Optometrists – Registrants

Registration Cycle: December 1 – November 30

• Form 10 – Registration Renewal (PDF)

2025 Renewal Deadline

The deadline to renew your 2025 registration is Thursday, October 31, 2024

If you have any questions regarding your renewal/non-renewal, please contact the College at registration@chcpbc.org

Each year registrants must renew their registration to practice optometry in BC. As per the College bylaws, you must ensure that all requirements for registration and optometric corporation renewal are received by the Registrar, on or before Thursday, October 31, 2024.

Before proceeding with your registration renewal, please ensure each section under “My Profile” is reviewed and updated accordingly.

Registrants who wish to renew their 2025 registration but are unable to meet requirements for renewal by Thursday, October 31, 2024, will be assessed a late registration fee and have until November 30 to complete their registration renewal.

Any registrant who has not successfully completed their registration renewal by November 30, 2024 ceases to be registered as of December 1, 2024.  A Registrant whose registration has ceased must not practice optometry in this jurisdiction until their registration is reinstated in accordance with the Bylaws the College.

If you are not renewing your registration

Click on Registrant Login. Once you log on to your profile under “Home page” you will see the following option: Click “Inactive” – Should you wish not to renew your registration with the College, click on “Change”, and you will be taken to the “Instructions” page.

Follow steps 2 and 3 below and upload the completed forms which you will be able to download from your profile. 

• Transfer of Records Containing Personal Information Form (PDF)
• Declaration of Transferring Controlling Interest Form (PDF)
• Declaration of Ownership of Records Form (PDF)

Failure to provide written notification and applicable forms will result in late fees, as set out in Schedule 1, sub-paragraph 4.0. If notification, applicable forms, and late fees have not been delivered to the Registrar by November 30, your registration will be cancelled.

You may renew your 2025 registration online beginning Friday, September 27, 2024 by accessing your renewal form under “Registrant Login.” There is “Five (5)  Steps Process”. It is important that you read each and every step, and accurately complete the required fields.

Before you proceed, please note the following:

• Avoid renewing last minute, you may be subject to review.
• Have your log in information ready.
• Do not use Internet Explorer, as it is no longer supported by Microsoft. Please use Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge …etc.
• If you experience any log in difficulties, try clearing the browser history or switching to another browser or device.
• For online payment, Visa or MasterCard credit cards are accepted, debit cards are not. You may also pay by a cheque or money order.

Step 1 – Home page

Click on Registrant Login. Once you log on to your profile under “Home page” you will see the following options:

• Complete my renewal:

“Full” –Therapeutic Qualified, Non-therapeutic Qualified and Limited registrants, click on “Renew” button and you will be taken to the “Instructions” page.

“Non-Practising” – Non-practising registrants click on “Renew” button and you will be taken to the “Instructions” page. Please note,  in accordance with the college bylaws,  registrants who have held non-practising registration for three or more consecutive years may not renew their registration online.

• To change your registration from “Therapeutic qualified” to “Non-practising” registration, click on “Renew” button under “Non-practising”. You will be able to proceed and submit your renewal form. However, before proceeding to payment, you must complete and notarize Form 8, which must be received by the Registrar on or before Thursday, October 31, 2024.
• Reinstating from “Non-practising” to “Therapeutic qualified” registration: Please contact the College to request the change as you will not be able to proceed with online Registration Renewal.

Change my registration:

“Inactive” – Should you wish not to renew your registration with the College, click on “Change”, and you will be taken to the “Instructions” page.

Step 2 – Profile

Since this step details the deadlines, fees, late fee, refund policy, and privacy policy, we urge you to read carefully before you proceed. When you are ready to proceed with profile update, click “Next”.

Step 3 – Update your registrant profile

Please ensure each section under “My Profile” is reviewed and updated accordingly. At any time during the year, you may update your profile information through “My Profile.” After completing profile update click “Next”, and you will be prompted to complete a page two of the renewal form, “Declarations”.

Step 4 – Complete the renewal form

Declarations: Knowingly making a false declaration for the purpose of registration renewal is, in itself, unprofessional and may, upon investigation, be determined to be professional misconduct. To avoid the apprehension of professional misconduct, registrants should collect and maintain proper records supporting all declarations made in the course of registration renewal. In accordance with Schedule 14, sub-paragraph 4.42, those records must be retained for minimum of seven years. Registrants are reminded that they may be required to provide those records to the Registrar at any time.

Criminal Record Check:It is mandatory that you declare: (1) criminal records to the college on the annual renewal form, and (2) criminal records any time during the current registration year should a criminal record arise in which case you must provide a new authorization for a criminal record check. Criminal record checks are also required every five years.

Quality Assurance Program: Please note that you must fulfill the requirements of the Quality Assurance program established in the Bylaws and Quality Assurance Continuing Education Requirements Standards. Quality assurance requirements include both continuing education requirements and completion of the Professional Enhancement program requirements for this cycle.

As a condition of annual registration renewal, all registrants are required to achieve at least 20 continuing education (CE) hours, either College or COPE approved obtained from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024. To Self-Record your CE hours, please click on “Edit profile” to update your CE hours.

Registrants, who are enrolled in the OE Tracker program, must ensure that their OE Tracker account will reflect the CE hours obtained at the time of their renewal, as well as to record their CE hours in their online profile. The College understands that it may take OE Tracker some days to post your CE hours. A false declaration on your registration renewal is a serious offense and is not taken lightly by the College.

If you receive an error message when logging into your OE Tracker Account then log out and log back in.

Registrants who are not enrolled in OE Tracker must provide original CE certificates along with the completed CE Record Form (PDF) and $100.00 administrative fee to the College, by email to registration@chcpbc.org, before their registration can be renewed.

CPR certification: Full registrants must ensure that they hold CPR certification that is no more than three years old when renewing their registration, as per the College Bylaws, as well as update their online profile by entering their CPR effective and expiry date.

Practise in other jurisdiction(s): If you are registered or licensed to practise optometry in any other jurisdiction, indicate which jurisdiction and confirm that you are in good standing in those jurisdictions.

Insurance requirement: As per the Bylaws, each full registrant or academic registrant must obtain and at all times maintain professional liability insurance with a limit of liability not less than $2,000,000 per occurrence insuring against liability arising from an error, omission or negligent act of the registrant.

Practice currency: Provide the most recent date when you provided optometric services.

Non-practising registrant: If you are renewing as a non-practising registrant, acknowledge your declaration that you will not provide the services of the profession of optometry in British Columbia while registered in the college as a non-practising registrant.

Academic registrant: If you are renewing as an academic registrant, acknowledge your declaration that you will not provide optometric services in British Columbia except for educational purposes in an instructional setting.

Please note the following:

• You may save and return to complete the form at any time.
• When the form is completed click “Next’.
• If you select the wrong form, go to the very end of the form and select “Withdraw” to start over.

Once all requirements have been completed, click on the “Next” button. You will not be able to submit your registration if any of the information is missing. Once you submit your renewal form, you may expect one of the following:

• You will be taken immediately to the payment page, or
• Your renewal form will be forwarded to registration for review. Staff of the College may be in touch via email. Once the form is approved, you will receive an email that will take you to the payment page.

Step 5 – Payment(s)

The annual renewal fee payable to the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC is $1,390.00 for all registration classes. To pay your invoice, select the “Pay” button, you will be taken to the payment page. All receipts can be found on your home page.

To renew your registration manually, you must complete Form 10: Registration Renewal Application (PDF) and submit it along with payment (a cheque or money order in Canadian funds, payable to College), and mail to the following address:

Attn: Registrar
College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
900-200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4

Important Note: If you choose to submit the Registration Renewal Application by mail, and your documents are not received by the Registrar, or are received but incomplete or illegible, or your payment by cheque is delayed in any way, you will be subject to a late fee, as set out in Schedule 1, sub-paragraph 4.0 of the College Bylaws. Please consider sending your Registration Renewal Application by registered mail and making your payment by certified cheque.

Step 1

Complete the Authorization Form to Prepare an Optometric Corporation (PDF) and apply to the College with your proposed name, which must end with “Optometric Corporation” — e.g., “Dr. John Doe, Optometric Corporation” or “John Doe O.D., Optometric Corporation.”

Step 2

Once the College approves the name, apply to the Registrar of Companies (via your lawyer) to register as a professional corporation.

Step 3 – Declarations

After you have successfully registered as a professional corporation with the Registrar of Companies, submit the following documents to the College:

• Copy of the Certificate Incorporation
• Copy of the Notice of Articles and the Articles of the Corporation
• Copy of the current Register of Directors of the Corporation
• Copy of the current Central Securities Register of Shareholders of the Corporation

Please note that the articles do not have any provision for different classes of shares or rights and restrictions for the shares. These will normally be determined by you together with advice from your accountant and lawyer. These articles will be sufficient if you have only one class of common shares with no special rights and restrictions. Paragraphs 3.6, 3.7 and 13.4 in the attached proforma Articles of Association must be included in your Articles. Unless your Articles have these clauses or ones similar to them, your corporation documents will not be approved as an optometric corporation. Please review these sections closely and if you have any questions, please look at Sections 40 to 50 of the Health Profession Act.

Step 4

If all the documents received are deemed acceptable, the College will issue you a permit to practice as a professional corporation. Read more information about forming an Optometric corporation.

Resources

• Optometric Corporation Permit Application FORM 15 (PDF)
• Trust Undertakings (PDF)
• Optometric Corporation Articles

Optometric Corporation FAQ

1. How do I form an optometric corporation?
   Follow the instructions on this page. Then complete the Authorization Form to Prepare an Optometric Corporation (PDF) and fax, email, or mail it to the College office. You will receive an approval letter along with incorporation instructions within 20 business days of your request.
2. Can my optometric corporation name be anything of my choosing?
   Your requested optometric corporation name must include either “Dr.” or “O.D.”, your first and last name, and end with “Optometric Corporation.” E.g., “Dr. John Doe, Optometric Corporation” or “John Doe O.D., Optometric Corporation”.
3. Can I provide optometric services once I obtain name approval?
   No. Optometric services can only be provided upon receipt of a BC Optometric Corporation permit issued by the College.
4. When is my optometric corporation permit issued?
   If your incorporation documents are deemed acceptable and meet all the terms and conditions set out in the HPA and Bylaws, a BC optometric corporation permit will be issued to you.
5. How do I set up a Trust/Trustee as a shareholder?
   Please refer to Section 43 of the Health Professions Act to ensure your trusteeship is in accordance with what is outlined, complete the Trust Undertakings form, and forward it to the College office, along with the other incorporation documents.

As per the Bylaws, please ensure that your optometric corporation (“O.C.”) permit renewal documents and payment are received by the Registrar, no later than October 31, 2024. You may renew your 2025 optometric corporation permit online beginning Friday, September 27, 2024, by accessing your renewal form under “Registrant Login”.

Once you log in click on “Renew” button next to “Corporation Registration”.

Step 1 – Instruction/Optometric Corporation Permit Renewal Details

Since this step details the fees, penalties, refund policy, and privacy policy, we urge you to read carefully before you proceed.

Step 2 – Profile

If any item needs to be changed in your profile that requires contacting the College, you will still be able to successfully submit your optometric corporation permit renewal online.

Step 3 – Declarations

Complete the Statutory Declarations. Please note that in order to proceed to the next step all of the declarations must be completed.

Step 4 – Payments

The Optometric Corporation Permit renewal fee of $200.00 is payable to the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC.

If you are not renewing your Optometric Corporation Permit

If you are not renewing your optometric corporation permit for 2025, you must provide written notification to the Registrar, no later than November 30, 2024. Please note that an Optometric Corporation whose permit is not renewed on or before November 30, 2024, will cease to be an Optometric Corporation as of December 1, 2024 and a new permit must be applied for under Schedule 27, sub-paragraph 5.7.

To renew your optometric corporation permit manually (via paper application), you must complete Form 15A: BC Optometric Corporation Permit Renewal Application (PDF) and submit it along with the annual registration fee (a cheque or money order payable to College of Health and Care Professionals of BC), as set out in Schedule 1, sub-paragraph 4.0, and mail to the following address:

Attn: Registrar
College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
900-200 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 1S4

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you submit your O.C. Permit Renewal Application by mail, and your documents are not received by the Registrar, or are received but incomplete or illegible, or your payment by cheque is delayed in any way, you will be subject to a late fee, as set out in Schedule 1, sub-paragraph 4.0 of the College Bylaws. Please consider sending your Renewal Application by registered mail.

For reinstatement procedure, please contact the College at registration@chcpbc.org.

• Form 12 Reinstatement Application (PDF)