Health Professions and Occupations Act

The HPOA will come into force on April 1, 2026. BC government has already brought into force the sections of the HPOA required to establish the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office. This enabled hiring the office’s Superintendent, Director of Discipline, and other staff in advance of the government putting the remainder of the HPOA fully into force.

The HPOA will:

• Commit to cultural safety and humility by taking a proactive approach to racism and discrimination in the regulation of health professionals and BC’s health care system.
• Improve governance, moving to a merit and competency-based appointment process for board members.
• Strengthen oversight by creating the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office.
• Create an improved complaints process with a new independent disciplinary hearing process.
• Improve information sharing.

CHCPBC will continue to have a Board and committees that consist of equal numbers of both non-licensee public members and licensees, however, all positions on the Board will be filled by appointment. CHCPBC is currently compliant with the requirements for a competency-based Board under the HPOA.  

The Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office will be responsible for recruiting and recommending, both licensee and non-licensee candidates, to the Minister of Health for appointment to the Board. The HPOA has removed the process of elections of licensees to the Board. 

Board members have a fiduciary duty to the College and the public. 

The HPOA requires that all Board members are appointed by the Minister of Health through a competency-based process for both public and licensee Board members. The CHCPBC draft bylaws must comply with this requirement.   

The Board will continue to consist of public and licensee Board members. The College will collaborate with the Superintendent who is responsible for managing this process and making board appointment recommendations to the Minister of Health. For more information on how boards will be appointed, please review the Ministry’s HPOA Q&A (PDF) on this topic.

The role of the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office is to oversee all health colleges in BC, ensuring they continue to be transparent, accountable, and operate in the public interest. The Office will house a new independent Health Professions Discipline Tribunal that will hold disciplinary hearings to determine disciplinary action after a complaint has been made against a regulated health professional and an investigation has been conducted; make merit-based recommendations to the BC Minister of Health for Board appointments, conduct oversight activities (e.g., audits, investigations, general reviews), and make recommendations on which health professions should be regulated.  

The HPOA requires committees with decision-making authority for: 

• Investigations
• Licensing
• Health Profession Corporation Permits 

Other committees may be formed at the discretion of the Board. 

Under the HPOA, all eligibility, ethics, practice, and accreditation standards must become bylaws. This is different from our current practice standards under the Health Professions Act that are separate from the bylaws. 

Consultation will be required for any new or amended standards and bylaws when the HPOA is enacted. 

The Board will seek the advice of professional standards advisors for any changes to bylaws regarding eligibility, ethics, and practice standards. The professional standards advisors must have relevant education, training, qualifications, and experience that allows them to give expert advice.  

Yes, there will be some terminology changes when the HPOA comes into force on April 1, 2026.   

All regulated health professionals under the HPOA will be referred to as “licensees” rather than “registrants.” All of the professions regulated by CHCPBC will continue to be regulated by CHCPBC under the HPOA when it is brought into force. 

Additionally, the Registration Committee will change to the Licence Committee and the Inquiry Committee will become the Investigation Committee. 

No, the titles are referenced specifically in the HPOA and our bylaws must be in compliance with that legislation. The College will consider how titles will be used when communicating with licensees and members of the public to ensure that processes promote relational and trauma-informed approaches to regulation. 

Section 14 and 15 of the Health Professions and Occupations Act make anti-discrimination and Indigenous-specific anti-racism part of the mandate of health regulatory colleges. In order to support these objectives, new applicants will be required to complete a course on cultural safety and humility, including Indigenous-specific and other anti-racism approaches, in the form and manner ordered by the registrar.   

Components of approved educational programs completed by applicants may qualify to meet this requirement. However, eligible courses will need to consider the BC context and align with recommendations in the In Plain Sight report and requirements within the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Many health professionals are trained outside of the province through programs that are less likely to have this specific training.   

It is not anticipated that these requirements will be in place on April 1, 2026 when the HPOA comes into force. More information on the requirements for new applicants will be provided on the website when it is available.

It is important to remember that providing culturally safe and appropriate care goes beyond cultural awareness or sensitivity that can be learned in a single course. It’s a lifelong commitment to critical self-reflection, ongoing education, and the continuous examination of power dynamics that have historically marginalized Indigenous peoples within healthcare and social service systems.

The non-practising registration category will be removed in the new set of HPOA bylaws because it does not provide added benefit to the public or licensees in terms of reinstatement or relief of registration and application fees.  

Approximately 400 of the almost 17,000 registrants are registered as non-practising. As there are no clear advantages for the public and licensees, the College made the decision to harmonize the licensure classes and remove this particular class. 

Currently, the process and costs to reinstate your registration from a non-practising registration status or as a former registrant with the College are the same. The fee restructuring project that will be shared with registrants later this fall will also provide some efficiencies for those who wish to reinstate their registration under the HPOA.   

Licensees (registrants) have the option to maintain their full registration during short absences from practice. If they anticipate being away from practice for a longer period they may choose to cancel their license and apply for reinstatement when they are ready to return. The College is proposing a streamlined reinstatement process for those professionals who were full licensees of the College within the past 3 years. 

The 60-day rule for documents reduces the risk to the public by ensuring we have accurate, up-to-date information when reviewing applications.  This time limit will be applied to all professions and helps us process applications more efficiently without delays from outdated documentation. The 60-day window gives applicants time to gather what they need while ensuring we make decisions based on current, reliable information. 

No, if you have a concern about the conduct or competence of a licensee of CHCPBC, you may submit a complaint to the College by completing the online Complaint Form, by sending us an email, or by mailing in your complaint. If you need help making a complaint, you can email or call the College and an intake officer will assist you. 

Yes, the HPOA mandates certain changes in the way the CHCPBC deals with complaints. CHCPBC will continue to handle the intake of complaints and the resulting investigation of the concern about a licensee. However, unlike the current model under the Health Professions Act, under the HPOA the Inquiry Committee (which will become the Investigations Committee under the HPOA) will no longer be responsible for resolving complaint investigations that may require a disciplinary outcome. Instead, the newly established independent office of the Director of Discipline, housed within the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office, will oversee complaints that require disciplinary action.

Complaint investigations are confidential. In certain circumstances, CHCPBC will be permitted to acknowledge that it has received a complaint or disposed of a complaint in order to respond to public sources like the media. 

Sections 259 and 260 of the HPOA provide that during a complaint investigation, the College may make a summary protection order that does one or more of: (i) imposing or varying limits or conditions on a respondent’s practice authority or (ii) suspend a respondent’s license authority. The HPOA provides that a summary protection order may be made without giving notice to the respondent or an opportunity to be heard.  

The HPOA also instructs that a summary protection order may only be made if the investigation committee or health occupation director has reasonable grounds to believe the respondent’s practice may present a significant risk of harm to any person or a respondent is providing false or misleading information to patients or the public and a person who acts on the information is at risk of significant risk of harm or providing the information is an activity that is a health hazard within the meaning of the Public Health Act. A respondent who is subject to a summary protection order may apply for a reconsideration of the order. 

The CHCPBC bylaws are drafted in compliance with the HPOA requirements. 

The HPOA prescribes that the disciplinary process will be managed by the Director of Discipline within the Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office. Sections 194 and 381 of the HPOA provide for a right to apply for a review of the decision within 30 days.

Yes. Disciplinary actions and summary protection orders (limits, conditions, suspensions) will be published on CHCPBC’s Public Notices page.

The HPOA Bylaws will be published for consultation starting in May 2025. Under the HPOA, CHCPBC will have 16 parts (sections) to its bylaws. Each part will be open for feedback for approximately 45 days. Dates may be revised based on the in-force date of the HPOA when announced. 

Bylaw consultations with Indigenous governing bodies as required in the HPOA will be conducted by an external Indigenous consultant on behalf of all health regulatory colleges. 

Registrants and impacted parties will be notified as each part of the draft bylaws, overviews, and online feedback forms are published on the HPOA Bylaws Consultation page. 

The HPOA largely dictates the bylaw requirements regarding the possibility of mandatory vaccinations. For licensing purposes, s. 49(1)(b)(v) of the HPOA requires college boards to make bylaws respecting eligibility standards for “mandatory vaccinations, required under an enactment other than the bylaws, against transmissible diseases”. As a consequence, college boards are required to include such eligibility standards in their bylaws.

While the HPOA also authorizes college boards to make bylaws respecting “mandatory vaccinations, required under the bylaws, against transmissible illnesses”, the College considers this authorization would only be engaged in exceptional circumstances where, for example, colleges are mandated by other provincial government agencies to “enforce” vaccination requirements (such as those that may be imposed by the Provincial Health Officer under the Emergency and Disaster Management Act). The College does not anticipate using this power within its bylaws except when following a directive or order of the Provincial Health Officer or other government agency in the event of a health emergency.

No, professions regulated by CHCPBC will not be disadvantaged by the new CHCPBC Bylaws. After amalgamation, CHCPBC has prioritized the need for harmonized programs, policies, and procedures that are equitable for the health professions we regulate. This work has continued and has influenced the development of HPOA bylaws for CHCPBC. 

We also acknowledge the need for profession-specific expertise at multiple levels in the organization that will continue under the HPOA. This includes: 

• Committees will continue to work in panels with at least 2 members of the profession when a decision concerns profession-specific expertise.
• The Professional Practice Standards Advisory Committee includes members of all professions.
• The College employs staff from each health profession we regulate to provide their expertise and knowledge into our regulatory work. 
• Under the HPOA, the Board is required to consult with Professional Standards Advisors before making a decision on eligibility standards, ethics standards, and practice standards. These advisors must be licensees of the designated health profession to which the standards relate when they provide advice or recommendations. 

No. Some regulation changes, posted by the BC Government, only apply to specific professions. For example, updates related to the use of the title “doctor” only affect professions authorized to use that title.

We are currently reviewing these updated regulations and will provide further information about them, including implications they may have on the college and on your practice, if any, as soon as possible.

The updated professional regulations posted by the BC Government include the new Regulated Health Practitioners Regulation, which lists restricted activities that can be performed by specific health professionals. This listing is intended to help the public understand the restricted activities each health professional is authorized to perform.

If the regulation specifies limits or conditions on how a restricted activity may be performed, the profession must comply with those limits or conditions. If no limits are stated, the entire restricted activity may be performed.