HD in Massage Therapy is a higher diploma in Physiotherapy programme taught at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada. The programme runs for 3 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English.
At a glance
Degree:Higher Diploma
Field:Physiotherapy
Duration: 3 years
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
We have no tuition fees on record for this programme yet — see the official programme page.
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Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Overview Putting knowledge and skills into your own hands. The Massage Therapy Ontario College Advanced Diploma program provides you with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes required of the profession. Graduates from this program are able to use their judgement to provide safe, competent and ethical care as entry-to-practice massage therapists. In choosing this program, you learn about anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, professional communication, ethics, jurisprudence in healthcare, massage theory and massage practice skills. Throughout the program you participate in lab exercises, practicing on your classmates, to learn how to: conduct a clinical assessment formulate a comprehensive clinical impression create a client-centred treatment plan provide and receive safe and ethical massage therapy care Part of your learning experience also includes working with clients in supervised clinics on campus and in community placement settings. Graduates of this program are ready to take the next steps in starting their career. In order to practice as a Massage Therapist in Ontario, you must register with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO). The registration process requires successful completion of professional certification examinations. Massage Therapists build successful practices in a variety of settings, including: private practice mobile practice chiropractic and/or physiotherapy offices healthcare organizations fitness centres athletic organizations hotels, resorts, spas
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Algonquin publishes these requirements for the Sept 2027 - Aug 2028 admissions year on this program's own page; the requirements for Sept 2026 - Aug 2027 are shown separately there and can differ. Program code 0915X01FWO. All applicants must satisfy both College Eligibility and Program Eligibility.
COLLEGE ELIGIBILITY: an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or its equivalent, or mature-student standing - 19 or older, and without a high-school diploma, by the time the program begins. Mature entry may be settled by academic achievement testing, for which a fee is charged.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY: Grade 12 English (ENG4C or equivalent) at 65% or better; Biology at Grade 11 or 12 at 65% or better.
Applicants presenting transcripts from outside Canada must document the subjects above and may be asked for evidence of language proficiency; a domestic applicant holding international transcripts must have them assessed by the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS) or World Education Services (WES).
ENGLISH (higher than Algonquin's usual health-program requirement, and set per skill): Academic IELTS 6.5 overall with reading 6.5, listening 7.5, speaking 6.5 and writing 6.0; or TOEFL iBT 90 overall with reading 22, listening 24, speaking 22 and writing 22 where the test was sat before 21 January 2026, or 4.5 overall with reading 4.5, listening 5, speaking 4.5 and writing 4.5 where it was sat after that date; or a Duolingo English Test score of 120 overall with 120 in Literacy and nothing under 105.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS: those who meet the program eligibility are additionally required to complete a four-month preparatory course, Introduction to Canadian Health Studies (ICHS), and move into this program afterwards; entry to ICHS requires an academic IELTS score.
Application Details
Start Date:Intake terms Algonquin lists for this program, read from its own availability table on 6 September 2026: Fall 2026 (AC Day 1 orientation 8 September 2026; Fall term classes start 9 September 2026); Winter 2027 (most classes start 11 January 2027). Term start dates come from the Registrar's Important Dates page, which also gives 11 January 2027 for the Winter 2027 term and 10 May 2027 for the Spring 2027 term. Availability changes as seats fill and an intake already under way may be closed, so check the program page before applying. Algonquin's academic year runs September to August.
Application Deadline:DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents). Algonquin publishes no deadline unique to this program; the dates below are the college-wide Ontario colleges cycle and apply to every full-time day program. Applications go through ontariocolleges.ca, where 1 February is the equal consideration date each cycle: apply by then and your application is assessed alongside every other one received by that date, while applications arriving later are handled first-come, first-served for as long as places remain. For entry in Fall 2027 the ontariocolleges.ca application opened on 26 September 2026, colleges may begin issuing offers on 1 November 2026, the equal consideration date is 1 February 2027 and an offer must be accepted by 1 May 2027. The equal consideration date that governed the Fall 2026, Winter 2027 and Spring 2027 intakes was 1 February 2026 and has already passed, so those three starts are now first-come, first-served while seats last. Algonquin flags this program as competitive, which makes the 1 February date matter: qualified applicants who applied by then are rank-ordered on their screening results and offers go down that list, and everyone after it is admitted only while space remains or is waitlisted by date of application.
INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS. Apply directly to Algonquin on the International Application Form in its International Application Portal (AC360) rather than through ontariocolleges.ca, with a CAD 135 application fee. There is no single fixed international deadline: Algonquin asks you to confirm the program is open before applying, warns that a program's status can change to waitlisted or closed before an admissions officer reviews the file, and publishes a closing-date sheet for each intake. For the Fall 2026 intake that sheet gives this program's own dates: 16 September 2026 is the last day to apply on the International Application Portal and receive an acceptance, and 14 September 2026 is the last day to register.
