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New health profession legislation comes into force on April 1, 2026

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July 17, 2025

The Ministry of Health has announced that the Health Professions Act (HPA) will be repealed on April 1, 2026 and replaced by the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA). On that date, the HPOA will be in force as the governing legislation for regulation of health professions in BC.

The BC government has posted updates to the regulations for health professions to align them with the HPOA. The regulations outline the name of the college that regulates each health profession, reserved titles, scope of practice statements, activities restricted to the health profession, and limits or conditions on practice.

While the updated regulations are now publicly available, they will not be in effect until April 1, 2026, when the HPOA comes into force.

CHCPBC is currently reviewing the updated regulations and will provide further information about them, including implications they may have on the College and professional practice.

The new regulations will also add new health professions to BC’s health regulatory framework. On November 29, 2027, psychotherapists will be regulated by CHCPBC. This is in line with the Ministry’s recommendations published in August 2020 to modernize the BC health regulatory framework. The College will work collaboratively to integrate psychotherapists into our regulatory framework and advance public safety in more areas of BC’s healthcare system.

For more information about the updated regulations and regulation of psychotherapists, see the BC Government’s Health Professions and Occupations Act webpage.

About the HPOA

As stated in the Ministry of Health’s Health Professions and Occupations Act Q&A (July 2025), the HPOA will:

  • Increase information sharing to improve patient safety and public trust
  • Establish the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office (HPOROO)
  • Enhance a commitment to cultural safety and humility
  • Create an independent disciplinary hearing process
  • Include all instances of disciplinary actions and summary protection orders against a health professional on the public registry following the disciplinary hearing process
  • Move to fully appointed college boards, whose board members are selected based on merit and competency
  • Address discrimination and Indigenous-specific racism in the health care system

Colleges that regulate health professionals in BC will continue to operate under the existing HPA until the HPOA is brought into force on April 1, 2026.

Some sections of HPOA already in force

The BC government has already brought into force the sections of the HPOA required to establish the HPOROO. This enabled hiring the Superintendent, Director of Discipline, and other staff, as well as the creation of discipline tribunals in advance of the government putting the remainder of the HPOA fully into force.

How health professions are regulated in BC

The Ministry of Health establishes the framework for health professions regulation in two ways:

  • Enacting the legislation that governs professional regulation (the current HPA and the incoming HPOA), and
  • Establishing health profession regulations, which set the scopes of practice and the limits and conditions for practice.

Regulatory colleges are responsible for upholding the legislation and regulations, and for establishing bylaws, standards, and limits and conditions that guide and direct health professionals’ practice.

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