Quebec massage therapists, represented through around twenty associations, are not governed by any professional order, thus making the power of sanctions “fairly weak”, estimates the Quebec Federation of Approved Massotherapists (FQM).
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Indeed, no rule forces associations to communicate information between themselves concerning their members.
Thus, the public cannot be informed of sanctions, complaints or even exclusions imposed on massage therapists, since this is confidential data, we are told.
“We have communication processes between associations. There are some who participate, there are those who do not participate. It’s free for everyone to do so,” says Guy Béland, general director of the Regroupement des Stakeholders et Therapists en Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
A massage therapist could thus be excluded from an association and then join one or more other groups.
“There are several weaknesses in the absence of regulation,” underlines the president and general director of the FQM, Maroine Bendaoud.
Photo provided by MAROINE BENDAOUD
“We are cracking down internally. I can write off [il ne s’agit pas d’un ordre professionnel NDLR] a person or report them to the appropriate authorities. But that’s where our power ends,” says Christine Myette, head of ethics and legal affairs at the Regroupement des Massotherapistes du Québec.
The associations also lack cutting edge when it comes to legalized cases of at-fault massage therapists, believes Mr. Bendaoud.
“If someone who is part of a professional order is criminally accused, their order will be informed, but this is not the case for massage therapists. I learn about judicial developments in the newspapers,” he said.
A hundred schools
What’s more, massage therapy training is offered in around a hundred schools in Quebec, which are also not subject to regulation by the Ministry of Education.
“It’s a bit of a jumble, the standards are very unequal, and so are the skills, unfortunately,” says Mr. Bendaoud.
No professional order
This situation demonstrates the importance of creating a professional order for massage therapists, he adds.
An opinion which is far from being shared within the network, while many associations are opposed to it, considering this method “too expensive”, we are told.
Regulation between associations would, however, be the avenue favored by many.
The FMQ has already asked the Office des professions du Québec for professional supervision of massage therapy.
The request was, however, refused due to the lack of “reliable factual data […] showing that the current situation actually exposes the public to serious and relatively frequent risks of harm […] attributable to the current practices of massage therapists.
Asked by The Journalthe spokesperson for the Office des professions du Québec, Jacques Nadeau, did not specify whether cases of clients cheated by a massage therapist represented harm to the public.
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