Answering Your Questions About Leaving a Practice

Posted: June 23, 2026

Among the thousands of calls and emails the College’s Practice Advisors answer every year, questions about leaving a job are a popular topic.

It makes sense. Between your responsibilities to patients and obligations to your employer, there’s a lot to think about as you’re taking the next step in your career.

The College’s Leaving a Practice Checklist captures your most important professional obligations – so it’s an essential place to start if you’re looking for guidance.

To further support you, this blog will take a closer look at some of the most common questions about leaving a practice.

What Should I Do Before I Give My Employer Notice I’m Quitting?

Start by reviewing your employment contract so you know whether there are any terms that could affect what you can share with patients or how you leave the practice. If you have questions about the terms of your employment contract, you should reach out to a legal professional.

You should also make sure your charting is up to date, and any outstanding clinical documentation is completed. We’ve heard of some cases where employers have asked physiotherapists to stop working immediately after giving their notice. You don’t want to be in a situation where you lose access to patient records before you finish charting.

As a physiotherapist, it’s your responsibility to help ensure your patients’ access to care is not interrupted. So you should also start to think about how you can provide continuity of care so there is minimal disruption to patient’s treatment plans. See the answer to the next question for more details.

Can I Tell Patients About My New Job?

The first step – before talking to patients – is to speak with your employer. Have a conversation and decide how patients will be told you’re leaving.

As outlined in the Communication and Duty of Care standards, patients should be provided with the information they need to make decisions about their care.

If you’re leaving the clinic, this would involve letting patients know and providing them with options to continue their care. These could include:

Seeing another physiotherapist at the clinic

Seeing you at your new job

Being discharged with a home exercise program, if appropriate

In some cases, your employment contract may limit what you can tell patients about your new job. If this is the case, at a minimum, we encourage you and your employer to point patients to the Public Register where they can look up the information themselves.

Here are some additional considerations:

Let patients know you’re leaving with enough notice so they can be involved in decision-making (e.g., consent to transition, transfer, or discharge).

You and your employer may decide who delivers the message, but the obligation to ensure patients are informed remains.

Discussions and plans for follow-up or transfer should be documented in the patient’s chart.

You should also avoid sharing negative information about your employer or why you’re leaving the practice with patients. This could put patients in an uncomfortable position and violate professional boundaries.

My Patient Plans to Keep Seeing Me at My New Job. Can I Take Their Records with Me?

It depends.

If you are the health information custodian for patient records, then you maintain custodianship as you leave.

However, if you are the agent, you cannot leave with any personal health information that belongs to patients. This would include their names, email addresses, and contact information, as well as their physiotherapy records. In this case, if a patient chooses to follow you to a new job, their original chart should remain with the health information custodian. The patient should request a copy of their chart from the custodian, which they could bring to the new location.

See the College’s Privacy Considerations When Leaving a Practice for more information.

Who Can I Talk to If I Need Legal or Business Advice About Leaving My Job?

If you need advice about your employment contract or other legal or business issues related to leaving your job, you should speak with a lawyer.

You may have access to a legal opinion through your liability insurer.

The College’s Practice Advisors are happy to help talk through how to fulfil your professional obligations to patients but cannot provide legal or business advice.