Afrooz Shah is a resident physiotherapist at Toronto Wellness & Physio Center. She qualified in physiotherapy in 2007 and joined the Ontario register in January 2026, and she is one of the few physiotherapists at the clinic authorised by the College to perform acupuncture and dry needling. She treats in Farsi, English, Hindi and Urdu.
Physiotherapists in Ontario are regulated by the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, and the College publishes each registrant's category, education, and the controlled acts they are authorised to perform. Afrooz's record is public and you can read it before booking.
Provisional Practice is the registration class the College uses for physiotherapists in the period after they first join the Ontario register. The terms and conditions attached to the certificate are listed in full on the register page above, which is the only version that stays current.
In Ontario, inserting a needle beneath the skin is a controlled act. A physiotherapist can only do it if the College has specifically authorised them, and that authorisation appears on the public register. Afrooz holds it.
This matters in practice for two reasons. It means dry needling can be used inside a physiotherapy session rather than requiring a separate appointment with another provider, and it means the needling is planned against the same assessment findings that drive the rest of your treatment. It is one tool in a plan, not the plan itself. If you are looking for traditional Chinese medicine style treatment rather than needling as part of rehab, the clinic's acupuncture service is a better fit.
Explaining where pain sits, what makes it worse, and how a home exercise should feel is harder in a second language, and the detail lost in that translation is often the detail the assessment depends on. Afrooz treats in four:
Farsi-speaking patients across Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Willowdale and North York can book a full assessment in Persian rather than bringing a family member along to interpret.
Her work is musculoskeletal and orthopaedic. These are the conditions patients most often book her for, each with its own page if you want to read up before your appointment.
| Condition | Where treatment usually starts |
|---|---|
| Back pain | Working out which movements provoke and which relieve, before loading anything |
| Neck pain | Upper trapezius and suboccipital tension, joint mobility, headache contribution |
| Shoulder pain | Separating cuff irritation from stiffness patterns, then matching the plan to it |
| Knee pain | Quadriceps and hip control, stair and squat tolerance |
| Sciatica | Screening the nerve signs first, then restoring walking and sitting tolerance |
| Ankle and foot pain | Calf loading for Achilles and heel pain, balance retraining after sprains |
| Elbow pain | Tendon loading, with needling to settle symptoms where it is appropriate |
| Wrist pain | Joint mobility, tendon capacity, grip and keyboard demands |
The full list is on the conditions we treat page. She also takes post-surgical rehabilitation cases, where the plan follows the timelines your surgeon has set rather than a generic protocol.
Afrooz completed her physiotherapy degree at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in 2007 and practised internationally before qualifying to practise in Ontario, where she joined the College register in January 2026. Alongside clinical work she has held practice ownership and director roles, and holds a Doctor of Business Administration in healthcare, which is a management qualification rather than a clinical one.
Physiotherapy at Toronto Wellness & Physio Center is not covered by OHIP. We are a private clinic and are not an OHIP-funded physiotherapy provider, so appointments with Afrooz are paid privately or claimed through extended health benefits.
New patients start with an initial assessment, which runs longer than a follow-up because history, testing, and the first round of treatment happen in the same visit. If you want the session conducted in Farsi, Hindi or Urdu, say so when you book so reception can schedule it accordingly.
Call (416) 443-6895 or use the contact page to request a time. The rest of the clinical staff are listed on the team page.
