Comprehensive Care for Workplace Injuries
As a proud member of the WorkSafeBC Provider Network, we are committed to helping injured workers regain their strength, mobility, and confidence. Our goal is to provide a seamless recovery experience that prioritizes your health and long-term functional success. A workplace injury can affect more than your ability to do your job. At Coast Therapy, our multidisciplinary team provides rehabilitation focused on reducing symptoms, restoring function, and helping you safely return to the activities and work that matter to you.
Depending on your injury and WorkSafeBC claim, care may involve physiotherapy, kinesiology, registered massage therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, or occupational therapy. Each practitioner assesses your needs within their scope and works with you toward your rehabilitation goals.
Your Path to Recovery
For work-related musculoskeletal injuries, your physiotherapist can complete an initial assessment when your WorkSafeBC claim is accepted or pending, provided you meet the applicable requirements. Treatment beyond the initial assessment requires an accepted claim and applicable WorkSafeBC authorization.
Your assessment looks beyond the immediate injury. Your physiotherapist will evaluate your symptoms, movement, strength, mobility, functional abilities and activity limitations, while considering the physical demands of your work. Together, you will identify goals and factors that may affect your recovery and safe return to your regular activities.
A Collaborative & Integrated Approach
A successful return to work often involves communication between you, your healthcare providers, your employer and WorkSafeBC.
Your physiotherapist can communicate relevant clinical findings, functional abilities and return-to-work recommendations to WorkSafeBC and, where appropriate, your employer and other members of your care team.
We involve you throughout your care. Your physiotherapist will explain assessment findings, discuss treatment options and work with you to establish goals that support your recovery, functional progress and return to work.
Evidence-Based Treatment
Your treatment plan is based on your injury, clinical findings, functional goals and the physical demands of your work. Depending on your needs, treatment may include:
- Manual therapy and therapeutic techniques
- Therapeutic and functional exercise
- Mobility, strength and conditioning
- Education and self-management strategies
- Job-specific functional rehabilitation
- Functional testing and activity progression
- Other clinically appropriate physiotherapy interventions within the applicable WorkSafeBC program
Treatment recommendations are individualized to your presentation and may change as your condition and functional abilities progress.
Our Commitment to Your Health
Our priority is your safe and sustainable return to function—not simply meeting a deadline.
Your physiotherapist will monitor your progress, functional abilities and response to treatment and provide clinical recommendations based on your presentation and the demands of your work.
Our goal is to help you achieve the best possible functional outcome, reduce the risk of re-injury and support a safe return to work and your daily activities.
Your physiotherapist provides clinical recommendations regarding your functional abilities and treatment needs. Return-to-work decisions are determined through the appropriate WorkSafeBC process, in consultation with the worker, employer and other relevant parties.
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Bring your WorkSafeBC claim number, injury date, BC personal health number or other health-card information, and any medical or claim documents requested by the clinic.
Your physiotherapist will ask about:
- How the injury occurred
- Your current symptoms
- Activities that are difficult or limited
- Your job duties and physical demands
- Your current work status
- Your recovery and functional goals
Your assessment may include movement, strength, mobility, balance, functional capacity, task tolerance and other measures relevant to your injury and work demands.
Your physiotherapist will explain the assessment findings, develop a treatment plan with you and identify whether additional WorkSafeBC authorization, medical information or referral may be required.
Claims Coverage and Billing
WorkSafeBC determines claim acceptance, treatment entitlement and authorization.
For work-related musculoskeletal injuries, an initial physiotherapy assessment may be completed within 60 days of the injury when a claim is accepted or pending. Treatment beyond the initial assessment requires an accepted claim and applicable WorkSafeBC authorization.
When physiotherapy services are covered under your accepted WorkSafeBC claim, eligible services are billed directly to WorkSafeBC in accordance with the applicable program and agreement.
The number and duration of approved visits can vary depending on the type of injury, treatment pathway, clinical findings and WorkSafeBC authorization. Additional treatment may require an extension request or other authorization.
Specialized physiotherapy pathways—including concussion and vestibular physiotherapy, post-surgical care, home physiotherapy and neurological physiotherapy—have additional requirements and may follow different authorization processes.
Because WorkSafeBC requirements can vary by claim, contact our clinic before beginning treatment so we can help confirm your claim status and the appropriate treatment pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You can access physiotherapy directly for a work-related injury without a doctor’s referral.
For a WorkSafeBC musculoskeletal injury, an initial physiotherapy assessment may be completed within 60 days of your date of injury when your claim is accepted or pending, provided the applicable WorkSafeBC requirements are met.
Please provide your WorkSafeBC claim number, date of injury and other information requested by the clinic so we can confirm your claim status and the appropriate physiotherapy pathway.
No. You do not necessarily need to wait for your WorkSafeBC claim to be approved before having your initial physiotherapy assessment.
For a work-related musculoskeletal injury, an initial physiotherapy assessment may be completed within 60 days of the date of injury when your claim is accepted or pending, provided the applicable WorkSafeBC requirements are met.
Treatment beyond the initial assessment requires an accepted claim and applicable WorkSafeBC authorization.
If your claim is still pending, we can help confirm your claim status and the appropriate next steps before treatment begins.
We would need to check the status of your claim online and / or contact your WorkSafeBC adjuster. Please do not hesitate to call or email us – we would need your claim number and MSP(BC Health) number to check your eligibility.
If your injury occurred more than 60 days ago, you may still be eligible for WorkSafeBC physiotherapy, depending on the status of your claim and the applicable treatment pathway.
We can help determine the appropriate next step by reviewing your claim information and, when necessary, contacting WorkSafeBC or your claim adjuster.
Please call or email us with your WorkSafeBC claim number and BC Personal Health Number (PHN) so we can help confirm your claim status and determine what may be required before your assessment or treatment.
For standard WorkSafeBC musculoskeletal physiotherapy, the initial physiotherapy assessment can be completed within 60 days of the date of injury when the claim is accepted or pending.
Once the claim is accepted, the standard treatment block provides 10 additional physiotherapy sessions over 5 weeks. This applies to both regular musculoskeletal injuries and eligible post-surgical physiotherapy.
If your claim is still pending, you can proceed with the initial assessment, but you must wait until WorkSafeBC accepts the claim before continuing with the additional treatment sessions.
If treatment is required beyond the standard treatment period, or if your claim status or treatment dates fall outside the applicable guidelines, specific approval from your WorkSafeBC claim manager may be required before additional treatment can be provided.
WorkSafeBC requirements can vary depending on the type of injury and treatment pathway. Your physiotherapist will monitor your progress and can request an extension when additional treatment is clinically appropriate.
There is no single timeline for returning to work after a work-related injury. Your return-to-work plan depends on your injury, functional abilities, job demands and progress throughout treatment.
Ultimately, return-to-work decisions are determined by WorkSafeBC. Your physiotherapist can provide WorkSafeBC with clinical recommendations regarding appropriate work restrictions, functional limitations and modifications that may support a safe return to work.
Your physiotherapist will assess your functional abilities and monitor your progress throughout treatment, updating recommendations as your abilities change. Our goal is to support a safe and sustainable return to work while reducing the risk of re-injury.
Your employer, WorkSafeBC, healthcare providers and you may all be involved in the return-to-work process.
Your physiotherapist will assess your progress and functional abilities and provide WorkSafeBC with recommendations regarding your ongoing treatment and work restrictions.
If additional care is clinically appropriate, your physiotherapist may communicate with your WorkSafeBC claim manager about further treatment, diagnostic imaging, specialist consultation or services such as Occupational Rehabilitation. Additional treatment or services may require WorkSafeBC approval.
Ultimately, decisions regarding additional treatment and claim-related benefits are determined by WorkSafeBC.
Prevention is an important part of your recovery. Your Coast Therapy care team can provide education on proper movement, ergonomics and body mechanics to help reduce the risk of re-injury at work.
When appropriate, your care team may also involve other practitioners, such as a Kinesiologist, to provide job-specific training, conditioning and exercise strategies that support a safe and sustainable return to work. Additional services may require WorkSafeBC approval.
Yes. Our Coast Therapy care team can assess repetitive strain injuries, contributing movements, work demands and functional limitations.
Treatment may include education, therapeutic exercise, ergonomic strategies, task or activity modification, and gradual progression toward your job demands. When appropriate, your care team may also recommend additional assessment or medical investigation to better understand the cause of your symptoms.
Yes! Physiotherapy provides the clinical assessment, treatment plan and ongoing clinical direction, while Kinesiology can complement your care by helping you progress exercises, conditioning and job-specific functional activities when direct physiotherapist treatment is not required for that session.
In the standard WorkSafeBC physiotherapy program, authorized Kinesiology support sessions are provided within the same treatment entitlement as the physiotherapy program. Additional services or treatment may require WorkSafeBC approval.
There is no single timeline for WorkSafeBC rehabilitation. The authorized treatment period is an administrative treatment limit, not a prediction of how long your recovery will take.
Your recovery depends on your injury, functional abilities, job demands and response to treatment. Your Coast Therapy care team will monitor your progress, review your goals and, when clinically appropriate, discuss additional treatment, an extension request or another WorkSafeBC program to support your return to function and work.