Senior Occupational Therapist, Student Health and Wellness

University of Ottawa; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 96,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Ottawa is seeking an Occupational Therapist in Student Mental Health Services to deliver specialized therapy to students and post-doctoral fellows, focusing on digital dependency and related mental health challenges. The role emphasizes autonomy, clinical judgment, and a strengths-based coaching approach to support student well-being and academic success.

The position requires COTO registration, a minimum of three years' clinical experience, and bilingual proficiency in French and

Qualifications

• Current registration in good standing with the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO).
• Minimum of three (3) years of clinical experience in health care, mental health, counselling, health promotion, or a related field.
• Bilingualism: French and English with proficiency tests in both languages.
• Experience with strengths-based, client-driven, and goal-oriented coaching approaches (e.g., OPC).

Responsibilities

• Improve University of Ottawa students' and post-doctoral fellows' participation in academic and other valued activities through Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC), primarily online.
• Optimise OPC outcomes by monitoring progress with standardized tools (COPM, DASS-21), participating in OPC training, data collection, evaluation, reporting, and liaising with the Unplug to Heal project team.
• Ensure coordinated care, early intervention, and appropriate referral pathways within a stepped-care model in collaboration with Health Promotion Specialists.
• Promote digital dependency awareness with campus stakeholders and empower them to provide further support to students.
• Maintain documentation in compliance with the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO) and University standards.
• Participate in design, implementation and evaluation of the digital dependency project.
• Participate in research regarding OPC for university students and post-doctoral fellows.
• Maintain high-quality services and ongoing development by collaborating with the professor lead for OPC.

Skills

Bilingual (French & English)

Clinical experience

Client-centered coaching

OPC coaching approach

Education

Licensed Occupational Therapist in Ontario (COTO)

Tools

COPM

DASS-21

Job description

Posting Reason: New Position

Job Type: Employee

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments): 15

Job Family: Student Health and Wellness

# of Open Positions: 1

Faculty/Service - Department: Student Affairs, Mental Health Services Counselling Service

Campus: Minto Sports Complex

Union Affiliation: SSUO

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/11/05

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD): 2026/11/16

Hours per week: 35

Salary Grade: SSUO Grade 11

Salary Range: $95,594.00 - $120,750.00

About Student Services:

Student Services is at the very heart of the student experience at the University of Ottawa. We recruit the very best future students, support them throughout their university years and leave them well-prepared for fulfilling careers and future studies. Our team of more than 600 dedicated staff provides the services that keep students happy, well and thriving as they pursue their ambitions. We help them apply and enrol for courses, we oversee 11 residences and an award-winning Dining Hall, we organize fun events, we provide extensive recreation program opportunities and varsity sports activities, we run an innovative career development and experiential learning program and much more!

There's nothing more rewarding than helping future generations reach their full potential at a world-class university. With our wide variety of career opportunities and professional development pathways, we're sure that you'll enjoy the experience as much as our students do.

Position purpose :

Reporting to the Associate Director, Student Mental Health Services, the Occupational Therapist (OT) delivers specialized clinical services to students and post-doctoral fellows experiencing digital dependency and related mental health challenges. The incumbent exercises considerable professional judgment and autonomy in providing occupation-focused, strengths-based occupational therapy and contributing to the continuous improvement of student mental health services. The role has a direct impact on student well-being, academic success, and the achievement of the University's mental health and wellness objectives.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Improve University of Ottawa students' and post-doctoral fellows' participation in academic and other personally valued activities through Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC), primarily in an on-line (virtual) setting.
• Optimise the outcomes of the OPC component of the digital dependency project and drive continuous improvement by monitoring and evaluating student progress using standardized tools (e.g., COPM, DASS-21), and by participating in OPC training, fidelity checks, data collection, evaluation, reporting and other activities, and liaising with the Unplug to Heal project team.
• Ensure coordinated care, early intervention, and appropriate referral pathways within a stepped-care model by closely collaborating with Health Promotion Specialists on an ongoing basis. Participate in the establishment of indications for referral to OPC.
• Promote digital dependency awareness with campus stakeholders such as faculty staff, support staff and wellness professionals and empower them to provide further support to students with digital dependency and enhance their capacity.
• Maintain appropriate documentation in compliance with the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO) and University standards.
• Participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of the digital dependency project.
• Participate in research regarding OPC for university students and post-doctoral fellows.
• Maintain high-quality services and on-going development of the service by collaborating closely with the professor lead for Occupational Performance Coaching.

What you will bring:

• Current registration in good standing with the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario (COTO).
• Minimum of three (3) years of clinical experience in health care, mental health, counselling, health promotion, or a related field.
• Bilingualism: French and English (spoken and written), to be considered for this position, candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.
• Experience with strengths-based, client-driven, and goal-oriented coaching approaches (e.g., Occu