeminent leader of the massage therapy profession in Saskatchewan! Our MTAS board continues to work impressively together meeting monthly over Zoom to share ideas, tackle issues that arise and plan for the future.

The role of VP with MTAS is shadowing and learning from the President and understanding how the many moving parts of MTAS works.  We have been very busy provincially as well as nationally contributing to research, promoting our profession, and celebrating our successes. Many hours are put in to make sure MTAS runs accountably and professionally.

The VP also produces and administers a yearly performance review for our ED for our Board members to fill out. This past year, Lori and myself, have also worked to update job descriptions for the Executive Director and the Member Service Manager. This has been a big undertaking as much has changed from when Lori and Jayne were first hired.

Having platforms such as Zoom now makes it very easy to keep in touch no matter where you live in the province, and this has cut down costs for travel for board members.  This also makes it easier for anyone in the province to join the MTAS board.  I encourage rural members to join our board!  It would be great to see more representation from throughout our province. This is a great way to grow your governance and leadership skills, volunteer and help advocate for our profession.

It has been my pleasure to serve as a board member acting as a representative for our members throughout Saskatchewan and to advocate for our profession within our province.  I encourage you to contact MTAS if you have any questions.

All the best in 2023!

Erin Sobkow

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FINANCE - AMANDA GARA, RMT

Hey everyone,

I’m so excited to have more to share with you in this report. I’m halfway through my first term now and with 12 months I am very happy with where things are heading.

We have officially moved our financial program to Quick Books Online early in the fiscal year. It was a true test to everyone’s patience and being willing to step out of their comfort zone. It wasn’t an easy process and there were more then a few hiccups. I am so impressed with how everyone at the office handled the transition. They now have everything running smoothly - this allows finance chair, auditors, admin to access the program remotely. The program itself is also less costly than our previous one. Huge win all around.

During this year I have also met with our wonderful financial advisor Victoria Pavo at Edward Jones. Victoria has a way of turning financial lingo into a language everyone can understand. She has a passion for investing in what is right and what is needed for the client both long and short term. This year was especially cruel for the market, it was down incredibly low. MTAS as a non-profit is restricted to investing in only mild to no risk investments. This is a benefit for MTAS our investments are safe from the vulnerability of this current market. We will continue to work with Victoria to make sure MTAS financial needs are met.

My goal for the next half of my term is make sure MTAS is set up properly for the years ahead. We are looking into a more online approach to accounts payable. We are also looking into budgeting for more in person marketing to our rural Saskatchewan members/schools.

I would like to thank you members for allowing me to serve as finance chair this term. I look forward to seeing you at the AGM.

Amanda Gara, RMT
Finance Chair

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COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATION - NATALIE CARGAN, RMT

Hello to all my fellow MTAS Members,

Another year has passed and I am honored to be sitting on such a strong and dedicated Board of Directors.  Thank you to our president Camille Lapierre, Vice-President Erin Sobkow, Secretary Aileen Tran Mapletoft, Treasurer Amanda Gara, PR Chair Tim Rutley, Continuing Education Chair Lara Brierley and Member at Large Jordan Smith.  Your hard work and dedication to this Association and this profession makes it a joy to work beside.  To Lori Green our Executive Director, Jayne Little our Membership Services Manager and Mieka Dueckman our Chief Examiner, your tireless efforts are not unnoticed and we are all the more stronger for your contributions to this Association and thanks to all of you for always going above and beyond.  And lastly to the Investigations Committee, Dalyce Oja and Chrystal DuBois, you have been amazing this year and I am grateful for your commitment and hard work for this Committee. 

The role of the Complaints and Investigations Committee is primarily to protect the public and the reputation of the profession and the MTAS from unprofessional behaviour by a Member by enforcing the MTAS’s Bylaws and Code of Ethics.  Again this year, the MTAS has fielded several complaints regarding massage therapists from other Associations.  Unfortunately, we are unable to assist these complainants other than to direct them to the other Associations.  Once regulation is completed, this process will be taken over by the regulatory College.

This year there were three concluded complaints for the period of October 31, 2021 – November 1, 2022. Below is a summary of the complaint made and the outcome of each Investigation.

Complaint file number	Alleged complaint	Considerations, sources and outcome/actions
21.09.01B	Unprofessional behavior.	11.7 Code of Ethics (a)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h) 11.8 (5)(c) 6(b) 10 (c) Therapist given recommendations for communication.  Verbal warning and file to remain open.
2021.10.02	Disrespectful behavior, unprofessional behavior.	Therapist was reminded of: 11.7 Code of Ethics(a)(c)(d)(e)(h) 11.9 Standards of Practice. (3)(a)(b) No formal discipline given
2022.01.02	Unprofessional behaviour.	Code of Ethics 11.7 (e)(h) Standard of Practice 11.8 : 10(d) Therapist given written reprimand to remain on file for life

Member Suspensions

Reference	Reason	Outcome
2022.05.15 Discipline	SUSPENSION.  Criminal investigation and arrest.	Ongoing.  Pending the outcome of the trial.

This year the Complaints and Investigations Committee will be working on reviewing our Bylaws and updating policies that will help guide our job and our Association forward.  Our contributions will hopefully impact the Transitional Council en route to regulation.   

I would remind everyone to re-read your Bylaws annually.  The most basic principle of our profession is to treat with honesty, integrity and professionalism. It is our duty to put the needs of our patients first.  If anyone should have any questions regarding Bylaws, Standards of Practice, Code of Ethics or our Policies, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully submitted,

Natalie Cargan RMT
MTAS Complaints and Investigations Director

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CONTINUING EDUCATION/COMPETENCY - LARA BRIERLEY, RMT

This has been another busy year of new course submissions, and renewals of popular favourites.

In this reporting period, the Competency Committee has approved 85 courses which includes 569 continuing education credits.

We also updated the continuing education forms and introduced new forms for credit earning that cover volunteer and teaching hours. As always, the focus will be on finding new and interesting learning opportunities for the members, as well as continuing to maintain and renew the courses already on offer.

A big thank you to Jordan Smith, Jayne Little, Lori Green, and the Board for their continued support with this committee. Thank you as well to the membership for maintaining their commitment to continuing education, and not hesitating to ask questions.

Lara Brierley, RMT, CLT-LANA
Competency Chair

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RESEARCH - CAMILLE LAPIERRE AND LORI GREEN

The two main focus points of our research program are still on transfer knowledge in the form of lectures/workshops to you the members, and contributions to massage therapy related research to advance the profession.  We have a plethora of ideas and opportunities and must use these funds to achieve the best benefit for our profession.

Lori Green and Camille Lapierre have maintained communication and consultation with Dr Donelda Gowan and have sourced her expertise in helping the Board decide where the MTAS research funds will continue to be most advantageous to our members. Two organizations have been deemed as continuous recipients: The INCAM Research Symposium hosted this year by the Centre for Integrative Medicine and the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology of the University of Saskatchewan, and The Massage Therapy Foundation.

This year CMTA member, Registered Massage Therapists Association of British Columbia (RMTBC), graciously invited Lori Green and Camille Lapierre to attend their research conference titled: "Rehabilitation, Current Research, Evidence and Future Directions", held in Vancouver on September 9th and 10th. The workshops attended were:

• Doug Nelson, LMT: "This is our Moment: The Power and Promise of Massage Therapy.” (Doug Nelson is the past president of the Massage Therapy Foundation based in the US.)
• Neil Pearson, PT :“Integrating Pain Science into Clinical Practice and Rehabilitation.”
• Dr Niki Munk, LMT: “Finding Home: Massage Therapy’s Placement within the Multi-Disciplinary Rehabilitation Home.”
• Dr Janet Kahn, LMT: ‘Becoming Team Players: Massage Therapy in the Era of patient empowerment and integrative healthcare.”
• Eryn Price, RMT: “Mindful Rehabilitation of Breast Cancer Care.”
• Dr Alex Scott, PT: “Mechanotherapy and Beyond-Tendinopathy”

We continue to support and earmark sponsorship allotment for research related activities and events.  This year we are working with the FARMh (Farmer & Rancher Mental health initiative) research team in their research activities. We have contributed through our MTAS massage therapists participating. Brandi Heuchert (MTAS) has been the lead RMT in this research project.  The opportunity to participate is still open for those of you who are interested.

SHIRP (Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Program) continues to invite MTAS members to join to access, reliable, evidence-based resources that are crucial to support everyday decision making in healthcare.  This resource includes 13 medical and interdisciplinary databases, over 6000 full text online journals, 144+ online books covering a wide range of subjects and 3 clinical decision support tools. This resource is free of charge.

Don’t forget that MTAS members also have the opportunity to join in noon lectures provided by the Centre for Integrative Medicine, at the University of Saskatchewan.  Lectures are sent out via email from the office periodically.

We will continue to provide tools and opportunities to support and develop the highest standards in our profession.

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PUBLIC RELATIONS - TIMOTHY RUTLEY, RMT

Good day to my fellow Board members and fellow MTAS members!

Well, we made it through the pandemic! Hard to believe two years, yet some of our members had made hard decisions to retire. We also lost a couple of our affinity partners because they couldn’t keep their business running. As we saw a lot of our local, one of a kind restaurants had to close their doors. I would love if we could get a few members on the Affinity committee from each community.  As a member in your community you know what is there plus you have connections with local businesses and can advocate for your practice. We have identified that there is still a lot to be done in getting more provincially diverse sponsors. Saskatchewan massage therapist supporting Saskatchewan business!

We are growing this program gradually and I am proud of our work in this area so far, we have:

ACCOMMODATION

• Elk Ridge Resort

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

• Harden and Huyse Chocolates
• Body-fuel Organics (Regina)

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

• GoodLife Fitness
• Popeyes Supplements 
• Nina Lane Wellness
• Jenn Vibert 

INSURANCE SERVICES & BENEFIT PLANS

• Dusyk and Barlow
• Penncorp - health and dental
• Sunlife - health and dental 

BUSINESS SERVICES

• Bell Canada
• Above & Beyond Events
• PGI Printers
• Rogers Mobile
• MindZplay Solutions
• Core Pro 8 
• OneLocal
• Timeline Safety Training – First Aid Training (Saskatoon and area)
• Beating Hearts First Aid - (Regina and area)

CONTINUING EDUCATION

• Human Kinetics 

PURCHASING SERVICES

• Perkopolis
• Complete Purchasing Services (CPS)
• Western Therapeutic Supply
• Highland Sports and Medical Supplies

Even though they are not a partner I still want to mention Sage - 20% off bring in your business license / membership card

Thank-you for being so patient with us as we work hard for you! HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE VISITED ANY OF OUR AFFINITY PARTNERS? WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE? I personally would love to hear about them.

I encourage you to extend your support of this program and MTAS continues to welcome new suggestions to make this list grow.  The affinity program can be found with more details in the members-only section on our website.  Click the tab and scroll down to the affinity program! This committee is all about public relations and creating an atmosphere of community within the MTAS membership.

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MEMBER AT LARGE - JORDAN SMITH, RMT

For those new members I’d like to take a moment and re-introduce myself. I have been a member of MTAS for 11 years now and currently in my 2nd term as Member at Large. I previously sat on the Board for 6 years in other roles, as well as being active in committees to further the field of massage therapy. I currently sit on the continuing education committee which is chaired by Lara Brierley and she has done an amazing job with the courses we are given to assess.

In the past year there has been some adjusting to my new role as Member at Large, and have found it beneficial to be able to help other chairs or committees when it is needed. The past year with our monthly meetings allowed us to stay closer to our goals and vision for MTAS and the future, as set out from our strategic planning weekend.

I want to thank my fellow board members for all their continued work and the hours behind the scenes we don’t always mention. To Lori and Jayne there are never enough accolades for the amount of work and hours you both go above and beyond.

 Thank you all for your time and I look forward to the year MT ahead of us.

 Respectfully Submitted,
Jordan R. Smith RMT

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CMTA REPORT - LORI GREEN

This has been an exciting year for the Association. I continue to be part of the management team and act as the Secretary for this term.

The CMTA has been busy with the following activities. 

• GST/HST exemption – committee member 2021/2022
• Massage Therapy Foundation partnership
• Policy/Governance

The management team has been meeting on a regular bi-weekly basis. This change has allowed for the Executive to identify opportunities, share insights, and build momentum as the organization transitioned from an Alliance to an Association.

The CMTA Executive also created a new structure that provides for more accountability, greater emphasis on committees and greater transparency. New policies to assist both the Executive and members in dealing with the operations of the Association were created. These include 13 new policies to cover such areas as governance, a Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest as well the roles of committees, the chair, and the board. The new website continues to be the centre point for sharing information and the activities of both the CMTA and member organizations.

Access to the RMT/ACT page has been provided on our new and revamped website for members to provide testimonials in support of GST exemption submitted by patients and others.

Approximately 500 therapists responded to the University of New Brunswick cross-Canada research study to evaluate massage therapists’ experiences/lack of experiences of sexual harassment and assault by clients led by Morgan Richard (Principal Investigator, University of New Brunswick). The management team has started discussions with Ms. Richard regarding the development of tools and resources to assist individuals who may be or have unfortunately experienced assault by their patients.

The CMTA Executive continued to dialogue with the Executive of the Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) to develop a partnership between the two organizations. There is great enthusiasm on the part of the MTF to develop a partnership with the CMTA.  This partnership is now official and we look forward to working together.

I continue to work as the Insurance Chair and liaise with the CLHIA (Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association) on a consistent basis.   We continue to be concerned about students working in clinics without the proper supervision.  It is our understanding that CHLIA will be developing resources and tools (webinars, guidelines, etc.) to be available to health practitioners as they work to prevent fraud.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - LORI GREEN

It has been a year of recovery, and reconvening, and getting back from living behind screens, to seeing people.  I couldn’t be more grateful for the great people of this Association and the work that the Board has put into place this year.

The Board has been busy with fulfilling the strategic directions as set out in June of 2022. During the previous year (pandemic year) the Board found that meeting monthly proved to be an efficient use of time.  The Board has continued to meet monthly through September – June.  This is an effective use of time and allows us to work fluently through the objectives being pursued.  The Board discussed the processes and structure used to direct MTAS’s operations and activities focusing on authority, decision-making, accountability, and confidentiality.

We successfully navigated through our first hybrid Annual General Meeting and felt that it is something that we will continue to offer in order to provide more communication and linkage with our members across the province.

We have focused mainly this year on trying to prepare ourselves for be ready for a “new and valued” Association working in a regulated environment.

We continue to advertise and promote MTAS through the radio: C95 News talk, The Bull and 98Cool FM.  We are on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram and have increased our presence throughout the year.

We continued to try and find a way to make ourselves available to our members and are working on our presentation and a two-week roadshow in 2023 fiscal year.

We continued to visit our schools in Saskatchewan: Axiom, Prairie College of Massage Therapy (PCMT), Professional Institute of Massage Therapy (PIMT), Western College of Remedial Massage (WCRMT), and McKay School of Massage and Hydrotherapy.  (McKay closed its doors in September of ’22). We found the students interested in MTAS but with hesitation to the students working statements and the writing of the MTAS exam.  We have begun the process of creating a student council and new members advisory group to help us to help those at the onset of their professional career.

The Department of Quality Assurance and Private Vocational schools has been directly in contact with our Association, in discussing matters such as students working and online learning. The President (C. Lapierre), Chief Examiner (M. Dueckman) and I have met with them throughout the year.

Legislation continues to take up a significant amount of time for our three members, Camille Lapierre, Todd Rintoul, and Ken Ansell, who give up 3–4 hours of work to attend the working group meetings with me. These hours do not include the time we spend on our own working as MTAS and on the individual work and reading required. The working committee has successfully finished administration bylaws and now has turned our attention to the regulatory bylaws.   There are still several significant tasks that we must work together to be ready for proclamation to take place.  I would like to have this group recognized and applauded for their significant contribution to this work.

I have been invited to sit as a guest with NIRO (Network of Inter-professional Regulatory Organizations) until of course there is Regulation proclaimed and a Registrar has been chosen for the Saskatchewan College of Massage Therapy. This gives MTAS a glimpse of what working in a regulated College is like.  There are 28 Regulatory Colleges in NIRO. I currently sit on two committees that I am hoping will be helpful for Legislation - Regulatory Performance Reporting Framework, and Citizen’s Advisory Group. This group has truly reinforced the MTAS working group regarding the Regulation of Massage Therapy in the province. We are unlike any other province, the “template” legislation model in Saskatchewan allows all the regulatory Colleges to amend their bylaws the same, and at the same time.  Currently, there are nine bylaw amendments being reviewed by the Government for regulatory Colleges.

At the beginning of this fiscal year, I attended a workshop about the non-profit sector. Since the pandemic, non-profit staff found themselves fatigued, 43% people were ready to retire but believed they would be returning to the workforce at some point.  There were disconnects with Board of Directors. This proved to be the opposite of MTAS. We seemed to have weathered through and have energy and vision for this new year and upcoming years, happily skipping down the road to legislation.

Thank you for those who continue to support this Association. Thank you for your critique and your accolades. Thank you to the Board of Directors, for their valuable contribution and the serious obligations they have fulfilled.  Thank you to Mieka Dueckman, Chief Examiner for your work with the students and on the exam and thank you to Jayne Little who is truly an asset to the Board and to this Executive Director.

May you stay healthy and wise through this next fiscal year!

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MEMBERSHIP - JAYNE L. LITTLE, B.A. (HONS)

Membership composition as of September 30, 2022 (just prior to renewal time):

0 - 1st year students.  
4 - 2nd year students.  
3 - Auxiliary.  
5 - Honourary.  
41 - Non-practicing.   
28 - Non-resident practicing.   
1 - Suspended.   
744 - Practicing.   

TOTAL:  826

Changes between November 1, 2021 and October 31, 2022:

21 therapists retired.
8 changed careers.
1 deceased.
4 switched to CMMOTA (reason: added osteopathy).
3 moved to another province or country.
1 removed by MTAS for non-compliance with con-ed policy.
3 ill and can’t afford fees.
 

20 members switched from practicing to non-practicing status.
14 members switched from non-practicing to practicing status.
We reinstated 4 members who had previously let their membership lapse.
27 new members added, including 4 who relocated from a regulated province.

Current number of members (March 8, 2023): 821

Having survived the past couple of tumultuous years, we are now reporting on what feels to have been an unusually quiet one.  Perhaps our capacity for resilience and ability to pivot is now more finely tuned, making it easier and less stressful to adjust to unexpected changes?  

Operations
I am grateful to Lori for agreeing to support my work-from-home schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I am still available in the Saskatoon office on Monday and Thursday each week.  We are now fully adjusted to the technology that allows this flexibility and it has become the norm for many people, myself included. 

In preparation for the transition to a regulated environment, we have introduced a new self-service tool for you to take an active role in managing your own con-ed file, via your personal profile on the MTAS website.  You now have the ability to enter the courses you have completed, and to upload the corresponding certificates, thus creating a digital record that is accessible to you 24/7.  Not only does this give you control over keeping a real time, up-to-date record of your con-ed, it also frees up office time from performing data entry, allowing me to focus on other managerial duties.

The switch to a new accounting program has been smooth, and as you have likely noticed, has streamlined the process of issuing invoices and receipts, which now come to you directly via email.  

Membership Pins
This year we have awarded 131 long-service pins to our members:

5 years – 20 members (2018- reg. numbers).
10 years – 27 members (2013- reg. numbers).
15 years – 35 members (2008- reg. numbers).
20 years – 31 members (2003- reg. numbers).
25 years – 18 members (98- reg. numbers).

Congratulations and thank you to all for your continued commitment to the Association and the profession!

Workshops
Online education continues to steam full speed ahead and the majority of our members have now participated in some form of virtual learning.  We anticipate that this will not change and continue to receive and approve a variety of online and home-study con-ed opportunities for credits.  Nevertheless, several members report being disinterested in this option, and have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of live, in-person options.  In response, as the Covid situation eased up this past year, we have slowly tried to re-introduce in-person continuing education opportunities. 

• In conjunction with Dr. Mohamed at the University of Saskatchewan Department of Anatomy, we hosted two sold-out cadaver labs in March and October. 
• The ever-popular Dr. Nikita Vizniak approached us on short notice to host his 2-day IASTM workshop in April 2022, which we were happy to oblige and 25 people participated, to rave reviews.
• Being forced to postpone the long-awaited DermoNeuroModulation workshop in 2021 was a big let-down for the Association and the 40 registrants.  The final group size in March 2022 was drastically smaller than we had anticipated, at only 14 registrants, which meant we incurred a loss.  In spite of this we decided to proceed with the event to avoid further disappointment for those who had patiently waited for this opportunity.
• We continued working with Amanda Everitt, certified Red Cross instructor, to offer limited capacity CPR/SFA training in our Saskatoon office classroom space throughout the year.  Amanda continues to be fastidious about cleanliness and precautionary measures to keep everyone healthy, and we are grateful that she considers our space a safe one in which to operate.

Several approved workshop providers attempted to hold live events in our province during the year, and unfortunately most cancelled due to lack of registrations. 

It is costly to plan a workshop and MTAS events are run on a break-even basis.  We must factor in the cost of flights, accommodation, meals, and meeting space, all of which have increased significantly over the past few years, add in the instructor fees, and set our workshop registration fees accordingly.  This leads us to ask some important questions of our members: 

• Do you want us to continue to offer continuing education opportunities? 
• What do you believe is of interest to our members? 
• Are you ready for live, in-person workshops - why or why not? 
• What deters you from registering for these events? 

We need your input in order to determine how to proceed for the coming year(s).  It is frustrating for those members who register, and discouraging for us, when we must cancel events because we cannot cover the costs due to insufficient registrations.  Not only is valuable office time lost, but repeated cancellations affect our ability to attract quality instructors, and we risk the reputation of the Association’s membership being tarnished within the larger community.  We welcome your suggestions, thoughts, and ideas so we may strategize for the future.

In closing, I extend my continued appreciation to those members who eagerly embrace the improvements and changes we make, and to those who provide valuable feedback on the services we provide. It continues to be a pleasure working with and for you.

Respectfully,

Jayne L. Little, B.A.(Hons)
Member Services Manager

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EXAMINATIONS - MIEKA DUECKMAN, RMT

Congratulations and welcome to all the new members of MTAS who joined us in 2022! Good luck to you as you start your professional career as an RMT.

Last year we continued with our normal 3 sittings (January, June and August) of our member qualifying exam. From these sittings we received 22 new members to our association which was up from our previous year.

Our exam format/content remained the same for 2022. The only change that was made was with our practical exam and the marks allotted for consent. In reviewing content from the exams from our national partners, we observed that it was an immediate fail if consent is not obtained from the patient/body examiner by the candidate. We agreed that this was an important piece and therefore implemented this into our exam. This is another way that our exams match what is required at the national level.

As we proceeded with our exam sittings throughout the year, we continued to realize that the quality of education that candidates were receiving, lacked grossly. This consistently makes it difficult and frustrating for our team of examiners, as basic competency is not being met and therefore we are seeing lower numbers of mastery and membership. One way that we have tried to assist in this situation is to meet with all provincial massage schools to understand where everyone is at with regards to massage therapy education. These meetings have been very helpful for everyone to be on the same page. Our exam and exam process remains consistent and our examiners have been the same over many years.

Many thanks go out to the exam team as it would not be possible without them. As well, I have a constant appreciation for Jayne and her continuous hard work and time that assist us in our exams and exam process.

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INSURANCE REPORT - ROB BARLOW (DUSYK & BARLOW INSURANCE BROKERS)

To ensure members have adequate coverage for the modalities they are practicing, Novex Insurance, the insurer for the MTAS Liability Insurance Group Program, requires that appropriate certifications be submitted before they will add coverage for these modalities to a members insurance certificate. 

The good news is Novex does not require separate certifications for modalities included under the 2500 hour basic RMT program, just a copy of the diploma. Those modalities that members are billing as an RMT are included under their coverage. Of course, there is no recognized standard list of modalities as each college can be different. As such, we refer and rely on the schools and associations to confirm curriculum info.

Receiving insurer confirmation for modalities up front is a best practice for the insurer, broker and member, specifically in the event of a claim, as pre-approval prevents any question on whether the modality is covered for that specific member or not.

In addition to over 350 RMT modalities that can be covered under the MTAS Liability Insurance Group Program, our insurer can add coverage for various other services such as Yoga, Pilates, Cupping Therapy(no heat), Hot Stone Therapy, and certain Esthetic courses to name a few. Some can be added at no extra cost and some carry a surcharge.

We always like to remind the members that we can assist with their clinic policies as well.  A reminder that for members who do own a clinic, they do need to provide proof of insurance coverage for the clinic to keep their individual MTAS liability coverage active. 

The MTAS individual liability policy is only designed to cover the member as an Individual Practitioner and will not cover them as a clinic owner, nor will it provide coverage for Employees, Business Partners, Sub-Contractors working for the clinic, or Commercial Office space that a member may be renting over 200 Square Feet. The Insurance limits of this policy are not sufficient for business entities or business practices that fall outside these parameters.  If coverage is required for business practices such as these, our office can gladly assist in finding coverage.

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NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT – ERIN SOBKOW, VICE PRESIDENT

The 2021-2022 MTAS Board of Directors consisted of 8 members: 

• Camille Lapierre - President
• Erin Sobkow  -  Vice President
• Aileen Tran-Mapletoft - Secretary
• Amanda Gara - Finance
• Lara Brierley – Competency/Continued Education
• Tim Rutley – Public Relations
• Natalie Cargan – Complaints and Investigation
• Jordan  Smith – Member at Large

I would like to say thank you and acknowledge all the hard work of our Board members both to returning Directors, and our new Directors.
Three members will be continuing their second year terms:  Lara Brierley, Amanda Gara, and Jordan Smith.
The following members are letting their name stand for another term:  Camille Lapierre, Aileen Tran Mapletoft, Erin Sobkow, Tim Rutley, and Natalie Cargan.

There are currently no positions open on the Board of Directors.

Bylaws

3.1 Number and Term of Board Members   

The Board shall consist of not less than five (5) Board members, four (4) of whom shall also be the officers of the Association and no more than ten (10) Board members.  Subject to the Act and the Articles, the Members may, by ordinary resolution passed at an annual general meeting, increase the number of Board members. Each Board Member or Officer (herein collectively referred to as “Board Members”) shall hold office for a term of two (2) years commencing on the date of election. The offices of the Association shall be President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Past-President. The Board members at the first meeting of the Board shall choose the President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. The first board meeting will occur after the Annual General Meeting.  Notwithstanding Section 3.3, the Member who held the office of President of the Association for the term of office immediately prior to an annual general meeting at which a new President is elected shall, if willing to do so, continue to act as a Director/Officer of the Association, without election by the Members, for the next ensuing term of office and shall hold the office of Past President.

3.2 Eligibility for Election 

Any practicing Member or Non-resident Practicing Member with voting rights, in good standing, with the exception of an owner or operator of a massage therapy training school, or director of another massage therapy association, who is qualified to act as a director pursuant to the Act shall be eligible for election to the Board. A retiring Board Member shall be eligible for re-election.   All interested applicants who are eligible for election or re- election to the Board of Directors must have the MTAS application form submitted a minimum of twenty-one days prior to the Annual General Meeting. All applicants’ biographies will be provided in the Annual General Meeting reports

 3.3 Election at Annual General Meeting

 At each annual general meeting of the Association the Members shall elect Board Members to fill the vacant board positions. Each Board Member that has served for the immediately preceding term shall retire at the dissolution or adjournment of the annual general meeting and the Members entitled to vote thereat shall elect Board Members to replace such retiring Board Members. The Member who held the position of President immediately prior to the election of a new Board at an annual general meeting shall be deemed to have been elected as a Board Member of the Association and shall hold the office of Past-President.  

Financial Statements

Click here to download the audited 2022 financial statements.

Click here to download the audited 2021 financial statements.  (Tabled from last AGM).

AGM Forms

Motions form - must be submitted no later than March 23rd.

Nominations form.

Proxy voting form - must be submitted no later than March 29th.  Only applicable for in-person voters - cannot be used by an online voter.