Weeks after P.E.I. regulates podiatry, another health profession calls for similar rules [Video]

Some orthotists who fit Islanders for foot inserts and custom braces want the P.E.I. government to regulate their profession too. 

On Oct. 1, the province brought in podiatry regulations that require those providing medical foot care to have formal credentials in podiatry and to become licensed. 

Vanessa LaVoie, who works as an orthotist in P.E.I. and New Brunswick, says there’s a need for similar rules with her profession. 

“Here, if I open up a clinic and do foot orthotics, no one will shut me down if I have no credentials,” she said. “[Anyone] can still do foot orthotics, or still do bracing. And this is something I believe the province should regulate.”

LaVoie went through several years of post-secondary education and on-the-job training to become an orthotist, certified by the national group Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC).  

She works with clients facing mobility challenges brought on by injuries or health conditions, …