Transitions Vocational Assessment

08/11/2026

Five years from now, will vocational rehabilitation professionals in Canada still be talking about the Career Handbook? Or will OaSIS simply be the way we work?

The Career Handbook shaped vocational rehabilitation practice in Canada for decades. Many of us learned transferable skills analysis, vocational matching, and occupational research using those resources.

Today, the landscape is changing. The Career Handbook has been retired. OaSIS is now Canada's primary occupational information system.

NOC 2026 is approaching. Yet conversations with occupational therapists, vocational consultants, and return-to-work professionals suggest that adoption is happening at very different speeds.
- Some clinicians are already using OaSIS daily.
- Others are still exploring how it fits into their practice.
- Many are somewhere in between.

This raises an interesting question: Are we experiencing a temporary transition period, or are we heading toward a profession where some practitioners continue using Career Handbook concepts while others fully embrace OaSIS?

What do you think vocational rehabilitation practice in Canada will look like five years from now?

I would love to hear perspectives from occupational therapists, vocational consultants, disability managers, career practitioners, and others working in this space.

08/06/2026

Interpreting the Canadian Rating Guide (CRG) continues to be one of the biggest challenges for vocational rehabilitation clinicians who are matching a client's abilities with realistic employment options.

After publishing my blog post in April, Understanding the OaSIS Canadian Rating Guide for Vocational Rehabilitation, I contacted Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) again to better understand how the CRG is intended to guide our clinical reasoning.

One of the most helpful points from those discussions was this:
The Canadian Rating Guide uses Levels 1 to 5 to describe increasing levels of function within most OaSIS descriptors.
Some descriptors are straightforward. For example, many of the Work Context descriptors are based on the frequency or duration of exposure to an activity.
Other descriptors require more interpretation.
Although the levels are often described as very low, low, moderate, high, and very high, these labels do not have the same meaning across every descriptor.
Each OaSIS descriptor has its own definition and its own rating criteria. Depending on the descriptor, the ratings may reflect physical effort, endurance, coordination, precision, frequency, or another characteristic.

When selecting a CRG rating, it is important to consider all of the available information, including:
• the definition of the descriptor
• the contextual descriptions for each rating level
• the example tasks and occupations provided within the CRG
• the client's demonstrated abilities from objective assessment
• your clinical judgement
• the client's ability to perform the activity safely and consistently
Every client presents a unique combination of abilities, experiences, and circumstances. The goal is to select the level that best represents the client's function based on the evidence available at the time of the assessment.

I would be interested to hear from other clinicians. Which OaSIS descriptors have you found the most difficult to interpret consistently?

🔗https://cornerstoneot.mykajabi.com/blog/understanding-the-oasis-canadian-rating-guide-crg-for-vocational-rehabilitation

Learn how the OaSIS Canadian Rating Guide (CRG) explains occupational ratings and supports transferable skills analysis and vocational assessment in Canada.

08/04/2026

Over the past year, I have written blog posts about OaSIS, Transferable Skills Analysis, Job Demands Analysis, reflective practice, vocational reasoning, and many other topics.

What surprised me most is that almost every article started the same way.

Someone asked a question.

It might have been after a webinar, during a conference, or in a conversation with a colleague. Often, it was a question I had not planned to write about until someone said, "How do you approach this?"

Those conversations have shaped my blog far more than any content plan ever could.

In my latest article, I look back on the themes that have emerged over the past year, what they have taught me, and where the conversation might go next.

I also have a question for you.

What topic would you like to see explored in a future blog post?

If there is a question that keeps coming up in your own practice, I would love to hear it. I am also interested in hearing from professionals who may like to contribute a guest blog post and share their own experience with the vocational rehabilitation community.

🔗https://cornerstoneot.mykajabi.com/blog/what-a-year-of-blogging-taught-me

08/03/2026

We are pleased to invite you to try the latest version of our Labour Market Analysis (LMA) App. This is an early development version, and your feedback will play an important role in shaping future improvements.

You can access the app here: https://lmat-jade.vercel.app/

For now, please sign in using your Microsoft account. Additional sign-in options will be available in a future update.

We would appreciate your feedback on:

- How easy the app is to use

- Whether the information provided is useful and relevant

- Any glitches, errors, or unexpected behaviour you encounter

- Features or improvements you would like to see

- Anything else that would help make the app more useful in your practice

The goal of this project is to develop a practical tool that supports clinicians completing labour market analyses as part of vocational rehabilitation. Your experience and suggestions will help us prioritize future development and ensure the app meets the needs of professionals working in the field.

Once you’ve had a look at the app, go to https://forms.gle/gZnmuVcKx9LkNfA39 to complete the questionnaire – it should only take a few minutes. If you would prefer to discuss your thoughts in more detail, I would be happy to arrange a short online meeting.

Thank you for taking the time to help us improve this resource. Your feedback is genuinely appreciated and will help guide the next stages of development.

Kind regards,

Ruth

Thank you for testing this early prototype of the Labour Market Analysis App (LMApp). This version is focused on three areas: data accuracy, clarity of outputs, and workflow efficiency (time savings). Your feedback will directly shape the next development phase, including updates to features, format...

07/30/2026

Practical updates, thoughtfully selected.

Our monthly email shares:
• Education and CEU updates
• New tools and case studies
• Blog posts on OaSIS, TSA, and vocational practice
• Conference and event announcements

Designed for Canadian clinicians and vocational professionals.
One email per month. No clutter.

Subscribe here: 🔗https://cornerstoneot.mykajabi.com/Transitions-monthly-email-updates

Monthly insights for occupational therapists and vocational consultants. Evidence-informed updates on TSA, OaSIS, JDAs, and practice tools. Sign up here.

07/28/2026

When was the last time you stopped and thought about how Job Demands Analysis has changed?

Many of us learned to complete JDAs years ago. The purpose has stayed the same: understand the demands of a job so we can make informed decisions. The tools, expectations, and available information have evolved.

Today, we have access to more detailed occupational information, greater recognition of cognitive and psychosocial job demands, and growing expectations for clear, defensible reports.

One thing has not changed. A high-quality Job Demands Analysis still depends on careful observation, thoughtful analysis, and sound professional judgment.

I am preparing a new blog that looks at what has changed in Canada, how Job Demands Analysis differs from Functional Job Analysis, and what occupational therapists and vocational professionals should consider in today's practice.

Have you changed the way you complete Job Demands Analyses over the past few years? I would be interested to hear what changes have had the biggest impact on your practice.

07/23/2026

What does a Transferable Skills Analysis workflow actually look like in 2026?

Many vocational rehabilitation professionals are adapting to OaSIS and newer occupational information systems.

One question I hear regularly is: "Has the TSA process changed?"

My answer is usually: Not as much as people think.

The tools have evolved. The clinical reasoning remains the same.

We still gather evidence, identify what has changed, compare occupational requirements, and develop recommendations that are supported by the available information.

This carousel outlines a practical TSA workflow from referral question to vocational options.

What part of the TSA process do you find most challenging today?

07/21/2026

What does your Transferable Skills Analysis process look like?

We recently launched our OaSIS Readiness Self-Check for vocational rehabilitation professionals, and the first responses have come in.

It is still a very small sample, so it is far too early to draw conclusions. Even so, a few interesting patterns are starting to emerge.

Many respondents reported that they feel confident identifying transferable skills and understanding what makes a TSA defensible. At the same time, fewer people felt their overall TSA process was efficient and well structured.

When asked what would help most, the most common response was not more occupational information. It was a clear, step-by-step TSA methodology.

These early results suggest that professionals may already have many of the individual skills needed for TSA work. The challenge may be bringing those skills together into a consistent, efficient workflow.

I would love to hear from more occupational therapists, vocational consultants, rehabilitation professionals, and others involved in vocational assessment.

The more responses we receive, the better we can understand where professionals need support and develop practical resources that address those needs.

If you have 3 to 4 minutes, I would be grateful if you could complete the self-check and share it with colleagues who complete TSA work.

🔗 https://lnkd.in/eAAzTMub

Thank you for helping us build a clearer picture of vocational rehabilitation practice across Canada.

A quick self-check for vocational rehabilitation professionals using the National Occupational Classification and OaSIS. 

07/16/2026

What Is the Most Commonly Missed Part of a Job Demands Analysis?

When people think about a Job Demands Analysis (JDA), they often focus on the physical demands of the job:

Lifting
Carrying
Standing
Walking
Reaching

These are important components of a JDA.

What I often see overlooked, however, are the cognitive, environmental, and organizational demands of the work.

For example:

How much multitasking is required?
How often do priorities change throughout the day?
What level of concentration is needed?
How much decision-making is involved?
What environmental factors affect performance?
How much interaction is required with customers, coworkers, or the public?

When these demands are not clearly documented, return-to-work planning, accommodation discussions, and disability management decisions can become much more challenging.

A comprehensive JDA provides a clearer picture of the actual work being performed and helps support more informed decisions for employers, workers, insurers, and rehabilitation professionals.

I am curious:

What part of a Job Demands Analysis do you think is most often missed or underestimated?

If you are looking for a structured approach to completing Job Demands Analyses, my e-manual, Job Demands Analysis: A Practical Guide, provides a step-by-step framework, practical templates, and guidance for documenting physical, cognitive, environmental, and organizational job demands.

07/14/2026

Many professional associations in Canada are now including reflective practice as part of their standards for accountability and ongoing competency.
👉 Some professionals reflect daily.
👉 Others only during annual reviews or when completing continuing education.

💬 What about you? Do you think reflection should be a regular part of professional standards? Why or why not?

🔗https://cornerstoneot.mykajabi.com/reflective-practice-course