In advance of the Health Professions and Occupations Act coming into force on April 1, we are pleased to share the finalized Bylaws and the Ethics and Practice Standards, pending Board approval. Both are essential to how the College does its work of public protection.
Why does CHCPBC need bylaws and standards?
As a regulatory college, CHCPBC is required to establish bylaws and ethics and practice standards that are compliant with the Health Professions and Occupations Act. When the Health Professions and Occupations Act takes effect on April 1, 2026 the current bylaws and standards developed under the Health Professions Act will no longer be in force.
Consultation
Both the new Bylaws and the Ethics and Practice Standards were the subject of consultation as part of the development process. Two examples:
- We received more than 1,100 submissions in response to the consultation on the individual draft bylaw parts. Every submission was reviewed and considered, with changes made to improve readability and to correct errors and omissions.
- All licensees had the opportunity to participate in the development of the harmonized standards by offering input though a survey that ran from mid-November to mid-December. We appreciate the insights provided by 1,393 licensees, all of which was reviewed and influenced the final version.
Bylaws under the Health Professions and Occupations Act
The College needed a new set of bylaws to be compliant with the regulatory framework set out in the Health Professions and Occupations Act.
The Bylaws (PDF) consist of 15 parts: Definitions and Interpretation, Board, Committees, College Administration, College Records and Information, Licensure, Certified Practice, Permits, Professional Responsibilities, Delegation, Quality Assurance, Continuing Professional Development, Public Protection, Support Programs, and General.
There are nine schedules to the bylaws.
Most notable changes in the Bylaws
- Restructuring of the licensure bylaws to harmonize general eligibility requirements.
- Addition of support programs, as required under the HPOA.
- Harmonized and new parts on quality assurance and continuing professional development to reflect the new Professional & Quality Practice Program (PQPP).
Ethics and Practice Standards
Standards promote, guide, and direct professional practice, outlining the minimum level of acceptable performance required of licensees to ensure ethical and safe care for the public.
As of April 1, there will be a single set of harmonized Ethics and Practice Standards (PDF) that will apply to all professions regulated by the College. Most requirements of the harmonized standards reflect existing expectations and will not change how licensees practice, with a few exceptions:
- The HPOA requires standards to address certain topics, and most legacy standards did so. However, if a legacy college did not address these topics in its standards, you will find new expectations in the harmonized standards – for example, an expectation on preventing and reporting sexual misconduct and sexual abuse.
- Where there were discrepancies between standard requirements – for example, the length of time a licensee must retain records varied widely across legacy standards.
The profession-specific standards, codes of ethics, and codes of conduct established by legacy colleges under the Health Professions Act will be retired as of April 1. The retired standards will remain on CHCPBC’s website for reference. While the Ethics and Practice Standards under the HPOA always prevail, details in these retired documents may remain helpful, as guidance, to support licensees’ practice.
